First Pfizer shot last week at Javits NYC. While I’m grateful to have received it, I will take the opportunity to rant about the process in this increasingly dysfunctional State. I’m middle aged (hopefully) and tech savvy. I’m eligible because of two ‘co-morbidities’ (as they depressingly refer to underlying health issues here). It took me three days of non stop frustration in order to secure an online appointment for over a month down the road. I can’t imagine how bad it would be for the less technologically inclined - we are talking about registration on a web-site here, not commanding a spaceship, but it really was one of the most F*k’d up processes I have ever seen. I was unable to secure an appointment ‘manually’ through either of the hospitals I am registered to, due to inadequate supplies, and all they could suggest was to keep trying online. Anyway, I got one, so I’m grateful but the real annoyance is that there are vaccines freely available at many pharmacies in NYC - because you can only get an appointment there through a still limited eligibility criteria on the same messed up web of online sites, (co-morbidity is excluded), this has resulted in a kind of pot luck / lottery system of people hanging around pharmacies in the hope of picking up a vaccine that is about to get thrown away (for example if someone with an appointment doesn’t turn up). I know a surprising number of people that have been able to get vaccinated that way. To be clear, I’m not ranting against them, the more people that are vaccinated, the better - I just think it’s a sad example of something that is just terribly organized and ends up being a bit of a farce once this government gets involved.
