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I've joined the ranks of the more than 150,000 in the Interior Health region who received at least their first dose of the COVID vaccine.
As a 56-year-old healthy, white male, I wasn't on anyone's 'most vulnerable' list for a jab.
But I did qualify for the province's new special pharmacy campaign for those aged 55-65 to receive the first needle of AstraZeneca.
The province's regular aged-based vaccination schedule is now allowing those 65-plus to make an appointment to get either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.
BC decided to utilize pharmacies to fast track AstraZeneca for the youngest of the baby boom generation because it had stock of the vaccine recommended for use of those age 55-plus.
AstraZeneca has gotten lots of publicity for very rare instances of blood clotting in younger patients.
Pharmacist Ranka Krunic of Your Independent Grocer in the Capri Centre in Kelowna took care of both me and my wife, Kerry.
She said the pharmacy received 200 doses on Monday and quickly started to make appointments for those who qualify from phone calls and drop-ins.
Currently, there may be a few appointment times left and the pharmacist might even vaccinate someone who drops by if there's time and available doses.
As we left the pharmacy, we were told we'd get a text closer to the date to make an appointment for August 3 to receive our second dose to be fully vaccinated.
The online booking system Loblaw was using locally for its stores -- Your Independent Grocer, Real Canadian Superstore and Shoppers Drug Marts -- didn't seem to be working and was putting everyone on a waitlist.
That's why the pharmacy at Your Independent Grocer is operating on a first-come-first-served basis.
Technically, we're still on the Loblaw waitlist from Saturday.
We snagged our Tuesday appointments by physically going to the store on Monday night and inquiring.
I tried to phone before that but no one answered because of the high volume of calls.
My wife and I's quest for a needle in the arm started on Friday when we heard the Pharmasave in downtown Kelowna had received AstraZeneca and would be making appointments online.
Obviously, we were slow off the mark because we were put on the waitlist immediately.
When I called the pharmacy, and miraculously someone answered because the phone had been ringing off the hook, I was told we were probably behind 100 others on the waitlist.
So we started to seek other options, which led to being put on the waitlist for Rexall in West Kelowna and Costco in Kelowna and poised to make an appointment online with Pharmasave in Mission Park.
A little despondent, we resigned ourselves to likely having to wait until the first week of June when our government-sanctioned age-based appointment would come up based on the registration we filled out earlier this month.
So, the moral of this long story is don't give up and try every avenue for a vaccine.
The latest polling indicates 80% of adults plan to get vaccinated, up from 63% in October.
The jump is likely due to the fact people are realizing life can't and won't go back to normal until we're vaccinated and can put this pandemic behind us.
It's estimated 70-90% of the population must be vaccinated to reach herd immunity.
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