Vaxxed

It's pandemic day 491 - exactly two weeks since I got my 2nd dose of the vaccine, so I'm as immune as I'm going to get (except for this business about the possible need for a booster 6-12 mos. later?!). 

The first vaccines available in the DR were AstraZeneca and two Chinese varietals. No, thanks. I put my name on Missouri's list before my tier was even eligible and planned on making an appointment for as early on in my upcoming home service as possible. Then, a few weeks ago, I learned from colleagues that Pfizer had landed on the island, and there were a handful of vaccination sites in Santiago doling it out from 9 am - 4 pm. I joined a group of seven seminarians planning to go to a large theater complex downtown, early to avoid lines, at my colleagues' advice: 6:30 am. 

6:48 am. Yes, we still had to wait until they opened, but it's summer in the tropics. I'd rather wait from 6:45 until 9:00 than 9:00 until who knows when!

8:37 am. Closer to the front gates, the line split into three: guardians w/ minors, adults, and people there for their 2nd dose of a vaccine other than Pfizer. 

I'm glad we got there when we did!

More waiting inside the gates: first in open-air rows of white, plastic chairs, then underneath the tent on the left.

My family when I sent them this picture: "Aren't there any appointments?" Me: "..."

The closer we got, the more nervous I grew since I realized I had "forgotten" my passport. Or, neglected to bring it - nowhere did I read that you had to have a passport, but it's just wise to bring for any kind of official business since oftentimes temporary residency cards aren't recognized as a valid form of ID. 

When I got to the front row of chairs and eventually to the registration table, I breathed an enormous sigh of relief as the worker jotted down my residency card number, no questions asked, and handed me my vaccination card. From there, I walked right over to the vaccination tent and was done within minutes. The only remaining step was attaching my vaccine record to my passport, which the worker roaming the crowd with a credit card machine-like apparatus could do as I spouted off the number from memory. All in all, it took about five hours before we were on our way home. 

Friends who get stuck together stick together. I later learned that our cards could have gotten us a FREE ride on the train at the botanical garden and FREE entrance into a local museum.

My only side effect from dose #1 was a sore arm, but I never even thought to take Tylenol! Fast forward three weeks, and the eight of us reunited for dose #2. With designs of getting in, getting out, and getting home, we left an hour earlier: 5:30 am. I had my passport this time AND Oat Flour Pumpkin Muffins. 

Again there was already a line, but we were so close to the front. After waiting here, though, we waited in the open-air seating area, then the covered seating area, then a standing line between registration and the vaccination tent, then another covered seating area...

By the time our last person got through, we were hot, tired, frustrated, hangry, and dehydrated. After picking up lunch on the way, I got home seven hours later. But I did it. I'm vaxxed. Could I have held out, gone to Walgreens, and been in and out in five minutes each time? Probably. Nevertheless, I have no regrets about sharing a cultural experience with friends from three other countries who made the time go by (relatively) quickly, plus it's one less thing I have to accomplish during a few weeks that are fast filling up with people to see and things to do. 

I had chills that night and felt generally like I had been hit by a semi-truck the next day: weak, tired, and with all-over muscle aches. It wasn't anything that stopped me from going to the office for a couple of meetings or babysitting an 11 mo. old MK, though, and I was back to 100% by Friday. 

Now, we wait. 

Masks are still required in all public places, but as of today the DR commences its final phase of curfew: 11 pm, everyday, countrywide (with transit time until 1 am). It'll be eliminated province by province as each reaches 70% vaccinated. I don't know if I (or anyone in my group of all non-Dominicans) count for Santiago, or where it stands, but I continue to pray for the end of this thing that's plagued our world for nearly a year and a half, for all whose lives and livelihoods have been irreversibly affected, and that the positive changes it brought about in many spheres might take root. 

Until next time, blessings!

P.S. Can I just say it's going to be weird with a capital W to not wear a mask in certain establishments in the US that no longer require them?!