#StickittoCOVID in Elrose, SK

Once the province decided to open the availability of the vaccine to the people in my age group, I noticed that the pre-appointment bookings on the SHA were booked up at both the locations in Saskatoon. It was interesting to me that the ones near Saskatoon, i.e. Kenaston were also booked up. The town of Elrose, SK and Plenty, SK at the time were the only ones in the SouthWest which had open slots for appointments. 

Why not use this opportunity to "reclassify" my vaccine trip to a road trip? I had not been down to the Rosetown, Elrose area in a very long time. Other than the fact that there is no longer a STC bus service down to those areas, I doubt anything else has changed. 

Prior to my trip to Elrose, I received 2 text message alerts on my phone indicating a change to the location of the clinic and an appointment reminder. I left home about 2 hours ahead of time assuming that it would take only an hour and a half to get to Elrose. I did not stop anywhere not even for a coffee and managed to get there 4 min before my scheduled appointment. 

Overflow parking on the Northside of the Memorial Hall

I was surprised at the number of people who turned up to get vaccinated in that small town. I did not take my mobile telephone into the Memorial Hall where the vaccinations were being administered for the sake of peace and quiet when I got the jab. 

Getting the jab i.e. the first dose was a simple task. At the door, I was asked to change my mask to a medical one issued by the SHA by a member of staff. Another member of staff asked me a couple of COVID-19 related questions, which included questions such as if I had recently been in contact with someone who had contracted the virus etc. 

The next step was to get registered at the reception desk which took less than a minute as I had my Sask Health Card on me. Once that was done I was directed to a member of staff who administered my first dose. The entire process took less than half an hour including the 15 min monitoring period. 

The jab was not painful at all. It took a little longer in comparison to the flu shot. I was then given a few things. One was a sticker which said "I Got My COVID-19 Vaccine!" and the other was a card titled "Record of COVID-19 Immunization" which included information such as my name, date of immunization, date of second dose (TBA) and vaccine manufacturer. There was a note at the bottom of the card which read "HCW: Please report your immunization to SHA OH&S." which only applies to health care professionals and not regular folk like me. That particular statement was a little confusing considering they used a lot of acronyms and on first glance it looked as if you had to report getting the immunization to the SHA (Which does not make sense, because you booked the appointment through the SHA and the Government of Saskatchewan and therefore should automatically have the information). 

On the way to and from Elrose, there were a couple of things that I had noticed. The roads in Elrose are in terrible shape. Highway 4 from Elrose to Rosetown is not great i.e. not smooth. The highway from Elrose to Dinsmore looks better than Highway 4. Rosetown has a new "Tim Hortons" with a drive thru. Many of the restaurants in Rosetown seemed to be open for business. On the way back 

This trip was a little extra challenging for me considering I had a night shift the day before and the night shift the same day. It was as if I had gone to sleep at 9:00 pm, woken up at Midnight, gone for a 4 hour drive and gone back to bed at 4:00AM to wake up at 7:00 AM for an 8:30 AM shift. 

Even though I did not feel any pain or aches for the first couple of hours, it started to ache and it seems to be normal side effect according to the vaccine after care literature. On the way back, I had to stop at a gas station for refuelling and asked the pump attendant if she had gotten her shot. She said that she and her husband had received their shots but seemed to think that this whole COVID thing was overblown. In spite of all the differences in opinion we may have it seems the best way to beat the virus is herd immunity which I assume is around the basis of 80% of the population getting fully vaccinated. For more information on the Government of Saskatchewan vaccine rollout visit: https://www.saskatchewan.ca/COVID19-vaccine#utm_campaign=q2_2015&utm_medium=short&utm_source=%2FCOVID19-vaccine

References:

"COVID-19 immunization alert effective May 1-3: Drive-thru and walk-in schedule" Saskatchewan Health Authority (Apr 29 2021) available from https://www.saskhealthauthority.ca/news/releases/Pages/2021/March/COVID-19-immunization-alert-effective-May-1-3.aspx Accessed 05/07/2021 

"Health Care Worker return to work assessment" Saskatchewan Health Authority available from https://www.saskhealthauthority.ca/news/service-alerts-emergency-events/covid-19/general-info-health-providers/Pages/Health-Care-Worker-Return-to-Work-Assessment.aspx Accessed 05/07/2021

"Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine After Care." Saskatchewan Health Authority Printed literature Apr. 23 2021