Log in

Wiegand: Vaccine center is efficient

Posted

This is a case of tax dollars well spent.

My wife and I recently made three trips to State Farm Stadium for her first and my pair of COVID-19 vaccine shots. The entire experience goes against the often-stated position that our government does not do its job well.

In this case, the state of Arizona and specifically the Arizona Department of Health Services have put together an efficient and smooth program to meet the needs of the population to get these vaccines into the arms of everyone as quickly as possible.

This all started with using the online patient portal. While it was somewhat complicated, it did an excellent job with a complex situation involving proving identities and then providing multiple dates and times to arrange appointments that fit our personal schedule.

The system immediately sent a confirmation email followed by reminder emails as our chosen dates got closer.

The next time we experienced the government’s attention to detail was the excellent signage directing us to the actual location near the stadium. This included overhead signs on the 101 with instruction on what exits to use and then multiple signs on 95th Avenue as well as strategically placed traffic cones at the entrance. Additionally, information was available on the car radio as noted in signage as we drew closer to the site.

The next few minutes was another example of this well-thought-out plan. People with flags and flashlights quickly moved us through a series of switchbacks to the first of several stations in the parking lot. Each one performed a specific task from verification of identity to explaining exactly what was taking place.

With 10 lines and two at each station giving the vaccines, it was obvious that they were able to provide immunity to many people in a short period of time.

More personal contact after receiving each dose answered many of our questions before we could even ask them. With a 15-minute wait to make sure we had no major reaction, we were sent on our way. Only 22 minutes had elapsed from the time we turned off 95th Avenue until we were back on 95th and on our way home.

It is obvious why President Biden and Vice President Harris took a virtual tour of this operation. It is a model of how all states need to take on this task.

This experience only touches the surface of the entire operation as we never saw the many people behind the scenes filling syringes, ordering the numerous accessories like gloves, bandages, and cotton swabs as well as then disposing of the thousands of pounds of used items.

This is our government at its best and we are proud of them.

David Wiegand
Sun City West

COVID, vaccine, site