It took me five minutes to get my booster shot. It was the easiest shot I have ever received; I didn’t even have to get out of my van. And thankfully, I did because so much of my family, friends and caregivers are getting the coronavirus, if not for their first time, but scarily their second time with this extremely contagious variant Omicron. Over the holidays, I was exposed numerous times in close proximity with friends and family that had visited for Christmas and New Year’s. I supremely believe that my booster protected me and saved me from coming down with the coronavirus, which I have been lucky to escape thus far through the two-year pandemic.
My experience was easy, and the whole process took less time than it would if I had sat in the drive-through line at Chick-fil-A. Because the booster was difficult to find at my local Walgreens pharmacy of where I usually get my flu shot and my other coronavirus vaccination, I was smartly directed by a friend to Google search the mobile vaccination bus, or buses that circulate the Denver metro area providing folks an easy way to be administered either the vaccination, the booster or a simple flu shot. I was able to quickly identify a local destination online for the mobile bus. Within minutes, I secured an appointment for my Moderna booster in the coming week.
Being a quadriplegic, I cannot drive and therefore requested my brother to drive me to my appointment, a mere 10 minutes away. The location was a high school parking lot, easy to find and easy to access. As we pulled up, there was a small table outside the bus manned by a few volunteers passing out clipboards in order to collect each person’s specific information, insurance, medical background and such. Never getting out of my van, my brother facilitated all the necessary information through my passenger side window, as if he was taking my order for a burger and fries. In less than five minutes, a qualified nurse practitioner got into my van, sat in the driver’s seat, pulled up my left T-shirt and after sanitizing my skin, injected the booster. I got a Pocahontas Band-Aid and was given a comment of thanks and gratitude for receiving the booster and the deed was done. It was the most pleasant and most easily facilitated procedure I have ever encountered. And with that, I am now that much more protected from this unpredictable and contagious virus.
I don’t know for sure why I have yet to contract the virus. Potentially since I’ve been paying attention to the instructions provided by the CDC on vaccinations, my local health practitioners and doctors and my basic intuitive self, I have been lucky to escape coming down with COVID-19. I have been exposed over 4 to 5 times, very heavily exposed with actively infected individuals practically breathing on me in my face. Yet, no infection. Possibly my daily preventative health care regimen, which I have been following religiously for many years, including 2000 mg of daily vitamin C, zinc and a heavy-duty probiotic. Maybe my genetic makeup or blood type is the golden ticket. For now, I’ll never know. But what I do know is that getting the vaccination and the booster has, in my mind, helped keep me safe from the virus that I never want to get.
