H1N1 Shot

So Monroe County finally got some Swine Flu vaccine shots and is putting on public clinics. They're still only giving it to high-priority people (pregnant chicks, care givers, EMTs, etc.) but it's available and free.

Today was one of the clinics and I attended the one at the Penfield Town Hall. It was scheduled for 10a-8p and I knew people would show up early, so I decided to get there just after 9. I rolled in at 9:15 and there were already people everywhere. There were cops routing traffic, cones all over the place, people parking on the grass; it was nuts.

So I parked as fast as I could and ran to join the line. There were probably a couple hundred people in front of me. Someone who already registered then came up to talk to the people behind me and I just couldn't help eavesdropping. Apparently people had been lined up since 8am and there were about 500 people already registered.

When you registered, they gave you a number on a ticket and a form to fill out. Then they told you to fill out the form in your car and listen to 90.3FM for them to call your number. The problem with this was the low-powered local radio transmitter only broadcasted about 1/4 mile around the building. I listened for a while to figure out how fast they were going and did the math; I had a few hours to kill.

I went home, ate some lunch, played some Super Mario Bros. Wii and went back. By the time I got back they realized they needed more accessibility. They added the audio from the radio to the local TV channel. This was great if you live in Penfield, but unfortunately I don't. Then a little bit later they mentioned they were tweeting the numbers. Then finally they decided to put the numbers on the town's website. This would have been great to know earlier since I sat in my car for another hour before they called my number.

This process took way longer than I expected it to, but I guess all that matters is I got the shot. The nurse who stuck me was a pro, I didn't feel it at all.