Vaccine Envy . . . No More

I wrote in early February that I was eagerly awaiting my COVID-19 vaccine, but at the time I thought it was still a few months away. I turned sixty-five this past Monday, which made me eligible under Missouri’s rules.

I always expected that my birthday would give me little preference for the vaccine. I thought the supply of vaccines would catch up with demand about the time I turned sixty-five. And sure enough, most states are now opening up vaccine availability to everyone. As of this Friday, April 9, all adults in Missouri become eligible for the shots. Since that announcement, I have been antsy about whether I could schedule my vaccine in advance of the hordes.

Despite my expectations that this is about when I would be able to be vaccinated, I have suffered terribly from vaccine envy. My husband got his first shot in early February, and the second in early March. Many friends have had their vaccines, including all the other members of my critique group. I am younger than these folks, but many people younger than me have been getting shots as well—some because they’re eligible, some because they’ve found sources of unused vaccines or loopholes in the system.

Even my son got his first shot last week. And obviously, he is decades younger than I am.

I’m happy for all of them. Really, I am. But I have been waiting for my turn. Impatiently.

As more and more people received their shots, I became more envious. I shouldn’t be. Pea-green isn’t an attractive look for me.

As I said, I had no expectations. I didn’t feel entitled, because I have no medical conditions that make me more likely to suffer severe effects if I got COVID. I am fortunate.

In addition, over the last year, I have mostly felt safe. I have been careful, and I am generally healthy. My only risk factor is age, which isn’t THAT high—at least, not high enough for Missouri to give me any preference until two days ago.

But I know people who have been sick with COVID, some who have been very sick. Two acquaintances died from COVID, and one of them had no serious medical conditions.

My impatience has been such that I have trolled websites for Kansas City, for my county, for other nearby counties—anywhere I thought I might happen upon an extra shot. Even though I wasn’t yet eligible. I signed up where I thought it was legitimate and answered all questions truthfully. No one called me. I didn’t really expect them to.

But my impatience increased as my birthday approached. Would I be contacted when my birthday was here? My husband got an email to schedule his first shot, then for his second, so the system worked for him. Would it work for me?

Fortuitously, I had lab work done at a local hospital a couple of weeks ago, and checked on the results two days later. I noticed that the hospital was scheduling COVID vaccines. And they had lots of appointments! Including some this week, after my birthday! Would they let me schedule my vaccine for a date when I was eligible?

Why, yes, they would. So I did.

If all goes as planned, about an hour and a half after this post goes live, I will get my first COVID-19 vaccine.

After I scheduled the appointment through the hospital, my county’s vaccine website contacted me last week, wondering whether I had my shot scheduled yet. I told them I did. But if I hadn’t made the hospital appointment, I could have scheduled my vaccine for this week anyway.

And another county contacted me a couple of days later, a county I didn’t even remember signing up with. They were offering me the chance to get stuck also.

So the process of scheduling vaccines in my location is working, at least for me.

Is the COVID vaccination system working for you? Or do you still suffer from vaccine envy?