About a month ago, my office manager, John H., signed me up to get my COVID-19 vaccine, which was very exciting - and he got me a slot at the Javits Center, where we've been many times with a booth at New York Comic Con. The only problem was, the earliest available appointment there wasn't until the end of March!!! What? I've got to walk the NYC streets, day after day, for two more months, blocking the little coronavirus droplets from getting into my nose?
Fat chance - so, naturally, I committed to staying inside as much as possible, except to walk 5 blocks every day to my studio and occasionally to the store. A pretty dreary life...but I must say, I've gotten a lot of drawing done for "Slide".
Meanwhile, my producer, Rachel, was checking for earlier vaccination appointments through various healthcare systems online - you apparently have to start looking for them very early in the morning, because by 10 or 11 am any open slots usually get filled up. Then, of course, the news broke that Trump lied about the amount of vaccine that was on hand, it turns out there was no reserve, and he didn't order as much for the country as he could have! So some states, including New York, went through all their doses and had to start cancelling appointments everywhere while they waited for more vaccines from the government. Suddenly it seemed like a good idea to keep that Mar. 31 appointment, because it was a sure thing, and maybe by then there would be more doses arriving.
Then, just last Friday, I got a phone call from my buddy, and brilliant animator, Signe Baumane, about open slots at the Armory in Northern Manhattan. Apparently they had just gotten a big batch of the Pfizer vaccines, and there was nobody showing up to get their shots. And if I hurried up there (a short subway ride) I might be able to get a shot.
When I got there, the place was practically empty. I only had to wait 15 minutes to get registered, and prove that I qualified because of my age, then I got the needle in my arm. I didn't feel a thing, and in fact it felt very good to get the vaccine. I was smiling all the way home, now I can sleep peacefully at night. I'm already booked to get my second shot, in three weeks - and I feel so free and easy now.
I think there was some controversy about this vaccination site I went to, because at some earlier point people from New Jersey or Connecticut were getting shots there, and there was concern that the local population was being under-served. By the time I got my shot, I believe they were reserving 60% of the shots for neighborhood residents, and they had added some Spanish-speaking volunteers and hotlines to make the process easier. The other 40% of their doses were going to other qualified NYC residents, including my age group - so by traveling uptown, I didn't jump the line or take somebody else's dose, I had an appointment and everything I did to get the shot was legal and legit. Then we cancelled my March 31 appointment to free up my time-slot at the Javits Center for somebody else.
I know some people might be having a hard time scheduling appointments, especially older people who might not be very good with computers and web-sites - and that's exactly who's qualified to get the vaccines right now! All I can say is, keep trying, and I feel very lucky, and it's great to know people who ARE good with computers!
Here's my gag cartoon for today's edition -
Bill P.
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