Big big news

 I guess I forgot to post yesterday, with working on stats stuff and the "snow day," but that's okay.

I have some big news today. Late in the day yesterday, the university president sent out a message that there was "extra" COVID vaccine likely available for today, and if we wanted to get our first shot, we should e-mail him back with contact info. I did, but made the caveat "if it's really a limited supply, people with serious health conditions, even if they're younger than I am, should go first." I guess he didn't really have a say in that. But the friends of mine I contacted me told me "If they offer it to you, take it, and don't feel guilty, you will then be part of the "firebreak" that helps stop the spread."

I also figured: well, if these are so-called "Dumpster Doses" (that is: the vaccine left in vials at the end of the day that would be thrown out otherwise), it's probably unlikely I'll be able to get it, but at least I tried.

But nope! I was working at home this afternoon when my cell phone rang, and it was the university president. He asked me if I could get to the high school in a half hour. As I live only about 2 miles from it, of course I could.(It's still a snow day here, but our roads are clear - it's a lot worse to the north and especially the south, in North Texas*). So I put on my "hard pants" (I was wearing flannel PJ pants) and grabbed my walking stick in case the walkways were icy, and headed out.

I had also been clever dressing this morning, and put a t-shirt on under the sweater I am wearing - after seeing someone on Twitter make a salty comment about "What is it with male politicians and having to take their whole-@$$ shirt off to get vaxxed?" though I think that's less a "I'm trying to look hunky" thing and more a "men's dress shirts don't stretch like a woman's knit top does"

It seemed like a well run operation - in the gym, everything well spaced. Two sign up stations where you fill out the paperwork and the nurse counsels you (asking if you've been ill, if you have a blood-clotting disorder, etc.). And then on to long tables with other nurses who give the shot. It was fast and hurt less, even, than the last flu shot I had. The nurse did counsel me, given what I described as my "weird" allergies, to wait half an hour rather than the typical 15 minutes, so I did. 

So far I am having no effects other than a tiny bit of arm soreness that could be psychosomatic. I've read that you probably SHOULDN'T take pain reducers after the shot if you can avoid it (you get a better immune response that way)

What this means though? I will have *partial* immunity in two weeks (they scheduled the second dose for March 5 - which makes me wonder if this was ACTUALLY a planned thing, to get as many educators vaccinated as they could, and not just "dumpster doses" but they're doing it on the QT so people dont' get upset)

That means...well, two weeks from Saturday is my birthday. That means if I mask up and stay distanced (and if the weather is good), I am PROBABLY safe to go to JoAnn Fabrics and Ulta and maybe Kroger's to shop. (I had not been, out of concern of the new "rapid spreading" variant that I suspect is in my area).  It also means I won't have to worry quite so much about the unmasked people in the stores in my town.

And it *probably* means that in May, well after we've both had both our doses (and school is out), I can go visit my mom. 

I'm still kind of disbelieving it all happened, it was so fast. And last week I was thinking "maybe there will NEVER be enough vaccine to get to me and I'll just have to order stuff online and go to the grocery only once every 10 days forever"

But nope, it's real:

(Name hidden to keep a LITTLE pseudonymity)

(*I am actually wondering if in part he called the snow day for today so early - he did on Tuesday - because he knew this was in the works and wanted the maximum number of faculty and staff free to get vaccinated; offices were closed today except for the most essential ones like the campus police and the food service for dorm students)

UPDATE: apparently the reason we got offered it was that many people from "up north" - as far as Tulsa, in fact - had made appointments for the "pod" here this week, and they could not make it, so rather than waste a day's vaccine, they gave it to us instead. So we benefited from the bad weather, I guess.

Another update: apparently we were prioritized based on how fast we responded, so I was "rewarded" this time for having my campus e-mail open (I had done so anyway; had students doing an exam online) and I was actually sitting at the computer grading some things when the e-mail came in. So maybe that's a tiny bit of the "fairy tale style desert*" I long for - I was doing what I ought to have been doing, and I got rewarded by getting my first vaccine earlier than I otherwise might.

(*desert in the sense of "just deserts," not in the sense of "a hot dry place with cacti)