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I’m Part of the Herd and You’re (Probably) Not
I’m a veteran. Yes, yes, I know you want to thank me for my service. Never mind. I was a supply clerk, for goodness sake. I got a paper cut once (hurt like the dickens), but I never got within a thousand miles of a battlefield. In fact, I only scored Marksman on the rifle range, the lowest of three classifications, so I probably wouldn’t have been able to hit the foe with a bullet even if the Army had shipped me off to Afghanistan.
OK, I got that off my chest. But being a veteran (I was called up twice) got me access to a COVID-19 vaccine. Well, that, and the fact that I’m 82 years old.
The VA sent me an appointment to get my shot (Pfizer, the one that has to be stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius) at Portland’s Main VA Hospital. When I showed up, they ushered me into a room with ten stations, each of which had a nurse with a syringe. The shot, completely painless, along with the obligatory questions, took less than two minutes. Then I had to sit in a chair for fifteen minutes, at the end of which a young man came over and asked me if I felt woozy. I said no, so I was out of there.
I’ll go back in three weeks for my second shot.
It’s now the next day after my shot and I’ve had no side effects whatsoever. The injection site isn’t even sore, though symptoms, I’ve heard, can appear up to fourteen days after the shot.
Published in General
Skyler, I was a veteran and I was 82 years old.
Joe, I expedience much the same thing in 1958 on the road into Augusta. I saw my first chain gang on that road, and in town saw my first water fountains that were labeled “Negro” and “White.”. Real eye-openers for a kid from LA.
I am not quite old enough to get my COVID-19 vaccine through the VA. (73) My wife and I got our first shots through our local health care provider here in Orlando. It was actually a fairly smooth operation and we are scheduled for our second shots on February 10th. I actually did not realize the VA was administering the vaccine until a fellow vet brought it to my attention. He has already had both shots. My last visit with the VA was in 1970 during a short break in service. It was not a pleasant experience. I have heard that during the past four years things have greatly improved, could Trump be responsible for that?
Nah. It’s not Trump. The VA doesn’t pay any mind to anyone.
Yeah, I don’t work and you can’t make me.
The people at the VA are fine, I’ve never had a problem. I meant the bureaucracy of the VA.