Poagao's Journal

Absolutely Not Your Monkey

Nov 15 2021

2nd shot

Last week I was notified that I could get my second vaccination shot, so I made an appointment for Thursday afternoon at the Hong-En Clinic on Renai Road. I could have done the big-hospital scenario that I did for the first shot, but I wanted to see what the small clinic experience was like, and if possible avoid the huge crowds and long lines that marked my first shot. Thursday was a lovely day, weather-wise, and I took a series of buses, walking along Renai as it’s a nice road to walk down, but for all my delaying tactics, I was still an hour early for my 3 o’clock appointment. So I continued down Renai, past the site of the first Burger King where I used to enjoy their special lemon pies when they’d just arrived in Taiwan, and over to the forested traffic medians of Dunhua near the traffic circle. There I sat on a stone bench and watched the workmen across the road tearing down the building that had housed the wonderful Eslite Bookstore where I’d spent many a late night browsing books, sitting on the floor enjoying the classical music that they would play there.

Around 3 I took a circuitous route back to the clinic, half expecting a long line, but there was none. Immediately upon entering I was asked what my vaccine choice was, and was directed to a nearby chair, where I filled out a form, got the shot, and was told to wait upstairs for 10 minutes, whereupon I could go. This time I actually felt the shot, unlike the first one, but it wasn’t painful. Perhaps it was because this time I was actually paying attention.

After about 15 minutes of waiting I took my leave, walking in the general direction of the subway, stopping at a Family Mart for some water as the nurse had told me to drink a lot of water, before hopping on the MRT back home.

The next day I felt exhausted but still went to work. That afternoon I took a bus out to Sanchong to participate in another radio interview with singer Tsai Cheng-nan on his show. David Chen was nice enough to invite me, but I wasn’t terribly talkative, and went straight home to rest afterward. Saturday I had a low fever and slept a lot, but Sunday I was feeling well enough to go to practice for our upcoming Ramblers show at the National Concert Hall at the beginning of December. The side effects of the second vaccine were definitely stronger than the first, but still not too bad, and in a week or so I’ll be considered fully vaccinated, possibly even more so as I waited nearly three months between shots. At least until we need boosters.

The government has announced that people who got Medigen vaccines could get more widely recognized vaccines if they need to travel in the near future, as Medigen has yet to be very widely accepted for travel. Taipei has nearly complete first-shot coverage and almost 50% full vaccination at this point; hopefully the rate will continue, as I suspect we will have to open up our borders eventually. I’m ok with staying on the cautious side until that point, however.

Naturally the international media have continued their weird “reporting” on Taiwan, with the notable exception of John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight piece. It was surreal to see the media reporting on Oliver’s piece utilizing the very questionable practices he was mocking them for, seemingly completely unaware of how unprofessional it made them look. Even foreign reporters actually stationed in Taiwan have been doing it, and protesting when called on it. I hate to see it.

In other news, this ancient site is undergoing a bit of a much-needed overhaul thanks to the generosity of a friend of mine who for now will remain nameless. It may not seem apparent now but things should be more stable with fewer broken links and weird behavior, and I have some ideas for further improvements down the road. To all of you who have been with me here for the last 20-odd years, I appreciate you and look forward to what comes next.

posted by Poagao at 12:21 pm  

1 Comment »

  1. I’ve been trying to re-activate the comments section, just on the off chance that anyone still reads this account.

    Comment by Poagao — November 22, 2021 @ 7:59 pm

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