STATUS - CORONAVIRUS VACCINE PROSPECTOR

Once Doctor Anthony Fauci rolled up his sleeve to receive a Coronavirus vaccine injection, my mission became to follow suit. I hurried to call Walgreens--my prescriptions and vaccinations hub. Instead of asking me, as usual, what day and what time, the pharmacist referred me to an appointment sign-up site with undetermined date of availability. As if the site is on cloud 9 and the cloud is not destined to evaporate and drop down the blessed cargo.

Desperately I started to sift through heaps of emails and reflect on calls and pieces of advice on when and how to sign-up for vaccination. Public service announcements specified dates and procedures, classifying the US population into groups numbered: 1, 2, and 3; sub-grouped in phases a, b, and c. As soon as I ascertain my placement in the classification, subtle and seemingly justifiable changes occur.

What boggles the mind is figuring out how many vaccines are available for how many millions of people, and how many doses are to be injected into how many arms. Being unable to meet the mathematical challenge raises my hopes of eminent vaccination up, or tumbles them down. It does not succeed in smothering my hopes to the point of shutting-up. Quit phone-calling and questioning. Relax!

Waiting for things out of control to happen is a torture! Here is a list of things I find my systematic, well-organized self, doing these days:

•   Continuously thinking of what else to do.
•   Detecting and picking up specks from my floors.
•   After masked walks, debate for 10 or 15 minutes whether to swallow a Claritin pill or wait for my nose to stop dripping.
•  Adjusting the temperature in the house for the second or third time.
•  Measuring my reading progress. Let me see, the book is 420 pages, the bookmark is inside page 118, 302 pages remain.
•  After reviewing my to-dos on the calendar for the fourth time and aligning it on the wall, going around the rest of the house to check the alignments of the tens of artifacts hanging on my walls.
• Making sure that I have replaced the bookmark back inside a book.
• Stepping out of my front door to pick up some potted herbs for my tea, then heading out immediately after to check on whether the herbs need watering.

Occasionally though, I catch myself with a smile on my face. A thought floats to my mind. Once millions, including me, are vaccinated; we will be  fear–free. We’ll find peace and comfort in each other’s presence when our paths cross.