25 February 2021
When Caller ID announces Kaiser is calling us, we assume it's for Joyce. I was on my way out the door to my mother's to repair her kitchen pendant light after 60 years of service when Kaiser called yesterday.
"It's Kaiser!" I yelled up the stairs to her. She picked it up. "It's for you!" she yelled back.
Indeed it was. A nice woman was calling for my doctor to schedule a Covid vaccine for me.
I'd gotten an email from my doctor's nurse asking me to schedule a video visit for my annual wellness exam. And I'd replied to my doctor that I would but I have nothing to complain about.
I asked about bringing Joyce too and she asked for her Kaiser number and five minutes later we were all set.
I had already reported my weight and blood pressure to her on request. What concerned me were the usual round of blood tests. But, caring for two elderly woman (as I put it), I was worried about unnecessarily exposing myself to the virus at a medical facility.
She sympathized and suggested we do the blood tests after I'm vaccinated. She listed three options for getting the vaccine.
The most likely option was the first. An eventual invitation from Kaiser to book at its University of San Francisco site. But they were still issuing invitations to people over 75 years old.
"Sometimes we get a bonus shipment out of the blue allowing us to outreach patients and them in ASAP -- I'll keep you in mind if this happens," she wrote.
And so the nice woman called.
"The 25th or 26th?" she asked.
"March?"
"No, tomorrow or Friday," she clarified.
I asked about bringing Joyce too and she asked for her Kaiser number and five minutes later we were all set. Friday afternoon we're both getting the first of our two-stage vaccine shots.
There is no in-home vaccination program in San Mateo County for my mother. And her doctor doesn't do in-home shots either. Nor does her in-home nursing outfit.
Several sympathetic friends have offered to drive her to some facility or other but they don't seem to account for the problem of getting her up and down the stairs.
Imagine breaking a hip just to get a vaccine.
She is not much exposed to the virus at home with only two people regularly coming in and always masked (as she is). A fall on the stairs is much more likely.
So we're hoping an in-home program is announced as more vaccines become available.