I didn't take as long a walk as I might have because I wanted to be ready to snag an appointment when Publix released the next round of appointments at 7 a.m.--which was also another reason why I didn't write. The page refreshes every 60 seconds. At some point, the side of the page with the make an appointment button lights up and stays lit up, but I didn't know that when I first logged on. I thought I'd have 5 seconds to hit the button before someone else got the appointment. I thought it was that kind of competition. So I would switch to a different browser window, but then switch back after 45 seconds. I did this for about 10 minutes.
It became clear to me that I needed to try to get an appointment later, when I got to work, where I have 2 screens. I went about getting ready for my day. When I returned from my shower, I saw that the make an appointment side of the screen had lit up and stayed lit up. I was taking no chances. I clicked.
I took the first appointment offered: 9:40 on Thursday, March 25. I typed in all the information; it couldn't have been much easier, but I do realize it's easy for me because I have a computer and I have familiarity with this way of filling out forms and I have home internet access.
At the end, the form asked if I wanted to make another appointment. My spouse is also eligible, so I clicked on yes, and made an appointment for him. The first appointment offered was when he teaches, so I asked for a different time. I was warned I might lose any and all appointments, but I clicked on the change button anyway. It gave me 6 time ranges to choose from, so I clicked on noon to 1:00 on March 25--and now my spouse has an appointment for noon on March 25.
I am aware of how many people don't have access to a vaccine appointment yet, but I do believe that in a few weeks, these appointments will open up to more of us, and I have hope that by May, anyone who wants a vaccine appointment will have one.
Now for the hard part: convincing everyone that they want an appointment. We aren't going to get to herd immunity if just 50% of us are vaccinated.
And then there's the other hard part, the even harder part: figuring out how to get the rest of the world vaccinated too. But here, too, I have hope. We've done it before. We can do it again.
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