Sometimes, complaining works. There was quite a bit of movement on the Covid-19 vaccine eligibility soon after I posted about probably waiting many more months before getting a shot at a shot.
Acquiring A Jab
The doctor I was seeing (and by seeing, I mean I have seen her twice ever since I moved here) decided she didn’t want to do tele-appointments. Since she’s in Paris and I am not, it would involve many hours of being on trains and walking around Paris to see her, which is not ideal for an immunocompromised individual during a pandemic. Then she also decided to have someone else take over her appointments recently, and it’s probably not someone who speaks English. I’m not too upset about it; she wasn’t super friendly or anything. But it meant I’ve had to look for a new doctor.
After a long while of searching, I found a doctor in the big town nearby (I live in a small village with a larger town accessible by train) that claimed to speak English. If I could get a prescription for the vaccine, I would be eligible. Then as I made my appointment , France announced that any adult with serious health issues could get the covid vaccine even without a prescription if they brought an attestation claiming their medical issue . (Attestations are just letters or forms you sign that mean you really for realsies aren’t lying and you swear by your honor, whatever the hell that is supposed to mean. The French rely a lot on the honor system.)
Upon hearing that news, I jumped onto Doctolib (which is how most people make doctor’s appointments, and also how most of the vaccine scheduling happens right now) and there were miraculously open slots just 4 days after my doctor’s appointment. (Doctolib prompts you to schedule your second shot at the same time, so another appointment was made for 6 weeks later.) So now I didn’t even need the prescription, but having heard reports of workers at the vaccine centers being confused about rule changes (rules in general), it wasn’t going to hurt to have one.
The new doctor was very nice and we managed to muddle through with her terrible English and my terrible French to get all the prescriptions I needed, including the vaccine prescription. 4 days later, it was time for my jab.
Getting Jabbed
My friend came along with me, so no extra faffing about with my not understanding anyone and their mumbly French. (It’s also how I know the dudes checking people in at the door were being a bit rude about me looking too young to be there.) The vaccine center, in the big town previously mentioned where most chores happen, was taking place in a small community sport center. They check you in, you fill out some forms, you play musical chairs with a moving queue, you see a doctor who checks off your forms, then you play more musical chairs, and then it’s time for the jab. The lady who jabbed me was very good; I barely felt the needle.
I got the Pfizer vaccine (Pfizer and Moderna are the only two approved for my age group). What shot you get seems to be really interesting to people. I guess it’s something to chat about? Then you get your little band-aid and put in a waiting area where you sit to make sure you don’t immediately have a bonkers reaction. 15 minutes later you have a stamped form and you are free.
The Afterjab
As soon as I was outside and walking, my chest started to feel tight. My friend and I had gone grocery shopping before my appointment, so we were hauling caddies of groceries around town which would maybe explain the sudden inability to breathe properly. I had also double-masked (as is my usual for anytime I’ll be inside somewhere with other people) which makes it very hard to breathe when you are doing anything that isn’t calmly standing or walking. It just wasn’t my usual type of asthma attack where I feel like my throat is closing up. This was more like an elephant was sitting on my chest and I couldn’t get a full breath (or whatever a full breath is to someone who never really gets a full breath).
It cleared up within 20 minutes, and I was fine the rest of the day. And the next day. So I doubt it had anything to do with the jab, but if it did, I probably would have been fine if I weren’t hauling cat litter and pasta sauce across town (I wasn’t hauling only cat litter and pasta sauce, those were just two heavy things I thought of that were in my bag. They are unrelated items.) directly afterward.
After a few hours my arm got sore, but now it’s the next day and there are no issues besides the aforementioned arm pain that feels like someone punched me really hard. Breathing scare averted.
If you need help getting a jab in France, there’s some decent info here. And after this week, anyone over 18 can sign-up for left-over shots. The Covid-19 vaccination program here had been until this month what I would call an embarrassment, but the French don’t seem to know how to be embarrassed or take blame for anything. We’re lucky it’s finally accelerating, considering France has already announced inviting in vacationers from the US while right now I think here in France we are at about 14% of the population being fully vaccinated.
My second shot is in the middle of next month. As I was writing this, my friend here in the village just booked a slot next week for her first.
Slowly, slowly, jabby-jabby.
