Mark Blevis

If you’ve followed the news about the H1N1 vaccine clinics in Canada, specifically Ottawa, for the last while, you’re probably completely confused. I was. The information about the vaccine and the news about the efficiency and effectiveness of the clinics was anything but positive. Some reports suggested five hour waits for a vaccination.

I haven’t gotten the flu shot for about five years, around the time that Andrea and I found out that the vaccines contain mercury as a preservative. We learned this fact the day after we had our two daughters, then five and three, vaccinated. When we told our daughters we would never do that to them, again, our older daughter asked why mercury wasn’t good for them, but it was good for the adults in her life. I couldn’t argue with that logic.

This year is different. With Andrea heading into chemo, my family needs to do everything it can to ensure that we all stay healthy. Where possible, we need to eliminate potential ailments from the running.

That’s how I found myself sitting in my car outside Tom Brown Arena at 5 a.m. this past Saturday. It wasn’t that hard to get myself moving at that hour since I haven’t been sleeping through the night for the last few weeks. I expected there to be a long and established line when I arrived. It turns out there was only one person ahead of me. He had already been there for an hour expecting the same concert-event-of-the-year lineup I was.

People really didn’t start arriving until after 6am. The clinic was scheduled to begin distributing wristbands at 7:30 a.m. The wristbands guarantee you a spot for the vaccination clinic and even block you into a time frame so you can return with your family and not have to worry about a long wait.

A cheery attendant marched through the lineup tent around 7 a.m. and belted out a friendly “good morning”. He asked if everyone was comfortable and if we all knew the order of the line. His energy level re-energized the crowd and he announced that he would be back shortly to begin handing out the bracelets.

He returned and began handing out the wristbands at 7:15 a.m… 15 minutes ahead of schedule. I got my four wristbands and was told to return at 9 a.m.

I went home to my family, had a shower and ate some breakfast. When I returned for the vaccination clinic with my family, I was able to reconnect with the folks I’d been hanging out with before the sun rose and even introduced my daughters to a few of them. It was all very friendly — and not just the people waiting for their H1N1 vaccine, but the people receiving the public, the ushers, the nurses, the volunteers… everyone was pleasant, cheery and genuinely concerned that everyone feel welcome and attended to.

We left the clinic with our antibodies 9:45 a.m. We wouldn’t be reminded of the clinic until about 4 p.m. when our arms started to hurt.

So, if I’d arrived around 6 a.m. instead of being unnecessarily early with my 5 a.m. arrival, I would have waited a grand total of 90 minutes for my four wristbands. That’s it. The remaining 45 minutes was all about processing, getting our needles and waiting out the 15 minute post-vaccination “health watch” period.

Kudos to the clinic staff and a heartfelt thank you to everyone who went through hell to make our experience a great one.