CAMBRIDGE — When the call from the Dorchester County Health Department finally came, I felt as though I’d won the lottery.
“Are you still interested in getting a Covid shot?” the kindly female voice on the other end of the phone line asked.

“Oh, yes, I certainly am!” I replied, adding, “You’ve made my day!”
About two months earlier, as the raging Covid-19 pandemic was about to enter its second year, having killed almost half a million people in the United States alone, I applied for a shot at the Health Department website, dorchesterhealth,org. A friend in her 80s had done the same the week before and netted an appointment within days.

Every day I scanned my email, but no acknowledgment came that my application had been received. My relative good health and age – not as senior as some – must have marked me as a lower priority, I concluded, and vaccine supplies were reportedly scarce.

I waited another week, then started to worry that I might have filled out the application wrong or pushed the wrong key on my keyboard and sent the form into oblivion. I filled out another application online, but still got no reply.

Meanwhile friends left, right and center were getting their shots – friends older than me; friends with a history of serious medical conditions, like cancer, making them potentially more vulnerable to the deadly virus; a younger friend who worked in the educational system.

More weeks drifted by with no sign I hadn’t somehow slipped between the cracks. I was starting to feel irrationally discouraged.
Then, in mid- or late February, an email came from the Health Department. They’d had my application and asked for patience, saying supplies of the vaccine remained very limited.

Waiting
Light at the end of the tunnel! But then, more weeks went by with no sign the logjam was moving.

Meanwhile I’d read news reports about seniors around the country spending fruitless hours online, searching for vaccination appointments. Some were even traveling outside their home states to get shots.

A friend said her sister, slightly older than me, had discovered Walgreen’s in Cambridge had vaccines. She’d applied on their website and got the shot. But when I applied, as well as at Walmart websites for Cambridge and Easton, I got: “No appointments available.”

Even my primary care doctor’s office turned me away, saying they wouldn’t be vaccinating until summer.

Every now and then, I would re-apply at the Walgreen and Walmart sites, without luck. I spent many discouraging hours hunting for an appointment.

In early March, I had a phone call from the Health Department saying the County would have more doses of the Moderna vaccine soon and I wouldn’t need to wait much longer.

The next day, minutes after I’d stepped out of the shower with dripping wet hair, the phone rang and it was the Health Department saying they’d had a cancellation. Could I be at the Hyatt Regency Resort vaccination site in 30 minutes?

Even if I could have jumped into the car immediately, it would have taken me 45 minutes to drive to the Hyatt. They said they would call back and make an appointment for me in a few days.

When they did, the appointment was set for March 9, at the Hyatt’s Blue Point restaurant. I was asked to bring my insurance information.

On the day, large signs showed the way through the resort to the converted vaccination center. Two cheerful Maryland National Guardsmen, masked and wearing camouflage pattern uniforms, greeted me at the parking lot, checked my name off a list and gave me a buzzer that would alert me when it was time to enter the building.

Inside, 10 minutes later, two Guardsmen took my temperature and details. A Guardswoman retrieved the buzzer and a Health Department staffer asked for my insurance card and handed me a form to fill out.

Apprehensive

The restaurant, a large airy space, with many windows, had spectacular views of the Choptank. Sunshine sparkled on the water, a blue, cloudless sky hung above. This must be the most beautiful place in the world to get a Covid shot, I reflected. I was grateful to be there, not at a pharmacy or the hospital.

Next, I saw a volunteer nurse who asked me about my medical history. Then, a nurse practitioner from the Health Department, Kristie Gauck, handed me over to the staff nurse administering the vaccine, Valerie Laureska.

Yes, I was apprehensive – who likes getting a shot? – but Nurse Valerie’s calm, welcoming manner put me at ease. When she gave me the shot, I felt barely a prick, less than a mosquito bite.

Afterwards, I was asked to wait in the dining room, where about 30 other seniors were seated, socially distant, waiting for 15 minutes in case anyone had an adverse reaction to the vaccine.

Last came an interview with Health Department staffer Juan Hernandez, a genial, relaxed professional, like all his colleagues I met that day. He made an appointment for my second dose of the vaccine, in April, and patiently answered my questions.

He told me seniors tended to have less of a reaction to the shot than younger people. He was 47, he said, and after his shot, he had had body aches and a fever the next day, a sore throat and headaches the second day, and a sore throat and ear ache for a few hours the day after. Tylenol and Advil had eased all the symptoms, he added.

A bit sore

My friends who got the shot before me experienced only a sore arm for 24 hours. In my case, the soreness felt like I’d done too much pruning in the garden or too much scrubbing the tub. It started a few hours after the vaccination and lasted until halfway through the next day. I also had some minor aches, dispelled with an aspirin.

For anyone wanting a Covid shot: Don’t sweat over trying to get an appointment, just wait patiently and, if you’ve applied for it, they’ll call you. Supplies have suddenly increased. When I returned home, there was a message from the hospital offering a shot. The next day, Walgreen’s called.

If you haven’t applied for a shot, you can do so at dorchesterhealth.org.

Drink plenty of water before and after the vaccination and don’t worry about side effects. Whatever you may get, it’s infinitely better than the real disease and easily treated with over-the-counter medication.

What I remember about my vaccination is how many kind, competent and pleasant people I met under one roof that day and what an efficient, streamlined operation the Health Department and National Guard organized. It couldn’t have gone better.