I had registered for myself and my mother to get our first COVID shots a couple of months ago on the Tarrant County website. Our turn came up for Wednesday March 3 at the Hurst Conference Center in Hurst, TX. I had never been there before, but if it was like other conference centers in the area, I knew it was going to be BIG. My mom is 75 and can't get around too well, so I was a little nervous about how much walking would be required.
Hurst is about a 20-minute drive from my town, so that was not a problem. We made it there without getting lost (which is amazing because, even with a GPS, I can get WAY lost. It's a gift). We followed signs that said, "Vaccine Entrance Line" in a large parking lot with those orange cones everywhere - you know, like a human cattle drive.
So, I followed a car into the lot and around all the cones. We ended up being spit out on a main street instead of a vaccine line. I finally figured out that the actual event was occurring across the street, and so we made our way over there. My poor mom was confused and kept asking me, "Are we still in Texas?" jokingly.
We pulled up to the drop-off covered area and gave our paperwork, which we had filled out previously, to the man in charge. He took a Bingo dauber out and marked both of our papers. He then told us where to park and where to go in.
I was surprised that the parking garage was far from full! Of course, our appointment was at 5pm. So, I parked and asked my mom to stay in the car while I went to find a wheelchair. These conference places are so big, I just had a feeling I would need some wheels for Mom. Luckily, I was able to grab one just inside the entrance doors, so I went back, got Mom and wheeled her into the building.
There were at least 2-3 more "checkpoints" where they daubed our paperwork in different colors, and then we were sent to a person who looked us up on the schedule, asked a few questions, daubed a new color, and then showed us where to go next.
THAT was where the long walk would have been for Mom. We walked down a long hall to a set of elevators and went up a floor, just to go down another long hallway to the large room where vaccines were being given.
To my delight, many of the tables had open spaces for folks getting vaccines, so we got sent to a table pretty quickly. After another paperwork scan and daub, my mom was asked to pull up her sleeve.
For those who haven't had the shot yet, they give it to you in your deltoid muscle, super close to your shoulder. Well, Mom was wearing a sweatshirt and two other shirts under that (she's always cold). So, I helped her get one side of her sweatshirt off and pulled the sleeves of the other shirts up as far as I could. Fortunately, the wonderfully funny staff member was able to give the shot and then ribbed my mom about wearing her entire wardrobe to just make it difficult for him! It was hilarious.
It was my turn next, but I only had one layer on, as it was close to 70 degrees outside. He gave me the shot, which I barely felt, and then had us wait for 30 minutes to make sure we didn't have a reaction to the vaccine.
That was it!
The next day, both mom and I had big, swollen knots on our arms which were pretty sore, but the knots have gone down, along with the pain, in the last few days. We got a card that we'll have to bring back in around 28 days to get the second shot.
If you have registered for your shot with Tarrant County, I'd advise you to get a later appointment time in the day. All those cones were for earlier in the day when they had a 3-hour wait. Mom and I were out of there in about an hour, and the staff was very pleasant and helpful.
Be safe! Get vaccinated!