One Shot Down, One to Go!

Hello, friends!

Last month, I was talking with some friends who live in Missouri and they were telling me about how the vaccine distribution in Missouri was pretty bad. Every county in Missouri received the same supply of vaccines, which may seem like a fair thing to do until you realize that this means that St. Louis County with literally hundreds of thousands of people got the same number of vaccines as the more rural counties in Missouri with only a few thousand people. Why this matters is that it means that my friends were able to drive a few hours away to rural Missouri to get their vaccinations. 

That got me thinking about if I could do the same thing in Nebraska. Actually, my first step was to see how long it would take me to drive to a Walmart in Northwest Missouri. =0). However, when I did some more research, the health requirements for vaccinations were still in place in Nebraska so that wasn't an option. 

However, a few weeks ago, President Biden set the goal of every adult being eligible for the vaccine by May 1. A few weeks after that, pharmacies in Nebraska who participate in the Federal Retail Pharmacy Vaccination Program, which includes Walmart. So, I went onto the Walmart website and saw that if I was willing to drive to Norfolk, Nebraska, about 2 hours away, I could get an appointment. However, taking a full day off on short notice wasn't possible, even for a vaccination. 

BUT, I did notice that the Walmart pharmacy website only allows reservations to be made 7 days in advance. Which gave me an idea. If I was willing to stay up until midnight Tuesday morning, maybe I'd be able to snag a spot for Monday, which is Megan and my off day. 

Guess what, friends! It worked! I logged on at 12:01am Tuesday morning and Monday was wide open. Added to that, while there were no pharmacies in Omaha that had any vaccine, there was a Walmart in Blair, just 20 minutes north, that was taking appointments. So, I snagged a few spots for Megan and me, and what you see below is a photo of us in line to get our shots! 

We woke up Monday morning, shuffled everyone into the car, dropped Ezra off at school, then made our way up to Blair. The kids were a hit for (most of) the people in line and we were in and out within the hour. They even scheduled our second shot so I don't have to get up early again. =0). 

Understand, the only reason why we were able to make this work is because of the privilege that we have. I have reliable internet access that allows me to get a reservation. I have the privilege of having a job that allows me the flexibility to take time to get vaccinated. I even have the privilege of a car to allow me to drive. Not everyone has these privileges and I'm thankful that I have them. 

My first thought is to offer folk in Omaha the time for me to set a reservation for you. I'd be more than happy to stay up and put your name on a list. However, just recently, Douglas County opened up its vaccination site and from what I can tell, everything locally is happening faster. You can sign up here. If you still need some help, feel free to message me and I'll do what I can do to help!

Have an excellent day!

~Adam