Covid Vaccine: Booster

Liz and I decided to go in to a Northwestern Immediate Care clinic, for our Booster shots. We had plans to try to stagger our shots (so one person could care for the other, in case we felt under the weather). But schedules got busy, so we decided Saturday would be the day.

After calling around to various NW locations, we learned that you can “make a reservation” for a certain time. Many places require this reservation to be for a day in the future, but a handful of sites (like the one we went to) accepted walk-ins.

In talking with someone over the phone, the reservations were (in his words) “pointless.” Because despite your reservation, if other people walked in and were in front of you prior to your arrival… they would be treated first. So you may as well just show up as a walk-in, instead.

Liz and I arrived just after 10AM, got checked in, and began waiting. We learned that there were a lot of folks getting the shot, and there was a wait. We were told “about an hour.”

And then an hour goes by. And then another hour. And then we learn that there’s a 30 minute delay, because additional shots needed to be “prepared” first. What this actually entails, and why it couldn’t have been done ahead of time… remains a mystery to me.

So more waiting. And then another hour goes by. The staff answering the phones were giving estimated wait times to people, saying things like “an hour and a half” and then eventually “two hours.” And overhearing this, several of us in the waiting area laughed out loud. And in response to hearing “two hours” held up three fingers to one another. And began calling out “more like three hours” loudly, to one another.

By the time we left, it was close to 2:30PM. What was conveyed as “an hour and a half” estimate ended up being 4+ hours. I don’t fault the staff here, as they were trying to process requests as best they could. But I’m unclear why the estimates were so very wrong.

To make things worse, I saw multiple people mention to the staff that they had appointments. And arrived on time. And were waiting 2+ hours before even getting in. With one person saying “So this really isn’t an appointment then.”

Despite the horrific wait and experience, I’m glad to have gotten the Booster. It would have been nice to have gotten it earlier, sooner… but that could be said of the vaccine itself, I suppose. Happy to have it.

Related:
The Nearness of the Vaccine
Covid Vaccine: Shot #1
Covid Vaccine: Shot #2