The local high school was one of the designated Point of Dispensing (POD) sites and I had heard a rumor that they were giving out vaccinations on a first come – first served basis. I decided to go by there and look into it and check things out. Maybe I could pick up a pamphlet that described the plan and I could learn more about what was happening. When I got there I noticed there were no signs telling people where to go, except for a single butcher paper sign next to a side door that said “Enter.” A policeman was wearing a reflective blue vest standing guard next to the entrance door. A long line of people went from this door on out to the street corner and then the line turned down the sidewalk and went along the other side of the building. I walked over towards the line and a small boy was walking past me to avoid getting in line. He looked up at me and I just said, “Hi.” He didn’t respond to me, he just kept on walking. Like everybody else, he was not too thrilled to be there and would rather be at home.
A public health worker was talking to people standing in line and she was explaining that there were no vaccines available for the general public and they did not even know when they would get any. All they had was a small shipment of antiviral drugs that had come in earlier on a helicopter and those medicines were being given to selected individuals who were already sick. The dispensing was being allocated according to triage rules. This meant that if you were sick but might be able to survive without getting a vaccine, you would not get it. On the other hand, if you were sick and might not survive because you were already too sick and the vaccine would be wasted on you, then you would not get it. Only those who were sick and actually needed it in order to survive, and it might work for them, would be the higher priority for receiving it. A doctor would take a quick look at you and make the decision. A few people walked away after hearing the news, but most stayed in line, hoping the situation would change. I asked the health worker if she had any information to hand out, and she replied, “No, we ran out.”
One man coughed a deep cough that sounded like he had fluid in his lungs. I thought that if any of these people were not already sick they sure were going to make each other sick standing here. Some women had small babies in their arms and I wondered why anyone would bring babies here, of all places? Then I saw an elderly black woman who could only take small, slow steps in her white house slippers. She had two younger ladies holding on to each of her arms, and one of them closest to me said, “Come on Grandma.” They still had a long way to go to get to the end of the line, and all for what? After that I had to leave. As I turned to walk away I thought to myself, the humanity...how could we have let this happen to us? I’m not one to be crying very much, especially for people I do not even know, but I started to have tears in my eyes. What’s happened to humanity? A terrible thing has happened to humanity! A heavy cloud of gloom came over me and I felt a weight on my shoulders. I felt the presence of death. I had a premonition come to mind that this long line of everyday people would soon become a line of black shadows of doomed people. The more I thought about it, the deeper it sunk in and I became overwhelmed with emotion. The death clock was ticking, the grim reaper was watching, so I put on my dark glasses to hide my teary eyes and went home.
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