I hope that everyone is having a wonderful weekend. Here in Pittsburgh it is cold, but it is going to be warming up here this upcoming week.
I wanted to make this post a little more personal for you because this past Thursday, I went and got my first Dose of the Covid 19 Vaccination. I know that everyone has been experiencing different reactions from these doses. In this post I am going to talk about the how everything when with the process of scheduling and getting the actual shot. I am also going to describe about how I felt after receiving the shot.
SCHEDULING:
The scheduling process can be overwhelming for sure. The best advice I can give you with this is to try to stay calm and do not let it get you stressed out. I was so stressed when scheduling that I was getting upset when a slot will fill up because I was too slow putting in my information. But, when I chilled out and just tried to stay relaxed when filling out the information, I found that it was flowing better and I was able to snag my appointment.
If you area is giving the vaccines out at Rite Aids near you, there are a couple things to keep in mind:
- Spots tend to open up for the upcoming days around 12:00-12:30 am. I know it is late for some people, but if you are a night owl like me this will benefit you.
- There is a website that I am going to list. This website is for Rite Aid only and it will allow you to pick your state from a drop down bar, if your state is currently doing vaccines at Rite Aids. Keep this open in a separate tab. This will refresh every 5 minutes. If an opening for an appointment is available it will let you know the location of the store, when the screen last refreshed, and how long the appointments been open for. If something says its been sitting around for 15 minutes it most likely is gone. Here is the link: https://www.vaxxmax.com/?fbclid=IwAR2aYlJfky6tLvT0HU2esjraHhnypDq1o2whrXoo3W_kB-kgudfWg4Qgl24
- You will also want to have a tab open for the Rite Aid scheduling. You want to have all your information in for the qualification page in and submitted. You will then be sent to the appointment scheduling page as long as you qualify. Leave this tab open on that page so that way its all ready for when you see what location is open that you are trying for. This page will not time out or expire so you can let it sit there! I will link it here : https://www.riteaid.com/pharmacy/apt-scheduler
GETTING THE SHOT:
I really felt that Rite Aid handled the whole process extremely well. I was told not to come in until 5 minutes before my appointment time. When I walked into the store, there was a table at the front for me to check in. I was able to sign in. I had to give my drivers license and my health insurance card for them to make a copy. I was handed all of my paperwork and was walked back to the waiting area. They had about 8 chairs spaced out for us to sit in while we waited. It was not overcrowded and the chair were never all full at any point while I was waiting. I only waited about 5 minutes past my appointment time.
When I was called back, the person who was administering the shot asked me which arm I wanted the shot in. She told me when my next appointment day was and that it was going to be for the same time that I had mine today. This was a great move on their part because it keeps us from having to reschedule and work the times all around again. The shot that I received was Pfizer. I was given a bag with my paperwork for my next appointment, the vaccine card, and paperwork about an App that could be used to track my symptoms.
The shot went so fast and I really didn’t even feel it. When I was done they told me to just stay in the store for 15 minutes but I could be walking around and shopping. I asked if I had to check back in and she said that wasn’t necessary. She said that if I were going to have a reaction to the shot it would happen in the first 5 minutes and there are plenty of people around the store to help. I set the timer on my watch and didn’t feel anything so when the 15 minutes were up I left.
AFTER THE SHOT:
I really didn’t have anything happen after the shot. I did notice that my arm was sore about 6 hours after but it was nothing more than when I get my flu shot. By the next day there was not any pain at all!
I hope that this has been helpful to you! Let me know how your first shot went if you got one already. My second shot will be on March 25th. I will definitely make another post about that because I am feeling like there will be more to say about how I was feeling after it.
I hope that you all have a great day and continue to stay positive.