There are many myths that get spread easily, especially in the days of social media. One such myth is that government is always incompetent and the private sector is always (more) competent.
My experience of the vaccination process, my wife’s experience and what I have heard from friends, while it is not a definitive or scientific study, show that sometimes the private sector can get it wrong, while government can get it right.
I had my first injection more than six weeks ago at the Life Kingsbury private hospital in Claremont. My second jab, on Monday morning, was at the Clicks pharmacy/store at Cavendish Square.
As someone who is always trying to abide by the law and regulations, after registering promptly on the Department of Health database after registration for those aged 60 and over opened, I waited patiently for an SMS with details of an appointment. I refused to just walk in before I was called.
My SMS arrived on the afternoon of Friday 18 June. I had to be at Life Kingsbury between 8am and 10am on Monday, 21 June.
It was all fairly well organised and I was in an out in about 90 minutes. There were a few walk-ins, but they had to wait on the side while those with appointments were helped immediately. Apart from standing in a short queue, we were seated throughout the process. We were even offered a free cappuccino while we waited.
I had mild side-effects. I was extremely tired for a day or two and felt nauseous, but otherwise I was fine. I began to worry about my second vaccination because some “ friends” told me that it would be worse than the first.
A few weeks later, I went with my wife to the hospital in Lentegeur, Mitchells Plain, for her vaccination. Despite the long queue when we arrived, I was impressed with the organisation. They moved swiftly and efficiently and were also in and out of there in about 90 minutes. There were also plenty of seats, which is necessary considering that you are dealing with mainly older people.
I received an SMS last Friday evening to inform me that I had to report for my second vaccination at Clicks at Cavendish Square in Claremont on Monday morning between 9am and 11am. On Sunday morning, I received a call from someone at Clicks, checking whether I was still coming and asking me to be there between 9am and 10am.
I was there shortly after 9am and joined a queue outside which, somebody told us, was the vaccination queue. After waiting a few minutes and with no sign of any movement, my wife went inside the shop to find out what was happening. She was told that we had to wait for someone who would tell us what was happening.
While we were waiting outside the shop, there was at least one woman of 85 also standing in line with us. We offered to look for a chair for her, but she said she was okay. Her daughter eventually when to look for someone to speak to inside and she was allowed to take a seat inside the shop.
After more than 30 minutes, someone finally came out and told us to sit on chairs just inside the front door or the shop.
We waited there for probably another 30 minutes. One of the shop attendants came to check whether we needed vaccination cards and I told him that I already had one. He said that was fine.
While waiting there, no one came to ask us who had appointments and who were walk-ins. The most painful thing about the wait was probably listening to the canned music that retail shops – because this is what Clicks is – routinely play. I don’t know the psychology of it, but I am convinced that if you played the music backwards, you will hear then urging you to “buy, buy, buy”. But seriously, having to listen to the Spice Girls and others of their ilk so early on a Monday morning is just not on.
After waiting for more than an hour, we were finally told to go to a counter where we were registered, our details taken and told to wait to be vaccinated. The woman at this counter told me and another man who had been there since 9am that those of us with appointments should have come through immediately. There were quite a few “walk-ins” who were vaccinated ahead of us.
She did not ask me for the proof of my appointment, but she did ask for my medical aid details.
She apologised before sending me to Sister Nokulunga Zulu who handled my vaccination with friendliness and professionalism, in stark contrast to the way I had been treated up until then. The vaccination itself, like the first one, was over in a minute.
As I left the sister, I was told by a shop assistant that I had to go sit for 15 minutes in the queue at the pharmacy, among the people waiting to receive medication from the pharmacy.
No one came to check up on me, unlike at Kingsbury where there was always a nurse or nursing assistant asking if you were okay. Two guys who were vaccinated after me just walked away without waiting the required 15 minutes. But, like I said, I am law-abiding, so I waited.
At the end of this process, I found myself thinking about why it is that people always think that corporate is always better than government. Here was a clear case that proved that this is not always the case.
Since I have had the vaccination, I have had many friends and associates asking me how I felt and whether I had any side effects. I have not felt any side effects, except feeling a bit tired immediately afterwards and my arm feeling a bit painful a day or two later. Contrary to expectations, the second vaccination was more comfortable and less painful than the first.
I am glad I got the injection when I did, and I am under no illusion that I am now completely safe. In fact, I have seen some people referring to themselves as being “fully vaccinated”. I don’t think that is possible. But I am glad that I have taken the first step towards protecting me and my family. I don’t intend to start partying, and I will still wash my hands regularly, sanitise obsessively and keep a safe distance from other people and mask up.
My vaccination journey might be over for now, but the battle against the coronavirus is far from over.
(Written especially for this website on Thursday 5 August 2021)
Sister Nokulunga Zulu administers my second vaccination on Monday morning.
