Reflections by Elaine Carlson

Recently I got my second Covid 19 Booster. I booked my appointment on the NM Department of Health website. They let me decide when I would get the shot (I choose 2:30 PM on a Friday) but not where I would go. They sent me to HMS (Hidalgo Medical Services).

When I got off the bus I realized there were big buildings on both sides of the street. HMS certainly looked like a medical center you could expect to see in Los Angeles or Chicago. Or maybe in Albuquerque or Las Cruces. But what is it doing here in Silver City?

I went through the big door on the corner and I was happy to learn I was at the right entrance. I was also happy the NM DOH assigned me to HMS. They were very good to me. As soon as their employee called out my name and told me to go to Room 135 she and others saw I was disabled.

A security guard came over and said he would help me walk to that room. When he held out his arm I gratefully took it. As we went into a hall I could see the first room on the right had the number 189 on it. Even though I had an escort I despaired of having to go on a long walk, But the woman announced Room 135 was the second door on the left. It was sure nice I didn't have to go past 189 minus 135 divided by two rooms (and then go back after getting the shot).

It might have only been a short distance but I felt like I was a member of royalty as the security guard escorted me to Room 135. While there I thought of my experiences getting (and not getting) vaccines for a variety of diseases. .

I came of age before there were vaccines for the childhood diseases. So I came down with Measles, Rubella (German Measles), Chicken Pox and Mumps. And I was lucky I didn't get polio. A lot of children got polio in many outbreaks before the polio vaccine became available.

In the second grade I got the Salk Polio Vaccine in the school's gymnasium after walking in a long line past doctors and nurses jabbing us students in the arms. Later when I was a teenager I got the Sabin Polio Vaccine in the junior high school gymnasium. Tiny cups of the vaccine were set out on tables. People just had to get into very short lines to pick up one of those tiny cups. Nurses watched as people swallowed the contents.

I was glad I didn't have to get into a long line at the Silver City High School's gymnasium to get my shot. I was also glad the NM DOH didn't give 100 people the same appointment slot at HMS. I am sure staying in a crowded waiting room until my name is called wouldn't be any better than having to march in a long line. And just to be vaccinated?

I know the Covid 19 Vaccines aren't perfect. One of the reasons I know is regularly a friend will email me with the information about the famous people who get the virus even though they have had the vaccines. He told me the First Lady Jill Biden tested positive before I saw the news account.

Johnny Depp once said, I'm not sure I'm an adult yet.

Unlike the actor Johnny Depp I don't feel any uncertainty about referring to myself as an adult. Isn't being cautious and taking responsibility for your health part of what it means to be an adult? And I don't need a 100% Guarantee to feel that way.