Joining the Vaccine Rollout
When I wrote my last post, COVID in Shanghai: March 2021 Update, I had been unable to make a vaccination appointment. I was unsure why at the time, but it looks like the vaccine rollout to foreigners was just intentionally slow to get going, and the first few days were quickly fully booked (maybe even at midnight?).
My wife and mother-in-law got in touch with our local community officials, who promised to give them a call when more vaccine slots were available. And they actually did! We got the call on Friday, April 2, and I was able to follow the exact same process I followed before (using the official online system on my phone). This time there were appointments available. I was able to schedule one of the very next day.
A few photos:
So yeah, I’ve had one shot of the Sinopharm vaccine, and I’ll be returning for a second shot 21 days after the first. Vaccinations seem to be proceeding quite swiftly here, with foreigners and the elderly alike all signing up.
Getting in touch with the local community sounds like a smart move. The booking via app looked so easy, advanced and effortless but the fact that you choose one location before knowing if there’s any availability and you do not get notified if any new spots open or if there’s any opening due to cancellation is dumb dumb dumb dumb.
so it gets down to friends saying: oh, check this place it seems that they added new dates, and you cancel the booking and make a new one, and cancel again, and make another… I fiddled with it for a while and I eventually gave up.