Normally this blog is all about our travel experiences, but this time am writing about an entirely different drive - to the hospital for a flu shot! 2020 has been nothing like we've experienced before and this year's Flu Shot was no different.
Am typically a medical agnostic, so if nothing is hurting I give the medics a wide birth, but this year with the COVID casualties all over the world we decided to err on the side of caution and take our flu shots early, so as soon we got the annual reminder we decided to go that very week. We chose to go on a Friday afternoon around 3, so that it was not crowded and school would be done for that week by then and we could rest and recover over the weekend.
The best part was that our healthcare provider, Kaiser Permanante was offering a drive in flu shot. So we drove up to the closest KP facility offering the flu shot, and queued up in the car, in the parking lot. Unlike other times we were able to wait in the comfort of our own car and listen to music and chat with each other, so I was able to keep my usual needle panic at bay. I was even able to be distract my son who reasonably gets a little jittery when I start to panic.
We had our masks on in the car and were directed to a parking bay with stations set up at a 2 car distance from each other. Once we reached our station we presented our healthcare insurance cards and proof of Id to the tech. She checked our birth dates with us and then calmly prepared the injections. She gave us our injections with the windows rolled down, put on the little band aids and we were done! She was really good and we felt so brave that we treated ourselves to ice cream shakes :)
I hope this helps keep us safe and helps the healthcare workers to stave off preventable sickness this winter. It not even 2 weeks since then and already experts say we are in the winter surge of COVID and number are up gain. If you are reading this in 2020 and haven't had your flu shot we strongly encourage you to get one, so we can all stay strong and safe. Also I think the drive in system for getting injections rocks and if I ever want another shot I want it that way ;)
