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My crazy Vaccination Adventure

One Thursday morning I am doing an Internet search related to the distribution of vaccines in Lazio, the region where I live. And among the first results comes a piece of news that does not respond to my research, but instead fully covers my main need: to get vaccinated quickly.

Open Day Over 30, in the small province of Rieti.

No reservations are required, just show up there, queue up and receive the single-dose vaccine. It hadn't been too publicized and, for this reason, getting to the news by pure chance was a fantastic stroke of luck.

There were actually three Open Days: on Friday, on Saturday and on Sunday. The Sunday one, for someone like me who travels by public transport, from Rome would have been quite inaccessible: Amatrice, the place from which the famous “amatriciana” takes its name. But with a little bit of effort it was possible for me to try my luck for the two sessions on Friday and Saturday.

I start on Friday, without my wife, who couldn't because of work. Instead, I have some flexibility with the schedules. But how to get to a place that was born as a small urban agglomeration on the sides of the Via Salaria?

I try to find a link to Osteria Nuova , this is the name of the place where the vaccines will be administered. I try and try again, but I don't find great solutions: until I notice that I can combine a train to Passo Corese with an extra-urban bus. Useful experience, because Passo Corese is the place for the next day's Open Day.

Let's go! I have very tight timing: I leave home at 11:00, 200 administrations are scheduled and they will start at 14:00.

At a brisk pace, I go towards the station to catch a train that I cannot miss, but in my head I have more than anything else the concern that the train would be the one to arrive late. It doesn't happen. I get on it, I'm still on schedule.

And I'm already at Passo Corese, I have to look for the bus station, but I have a good margin of about twenty minutes. In the meantime, I can eat a piece of pizza as a very quick lunch. I await the bus: it arrives on time too. Maybe I'll be lucky enough today, but time remains very tight.

I get on the bus and ask the driver: “Excuse me, I'm not from the area. I should go to Osteria Nuova, near the local Health Center, can you tell me where to get off?" My hero (and I'm not ironic) replies that I don't want to take his bus, which takes a very long ride through villages and mountains. “There is the direct one from Rome that goes to Rieti. It will arrive in ten minutes." I am amazed, I could have got away with only one vehicle, but I could not find it in any way.

It seems fair to point out: without that driver's tip, I would not have vaccinated that day. Because, despite the fastest connection, I arrive at Osteria Nuova at around 1:20 pm, about forty minutes before the start of the Open Day.

While I look for the vaccination point following the map, I think that “After all, it's Friday afternoon and people are working. Like my wife! Also, they didn't spread the news so much, surely there won't be many people." I walk and, in fact, I don't find anyone on the street, as it's normal at that time of the day at the end of May in Central Italy.

I am more and more hopeful, the last climb, the last corner. Here we are, right now I turn, I see the facility, it must be that, just a few more steps, come on...

And there the colorful patch of young men and women. An orderly and decently spaced herd attempt, for those who aim to achieve herd immunity. "I'll never make it!" I think

My boldness had dissolved, shy and humble I approach the young people who are holding some sheets of paper. "Have you compiled a list?" I ask. The answer is yes.

Now, the Italians are perhaps familiar with this procedure, but it is appropriate to provide a minimum of explanation. When reservations are not possible and people reach the desired facility before opening, people usually civilly agree to create a self-managed arrival list with pen and paper, writing their name and surname. It used to happen often, at least before the pandemic, in many of the offices that don't arrange access with appointments. In this way, at the actual opening, the official numbers for the queue can be assigned according to the list managed by the service users themselves.

In my case, I don't expect to have any chance, but I still make an effort to ask: "What number have you arrived at?" Incredibly I'm in! For a little, very little, but I'm in! It is 2:15 pm and I finally have my official number in my hand: I will be vaccinated around 7:00 pm. I have five hours of waiting, in which I can roam around.

After providing the numbers, one of the vaccine administration staff asks: “But how come all these people at today's Open Day? Why didn't you go to the previous ones? "

The answer is not long in coming: “Of course! It's single-dose! " The guy of the staff smiles.

In short, the demonstration that even in a very serious situation such as that of the pandemic, communication and marketing are always necessary. Even those of vaccines. Yes, because if some will look first at the effectiveness of the vaccine itself, others will look at the possible side effects. But, close to the summer, it is reasonable to expect that someone will also consider the timing. Especially when it comes to young people.

And here is a youth like I haven't seen for years. This place today is teeming with young people and I don't think it is so used to hosting them. I pay attention and listen to the most disparate reasons: the most common is of course the desire to be able to return to travel, but there are also those who have combined personal and economic needs. For example, there is a beautiful girl who has to attend some events in June, including two weddings. And thanks to the vaccine she will be free, without having to pay for tests. Then there is the one who has problems getting work permits and asking once is better than twice.

And I? Why am I in such a hurry?

