What would you do for a booster?

[vnman]

While some countries are still struggling to get their population inoculated, others are far into their "booster shot" scheme. For some, it is as easy as walking into a pharmacy. Not so much for the Netherlands. Our original vaccination efforts started slow but picked up speed very fast and we had one of the highest vaccination rates in Europe at a certain point. As if we had not learned anything when other countries started with boosters, the Netherlands did nothing and now we are behind the curve again.

After the weekend I'm going on a long trip, which means that I would not get a booster shot until I come back to my country, and this will probably be after two months. Of course, I am double vaccinated 6 months ago and this should still over protecting, but it still didn't feel quite right.

Friday morning I woke up around 04:00 AM and read some local digital news. One story read, "Get Your Booster in Another Country," in which they explained, it would be possible to get a booster. The usual suspects like the USA, UAE, etc.. were listed but to my surprise, they also listed one city in Germany. Aachen. It was only for Dutch people that work in Germany, live in border towns or often visit Germany for relatives and friends. Well, that is me, but my border town is only a 4-hour drive away from Aachen so I wasn't sure if I would qualify. Still, if there was a chance, I would take it, and about 20 minutes later I started my car and went on my way. I hate driving at night but the Autobahn was not busy... yet. I must admit that I was nervous too and had no idea where to go in the city. I asked a German friend of mine to find me an address and send it to my phone.

After an exhausting drive, I arrived in Aachen and with directions from my friend, I could drive directly to the correct location. Inside there were a few people waiting in line.

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We all had to fill out some papers before we entered. I was tired, my body was aching and even more nervous than before. After ten minutes I could go inside, sit at a desk where a staff member across from me checked the papers I had filled out. Everything seemed to be fine. He asked for my proof of previous vaccinations. My last vaccination was on the 5th of June, and they would only vaccinate people who had their last vaccination before the 10th of July. So far so good. Then he asked for my ID, which is obviously not German. I showed my Dutch ID but he said nothing, gave me back all the documents and pointed to the next desk.

At the next desk, a girl entered my information into a computer and told me that I would be getting the Moderna vaccine today. Great! She told me to go to her colleague who in turn directed me to a doctor. The doctor checked my papers and asked me if I had any problems with the people at the front because I am dutch. I said no, and she acted pleased. She said that there had been some confusion but she was happy that it had been solved.

Time to get my shot! Just before she wanted to give me the shot, I remembered that she hadn't asked me anything about previous vaccinations. The papers that I had to fill out coming in had a question "have you been vaccinated in the last 14 days," which I answered with yes. I quickly asked her if the Yellow fever vaccination I received a day prior was not an issue. This stopped her in her tracks. She didn't know and said that she would look it up. Ugh, obviously, it was the right thing to ask, but it would still sting a lot if she would decide not to give me the Jab. Luckily, she didn't find a problem and I got the shot. Phew!

After a 15 minute wait, I went back to my car and started the journey back home. When I got 5 km out of the city, I missed an exit on the autobahn and somehow managed to miss the second too. Taking the third exit, I expected a U-turn back where I came from. However, the navigation system sent me through some local roads and it took a while before I got back on the Autobahn. My windows were dirty and I couldn't clean them because there was no more cleaning liquid. I decided to fill it up at the first truck stop and at that time I noticed that I didn't have my little yellow vaccination book. Ugh, I remembered putting it on the seat next to me in the "recovery room," where everybody has to wait for 15 minutes after the shot.

It was a 30 km drive back but that was still pretty lucky. The security guard had found my booklet and gave it back to me. I could finally drive back home where I arrived around 4 pm, broken. I must say that I felt horrible. All my muscles were aching and I felt fatigued and nauseated. It could have been the Moderna or the Yellow Fever shot. Either way, I have been in bed ever since.

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Thank you, Germany!