Thread by @RenamedPM

Had my C19 vaccine today (first dose). Hutt DHB. Here's my experience of how it all went.

Overall I wasn't too impressed with the initial booking process, but everything else has been extremely well executed, and exceeded my expectations.

I was asked to book my vaccination appointment a couple of weeks ago. That booking process was extremely manual, involving emailing identity & organisation information to a community provider I'd never heard of, then waiting for a callback, which occurred a few hours later.

This phonecall confirmed all the same details from the email again, then organised the appointment for two weeks later (today). Friendly enough, but terribly inefficient and opaque.

The vaccination centre is a large room, clearly partitioned into areas that follow the vaccination workflow. As soon as you walk in, there's a greeter who ensures you've signed in (app or paper register), provides an informational leaflet, and directs you to a registration desk.

The registration desk ensured I was feeling well before proceeding, asked my name in order to locate my booking in the system, and then asked DOB / physical address to confirm my identity. They then directed me to sit in the waiting area and wait for my name to be called.

The waiting area is just a large open space, with chairs spaced about 1.5m apart. They're calling people by first name only - this caused some brief confusion when someone else in the room with the same name as me was called, but easily resolved by the usher checking the surname.

After my name was called, I was directed to a nurse in one of several booths, who greeted me, checked again to ensure I was well, and verbally provided some basic information about the vaccine. She seemed knowledgeable, and answered the couple of non-generic questions I asked.

The delivery itself was a simple jab, similar to the flu vaccine, and delivered to the arm of my choosing without any fuss. The nurse filled out my vaccination card with time, date & vaccine batch number, then directed me to the admin desk in a second waiting area.

The exit admin desk immediately booked my appointment for the second dose, exactly three weeks hence. I was then asked to wait for 20 mins, and then my name would be called and I'd be allowed to leave. They were keeping a decent eye on people waiting to ensure everyone was OK.

Once my name was called, I left, taking an info leaflet with me.

The vaccination data will apparently be automatically sent to my GP; no need for me to do that. Time, date & location of second appointment (same place) also written on my vaccination card, which I should bring.

Overall, other than the initial booking process, I was very impressed with the efficiency of the process. All the staff at the vaccination centre were friendly and knowledgeable, and the process was very easy to follow. Well done👍.

Happy to answer questions about my experience.

@threadreaderapp Unroll this, please.

Q: Can I have my flu vaccine now?

A: No. Must wait for flu vaccine until at least two weeks after the second C19 vaccine dose. The nurse proactively advised me of this before giving me the shot.

Q: Which group am I in?

A: I was vaccinated as part of group 2, because of one of the clients I work for. I would otherwise have been in group 4.

Bit odd - neither myself nor my client are frontline - but not turning down the opportunity to get in early & avoid scale-up issues.

Q: Did I need to sign a consent form?

A: No. The documentation indicates that people should be asked to sign a consent form, but I was never asked this, and I didn't see any around. I am unsure of the reason for this discrepancy.

Q: Did they use your NHI?

A: Yes. That was one of the things I was required to email them as part of the initial booking process two weeks ago.

https://twitter.com/martinhector1/status/1389484431044268037?s=19