Well, maybe it will surprise you, but I don't really like traveling that much. 🤥 Yes, I move from time to time, but in the end, I am happy that for a year and a half my movements have been limited, so I no longer have to spend hours researching, booking. Finally I am not forced to see wonderful places, to taste delicious and always new dishes, to immerse myself in surprising cultures and to broaden my horizons. Finally my weeks fall into the blessed routine. So why the vaccine?

I've always had a lot of vaccines. Before, when I was a fool and used to travel. And the vaccines have given me some small advantages. Protection from disease? Yes, that's obvious, but that's not all. For example, the yellow fever vaccine enabled my night vision. The tetravalent one, on the other hand, allowed me to talk to some animal species. Yes, they are nice powers, but basically not that useful. Instead... Instead! Only the COVID19 vaccine can give you immediate access to 5G!

And can you believe it? No more telephone operators, signal wherever you are. End of roaming abroad. End of the hassle of having to carry your smartphone around. With 5G built into the brain, all of this can become a reality. I will be able to do home banking only with the power of thought! Cool!

In any case, the time had not come for me to relax: I had discovered the bus to get there by accident. Logic said there would be others for the reverse route as well, however I couldn't find the timetables. My vaccination, in fact, would have been after 19:00, I could have even exceeded 20:00 before I could leave. And so the risk of staying on the Via Salaria was real.

There is a cafe, I ask the staff if there is a B&B nearby... You never know. I thought I read a sign somewhere. They confirm that it exists and try to give me a direction. But it's not that close, I keep asking the few passers-by. Someone gives me more details, but the result is that I only end up in the middle of the pleasant countryside of Rieti.

Since I'm not vaccinated yet, I can't even use 5G. And then, unfortunately, I have to use methods that are "so 2019": I have to look for accommodation nearby on my smartphone. I find one, about a kilometer from where I am. I call and explain the whole situation. With extreme kindness (and against her own interest) the woman who answers me informs me that she does not know the timetables, but that until late in the evening there should still be buses to return.

I can conclusively solve the problem by finding the transport company's customer service number. I will have to go back to the stop again to get the stop number, but it is a walk that I love to take. And so they can confirm that I will be able to return. And again I have to thank the Cotral staff, who saved me twice in the same day. This time giving me all the times of passage towards Rome at the specific stop.

It's almost 5:00 pm, but it's two hours to wait with a smile on my lips. I sit down, have tea, eat ice cream. Near the cafe there are a few other shops that have decided to offer dance music of the late nineties and early 2000s throughout the day. Among the young people Over 30, I am at the extreme end of the range (the one tending to old age, of course), but so I feel welcomed among the real youth, having been suddenly sent twenty years behind. And young are also the conversations I hear around me, more projected towards the future than towards the past. I absorb them, I fill myself with expectations too. Waiting for my turn is not a burden.

Before I know it, I'm done. The staff is very kind, I hardly feel the injection. I am vaccinated. Fifteen minutes and I can go. I move towards the bus stop at a brisk pace, but I am already a few minutes past the scheduled time for the passage. I hope for those five minutes of delay, which would save me almost an hour of waiting. I hope too much, I almost confide in them. And then I understand why: it is the 5G that unconsciously begins to take effect and connects to the GPS system of the bus. Which actually arrives immediately after me, as if waiting for me. I go home, tomorrow I will repeat this for my wife.

Zero side effects: so I can get up again at 5:00 in the morning, to be in Passo Corese at around 7:15. Being Saturday, I knew very well that forty minutes early would never be enough. It starts at 9:30, but the 200 numbers on the list are already reached around 8:00. My wife is in the 200s, she will make it too. The staff is so good that from the vials estimated for 200 doses they can get almost 240, thus allowing them to pick some people on the waiting list. It had happened the day before too, but it's no longer a surprise to me. In fact, when I take my wife to sign up for the list, I explain that I don't need it. "I did it yesterday." I say

And that's where I turn into a mythological being: The Vaccinated! It really exists, then! The guys approach as if I had some aura of charisma and virtue. Someone asks me how it works. And I, as a good "vaccine prophet", divulge.

Here things proceed even more rapidly. My wife got her appointment around 3 pm, but by chance we pass by around noon. And, since things are progressing ahead of schedule, the staff lets nearby people in, as long as they are booked. My wife disappears inside and after a few minutes reappears in the waiting room, for her fifteen minutes of observation.

But it is a particular waiting room. its chairs, perhaps to ensure the distances, are also arranged outside, so that I can talk to her. And not just with her.

Youngsters plan the rest of the day. At a certain point one of them wonders: "But can we go for a spritz?" And doubt pierces the faces of many guys sitting there. A girl stands up and says, “Alcohol? I'm going to ask." And she disappears inside for a while. The air thickens, for the guys it is an interminable couple of minutes, because the aperitif and Saturday night are at risk. Then she returns: "I have to give you bad news: at least three prosecco, not one less!"

*** Aside from the joke, it would seem preferable to moderate alcohol consumption before and after vaccination ***

Hearts go back to joking, they go back to laughing, go back to life.

We then go back home, still by train. However, I declare it immediately: for the next pandemic, I would like a vaccine that would make me sprout wings. I count on it.