Edmund Schweppe

Today is both Massachusetts' state primary election, and the first day I was able to schedule this year's COVID vaccine at my local CVS.

I'd already voted early, so that wasn't an issue. And, unlike last year, there wasn't any insurance company confusion about which version of the vaccine was covered this time.

This year was quick and easy; in, jab, and out. As a bonus, the sweet young thing who gave me the shot was both gloved and masked.

Once again, Team Moderna for the win.

Once the news formally broke that the FDA and CDC had signed off on the latest COVID vaccines, I signed myself up for a booster at my more-or-less-local CVS. The appointment was early this evening, so I hied myself down at the appropriate time and presented myself at the vaccine check-in counter - only to be told that my health insurance wasn't covering the shot, and would I like to spend almost two hundred bucks out of pocket instead? According to the pharmacy tech, the insurers have yet to update their coverage files for the new vaccine. Left unexplained (because the tech had no information) was how CVS' online vaccination scheduling tool, which supposedly specifically checked my insurance status as part of the signup process, let me make the appointment in the first place.

Mumble, grumble, and whiskey tango foxtrot? I'll likely call the insurer on Monday and see if I can get an answer; I have a cynical suspicion, though, that much pointing of fingers and blaming someone else will ensue.

Anyway, I did not get vaccinated today. Which annoys me no end.

I just got my second COVID-19 booster vaccination today.

There was even less drama today that for my first booster back in November, let alone the first and second primary doses back in March 2021. All four of my shots have been the Moderna "Spikevax". I'm enough of an old computer nerd to think that really should be the name of a Digital Equipment Corporation minicomputer line.

Again, I went to my local CVS pharmacy; this time, there was no line at all ahead of me, and I was in and out in minimal time. Alas, CVS doesn't give out stickers or buttons like the mass vaccination sites I went to last March did.

Of course, now all four slots of my official CDC vaccine card are full. Presumably, whenever another booster ends up being recommended, there will be official guidance regarding supplemental paperwork.

I just got my COVID-19 booster vaccine this afternoon.

Unlike my first and second shots back in March, I got this one at my local CVS pharmacy. Easier to get to, but not quite as seamlessly organized as the mass vaccination site at Gillette Stadium; we were lined up in the aspirin aisle, and the nurse was running a bit late. On the other hand, once I reached the head of the line, things only took a couple of minutes and I was out of there once the fifteen-minute observation period ended.

What with the state (and my county) still well into the high range of community transmission by the CDC's calculations, this does make me feel a bit better. We'll just have to see when the next set of boosters will be recommended.

Early in the morning on Tuesday (March 2), I somewhat idly brought up the state's vaccine appointment finder (https://vaxfinder.mass.gov/), expecting it to show its typical utter lack of appointments available. To my surprise, it was showing a small number of slots open at the Gillette Stadium site - presumably because some folks had cancelled their appointments for one reason or another. After several attempts, each of which brought me to a page showing a day's worth of unavailable times, I was able to find an appointment for the next morning (!) at 9:48.

So I toodled down to Foxborough bright and early Wednesday morning. The various online mapping services indicated that it was marginally faster for me to head east and take MA-128/I-90 to US-1 south, rather than head west and take I-495 to US-1 north, to get to Gillette. There are two vaccination sites at Gillette, and my appointment was at the "west" clinic (in the stadium in the Putnam Investments club). Traffic was non-existent, and parking was plentiful. One thing that didn't work perfectly; the directions told me to take the P6 entrance to Gillette, and I couldn't see any signage for P6 from US-1. (Instead, I saw signs for the P9 entrance at a traffic light, made a U-turn onto US-1 north, and took the P8 entrance that the directions specified for northbounders.)

Apart from that minor bit of navigational irritation, though, things went very smoothly. There was a very short line waiting to get into the site, but there were plenty of staff keeping things flowing. They had plenty of check-in stations; basically all I had to do was show one person the registration email and the completed health questionaire on my phone, and then I was heading up the escalator to the vaccination stations proper. Again, there was effectively no waiting, and I got my Moderna shot (and official CDC vaccination card) with no hassles. I spent most of the fifteen-minute observation period signing up (on my cell phone) for my second shot on March 31 - same location, same time - and was on my way home shortly after ten AM.

I haven't noticed any side effects from the shot; I'm going to plan on not being so lucky after the second dose. On the other hand, by mid-April I should be "fully vaccinated" - and in a position to do things like, say, visit my mom.

(Originally posted on March 11. Backdated to March 3, which is when I thought I'd posted this originally. Apparently I didn't.)