We might ALL get vaccinated soon :-)
And if you're an anti-vaxer you can stop reading right here and sod off.
You are wasting your energies with me. Go off and find another part of the Internet to pollute.
:-)
Dear Son and I were on standby yesterday at 9 am as this week's tiny reservation availability window opened online for our age group.
He was manning the reservation website on the computer.
I was womanning the website accessed thru the Japanese social media application LINE, after "Friending" Sapporo City.
"Website busy. Please wait".
And wait.
Dear Son makes two rushes to the toilet, leaving me, nervously, to monitor the two "Please Wait" screens. He came back on duty.
Wait.
Ping! After 25 mins the screen of my mobile phone changed and we were IN to the vaccination booking site. Frantic scrolling and stabbing fingers at the screen....and minutes later we had reservations for him and me this coming weekend at a local community center.
Yay! We are FINALLY joining the Covid 19 vaccination program.
We think. There seemed to be no system for a confirmation email. But we believe we have made a reservation...
And THEN! Phone call from Okaasan's current hospital! They have unused vaccines, can we give permission for HER to receive one soon?
Yes! Of COURSE!
Very good day. Excellent day.
Japan has been shockingly slow at vaccines. A shock to people around the world AND Japanese themselves, who have this image of Japan in the 21st century as being a high tech - high service country.
But no. A whole slew of factors destined us to a long, long wait. The country doesn't MAKE vaccines, it wanted to run domestic tests on all imported vaccines (but the tests were tiny and meaningless), then only doctors could administer the vaccines, then there weren't enough mass places to do them....then local governments expanded the program...then the government hadn't ordered enough to meet demand...then reservations were cancelled...and on and on...
There's a history of vaccine hesitancy in Japan too, after side effect debates and legal fights about mandatory vaccinations (MMR and HPV) in the past 30 years. And many people don't actually read a newspaper or watch mainstream Tv news at all, getting their information off internet sites. One of my Japanese friends - who is a bit "out there" in her beliefs about health and the search for personal happiness - shocked me with claims about vaccinated arms and magnets/spoons can stick. She'd "seen it on YouTube". I came home, stuck a teaspoon to my sweaty, non-vaccinated arm, took video and sent it to her. And distanced myself from her on Facebook and, I'm afraid to say, in person too.
Sigh. I guess, like the Friends actress Jennifer Aniston said - this Pandemic has opened up chasms in many of our relationships. Made us revalue what someone believes, and how much they attempt to push their beliefs on others. We've maybe all had run ins with family members/friends/colleagues on this subject. It's another source of stress on a never ending stressful experience.
Anyway. Dear Son, me AND Okaasan should be getting vaccinations soon. And for me that is a good thing.
Yay! Vaccination shots for all three of you! The way to get an appointment sounds comical, but you do what you have to do. I didn’t have a problem getting into the site, but because it was only in Japanese, I had difficulties figuring out where to go and ended up registering at a hospital at the top of a hill, with bus service only in the morning and late afternoon (twice a day), and 90 minutes from my apartment on foot. It worked out okay, I got some exercise, and have had both shots now!
ReplyDeleteOh my!!!! At least you got two health benefits from the same experience :-) I heard a few people purposefully made reservations at out-of-the-way clinics - mental health places usually - BECAUSE they were hard to reach and it would be easier to make a reservation. But those people have cars!
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