Covid-shield….haircut…
The Manipal Hospital Parking slip registered the in time of 09:36:42 and the out time of 11:02:58 dated 10th March 2021, indicating the chargeable parking time of 01h:26m:11s for my car.
That was precisely the time I spent to get myself the first shot of Covishield there. Half a milliliter of mysterious decoction pricked on my left arm, giving me the tremendous morale boost to face the world with renewed confidence.
I came to know a few days back that Manipal Hospital has been authorized to administer the Covid vaccination. Being close to my house, I casually visited it today to make inquiries about vaccination. The entire arrangement was so systematic, efficient, and straightforward that I came out vaccinated instead of only getting informed about it. It felt like going to the nearby hairdresser only to check the Sunday morning crowd and coming out with a stylish haircut instead.
The staff at the registration counter was customer-friendly, courteous, and efficient. Two Sisters who managed the vaccination room were kind-hearted, and one of them actually gave my heartbeat a small skip. As she was entering my details into the register, I enquired,
“How many people are you vaccinating every day, Sister?”
“Around 800 per day. But it is increasing now”. She replied.
Then I asked her the question which many people would have asked.
“I am sorry to ask this,” I said, “But I have to ask it. I won’t obviously run away from here without taking a shot. That is the promise. But please tell me. Honestly. Of those couple of thousand people you vaccinated so far, how many have developed serious adverse reactions to the vaccine?”
She looked up from the register, gave me a sweet smile from behind her mask, and said reassuringly,
“Hardly any. Some small pain in the arm, some mild headache, some light fever, but generally nothing severe.”
“Great!” I said. “That is reassuring.”
She went on by putting a helpful rejoinder.
“The old people adjust to the vaccine very well. Generally no reaction reported. However, some young people in our staff who got vaccinated as a part of health worker vaccination drive earlier did develop mild to severe reaction.”
“Gosh, young people?” I exclaimed. “You are frightening me now. In that case, I really need to worry.”
The real smart sister burst out laughing. She held the register for me to sign in and naughtily asked,
“So what do you want to do, sir? You want to run away or would like to sign here?”
I laughed, gave her a thumbs-up, took the register, signed my approval for vaccination, got vaccinated, and came out waving goodbye and wishing a nice day to both of them.
Life really moves fast. 14 days from now will be the first anniversary of the beginning of the biggest lockdown in Indian history. I remember the anxieties and tensions we all experienced. Staying indoors in total social isolation. Searching illusive solace in lighting lamps and beating thalis. Worrying about the paucity of hospital beds, oxygen cylinders, and ventilators. Getting frightened at every scream of ambulance siren passing nearby. Worrying about why we are doing everything else but not focussing on inventing the vaccine. Doubting whether we can produce the vaccine in such a massive quantity in a short time. Looking helplessly at the statistics of Covid infections and deaths. God!
And today, in unimaginably fast, unexpectedly quick, and astonishingly simple manner, we all are getting vaccinated.
As we were sitting in a hall for mandatory post-vaccination observation, an old gentleman around 75 years, walking with the help of a stick, asked the attendant sister,
“Don’t you have any display board where we can stand and take photos?” He obviously wanted to post it in his school friend or family WhatsApp group.
The sister said, “Of course, we have.” She ran somewhere and brought a kind of placard with a large heart-shaped opening in the center and writing on top which read,
“I got vaccinated for Covid. I am a proud Covid warrior now.”
What followed was great fun to watch. Each and every senior person in their sixties and seventies made a beeline for holding the placard and getting photographed. What was supposed to be a tense vaccination event turned into a kind of spontaneous celebration. It was mesmerizing to see the buoyant human spirit in that small hall. And I am sure that what I saw there is happening in hundreds of vaccination centers across the country.
That is India! 1.3 billion people and still things happening so systematically. No confusion. No commotion. No anxieties. No false worries. Only the immense faith in our medical system and eternal hope in life. Felt indeed proud to be an Indian, as ever!
NB: Only older citizens got themselves photographed in front of the Covid board. That explains why I could not attach my photo here. 