Vaxxed and vexed

Except for some drowsiness as side effect, the first jab we had of Sinovac went smoothly. We spent a total of less than an hour at the SM Baguio parking lot for the procedure. There were just a few people in the area. It was a totally different scenario yesterday. We were advised by the Baguio LGU to report at 12 noon and to be prompt. We were there at 12:01, the delay caused by the crowd at the entrance-exit doors. The area where the seniors were assigned to was crowded--monobloc chairs were barely one foot apart. I wondered why there were young-looking adults beside us. One turned out to be on dialysis. The Trip to Jerusalem arrangement took past an hour before I got my turn to have my oxygen and other vital signs checked. I was half fuming inside because of the lengthy wait so my blood pressure shot up to 160/89. Later, it turned out our area was reserved for extreme seniors, those with walking canes and wheelchairs, but sturdy seniors were mixed with our group. The strong ones were led to another area of the lot. A mix-up in communication, but it caused irritation and delays again. From where I sat, I saw that there was only one person administering the injection, and he was alternating between those having their first jabs and those having their second. I looked at Rolly Fernandez and tried to read his eyes. He wore double masks under a face shield so he seemed hard to fathom. Later, he told me that if he had been shooed away from his seat, he would've told the security guard that he was my caregiver, and I needed his physical presence and support in case I might lose my footing and stumble. Sweet! In fairness, as they would say, the volunteers, registered nurses and doctors were all pleasant and even-tempered in the face of irritated seniors. We finally had our lunch at half past two. And boyoboy were we ravenous! I tore through my grilled chicken and gulped down spoonfuls of chicken macaroni salad. When we got home, we climbed the stairs to our bedroom and without undressing lay down to rest. Too much in a day. As Rolly said of the big crowd (almost the size of what you'd see at a college convocation assembly or commencement rites in pre-COVID times), "Queues are signs of inefficiency."