It was about time to get a new COVID shot, and Novavax just came out with their updated vaccine (for Omicron, I think). So I looked to see where I could get it. The options in Colorado Springs were CVS and Costco. There’s a CVS a couple blocks from my office, so I went on their website to make an appointment. The questionnaire got as far as which vaccine I wanted, and when I selected Novavax, it said no appointment was necessary and to just walk in and talk to someone in the pharmacy.

So on Tuesday I clocked out for lunch and drove over to the Target that houses the CVS, the same one where we got Paxlovid. Even though it was the middle of the day, there was unfortunately, a line. I wasn’t sure if I was picking up or dropping off, so I just stood behind everyone else. It was finally the elderly woman in front of me’s turn, and it was taking the pharmacy employee at the pick up desk a long time to figure out the least expensive way to fill the woman’s prescription, running it through her insurance, with her coupon but without her insurance, and with both. The other pharmacy employee manning the drop off desk became available. I said I’d like to get a COVID Novavax shot.

“Uh,” she said, glancing at her coworker, still holding the elderly woman’s coupon, “You’ll have to talk to Nancy.” So I backed up to indicating that I was waiting in the pick up line again.

When Nancy had finally sorted the elderly woman’s issues, 20 minutes later, I finally had the opportunity to ask her for the COVID Novavax shot. “Have you made an appointment?” she asked. No, I explained that the website said for Novavax to just walk in and talk to a pharmacy personnel. “Just make an appointment for any time this afternoon, and we’ll go ahead and give it to you.” I checked the website on my phone, but it still said I couldn’t make an appointment for Novavax, but Nancy had rushed off to do something else. So I filled out all of the information on the website, and it told me I had an appointment for 3:30 for Pfizer. By the time Nancy had finished administering a shot to someone else, she came back and said, “Were you able to make an appointment?”

“Yes, I said, “But it would only let me make one for Pfizer.”

“That’s right,” she answered, “We only have Pfizer.”

“But it said you had Novavax?”

“You want Novavax?”

Turns out they did have Novavax, and I’m guessing this is the first one Nancy had administered, because it took her a while to find the information she needed on the packaging to input it in her computer system. I finally got my jab (I elected to go for the left arm to keep up the right, left, right, ones I’d gotten previously. It stung right away.

I was pretty happy the next day that I did not feel lousy at all, though my neck and lower back started aching. The next day my neck and back were really hurting, and the injection site had turned into a very itchy goose egg.

Five days later though, everything went mostly back to normal, with the swelling at the injection site going down and my neck and back stopping hurting.