03.26.21: Covid-19 Vaccination, I-70 Closed

Runtime: 4 minutes, 27 seconds.
Soundtrack: My Last Song by The Eastern Plain.
Day on Magisto, Youtube, or Vimeo.

Friday, March 26, 2021:
Fruita – Grand Junction – Rifle, Colorado

Still overtired and worn out from his cross-country drive Oisin still arose by 7:30 am. Today was the big day – he had an appointment scheduled to get his Covid-19 vaccination. He was planning on getting the Johnson and Johnson one-shot deal since he’s so afraid of needles and usually passes out when pricked. He also felt the J&J was the tried-and-true methodology for vaccination, so only trusted it. The mRNA new methodology was spectacular science, but he was concerned with safety in the long-term – as it’s still only operating under emergency approval with the FDA/CDC. Never before has mRNA methodology used in vaccinations. So he was uneasy and nervous. He pretty much set in his mind that if the J&J wasn’t available, he wasn’t going to get vaccinated. That changed, of course.

Oisin grabbed the breakfast buffet at the hotel, did a bit of client work, then checked out. He drove on to Grand Junction civic center where was the only location in Colorado state along the travel route of his journey to Ohio, that had appointments available that were also offering the J&J. He could find nothing available in his destination and home of Denver. At his home in Washington state, he was yet qualifying for vaccination under state rules – so Colorado was his option – his primary home, and he qualified by age. He found that perplexing that in neither state did he qualify as doing food service work (deliveries), having childhood Asthma all his life, potentially pre-diabetic, and overweight. If he was to get the mRNA the 2nd shot would be required approximately 3 weeks after the first – but Oisin was en route for an archaeological survey project in Ohio where it would last beyond the 3 weeks. Add in travel, and he wouldn’t be able to get the 2nd shot nearly for a month and a half. So stressed he was and anxious.

Taking I-70 East, Oisin drove from Fruita to Grand Junction. He was early for his appointment, so decided to put a bit more in his stomach and got a 2 for $4 breakfast croissant’wiches from Burger King. He scarfed them down, then off to Starbucks for a Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino, and two venti Ice glasses of water. He hydrated up while working on client work on Starbucks’ WiFi.

Upon the time for his appointment, he headed over to the convention center. He was greeted and then guided to a desk with questionnaires to fill out. He brought in his allergy list from childhood – when he got the needle-prick-needle-prick up his back, torso, and arms to figure out what allergies he has. He saw “PEG” written on it, and it is an essential ingredient in the mRNA’s … wanted to point out he might have an allergic reaction if he can’t get the J&J. Sure enough, they did not have the J&J in stock for this weekend. The only option was Pfizer. The lead nurse came by to discuss with him as the nurse to inject was a newbie. They discussed his allergies and she assured Oisin that she saw no problem since he once had a cat scan and didn’t have a reaction then. So Oisin contemplated went against his standoff over J&J or none and took Pfizer.

He told them he usually passes out after an injection, so they took him to a curtained-off area, laid him down, and prepped him for his jab. Oisin asked, “Warn me before you inject me” and she said, it’s already done. He felt absolutely nothing, They wanted him to wait for 20 minutes to make sure there were no adverse reactions. There were none, they gave him a granola bar and a bottle of water. He laid down for 20 minutes awaiting an expected adverse reaction and there was nothing. He didn’t even have a sore arm.

After clearing the wait time, they tried to get him to schedule coming back in after 3 weeks. He told them he would be in Ohio doing an archaeological project. They couldn’t not schedule a 2nd shot for over a month later. So he went unscheduled. They said he could drop-in on his trip back and see if he could get a spot. Maybe he could get the 2nd shot in Ohio.

Oisin was a bit anxious about driving 3-4 hours across the Rockies to Denver immediately after getting his jab, but he really didn’t have a hotel budget and needed to get on the road. He continued on I-70 east. Up ahead it was starting to snow and he was a bit concerned about driving safely over the mountains.

Runtime: 4 minutes, 11 seconds.
?oundtrack: Night Cruising by Kapitol.
Day on Magisto, Youtube, or Vimeo.

No pain, no headaches, no body aches, no exhaustion outside of what he usually experiences with cross-country travel. He stayed hydrated. The snow started coming down heavy in Rifle, and he started seeing road closure warnings. Apparently near Vail there was an accident that closed the Interstate for an unknown period. After much contemplation after passing through Glenwood Springs and approaching the closure in Vail, he turned around and headed back to Glenwood Springs. Hotels in Aspen, Vail, and Breckenridge were in the hundreds of dollars for a night. He found a $65/night rental in Glenwood Springs. He figured he would rest and maybe soak in the hotsprings. He didn’t want to car camp after the vaccination. He grabbed a room at the Frontier Lodge, grabbed a fish sandwich combo for dinner from Wendy’s, checked into his room, and slept. He felt exhaustion and the arm started to feel painful after he lied down on the bed. He had a good night’s rest.

In the news, according to the New York Times and NPR – they were broadcasting that Covid-19 testing was on the decline, and that was a big problem. Apparently, a few weeks ago Citigroup was providing at-home testing kits containing a nasal swab, paper strip, and liquid solution to its workers in Chicago and New York. They could get results in minutes. They distributed enough tests for employees to take upwards of 3 times a week. This was a model many companies wanted to implement for free across the country. They wanted it because vaccinations were going slow and they were many months away from vaccinations being the norm – and that testing could help return to normal. But many in the United States are going the opposite direction when offered free testing – they are opting out. The number of daily tests declined nearly 35 percent since mid-January. Everyone knows the Pandemic is far from being over and currently, there are high levels of Covid everywhere. Some believe the drop in testing is due to an increase in vaccinations. Both however should be accelerating in use, not declining authorities stated. Countries like Korea and Australia have implemented mandatory mass testing and it has successfully held down their Covid cases. The United States government is supportive of mass testing, and recently relief bills have guaranteed over $50 billion in funding for expanded testing, including $10 billion for schools. At wholesale, the tests run about $5 each. So the cost is covered currently. Logistics is not, however. Since many hospitals and pharmacies concentrating on vaccinations, there is little staff left for the testing. In addition, the FDA has yet to approve these rapid antigen tests so that has been a roadblock as well getting them out there. President Biden also had promised to hit 200 million vaccinations in his first 100 days in office, so things are a bit of a mess.

In other news, President Biden signaled he was open to significant changes to the Senate filibuster which he felt was being abused – calling Republican efforts to limit voting in multiple states “un-American”. Georgia’s government moments later signed a bill making voting more difficult in the state of Georgia. He addressed the migrant children issue at the border, blaming his predecessor for the overcrowded detention facilities. It was also determined that Twitter, as well as Google’s podcasts, played a role in the Capitol riot.

In the weather, numerous tornadoes swept through the Southeastern United States killing 5 in Alabama. The mysterious object streaking across the Pacific Northwest skies was determined to be space junk.

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