SWMBO and I had our 1st Pfizer jabs at Sydney Olympic Park mass vax center on the 30th June. On the day/time that we were there it was organized mayhem, with the system / digital check-in down, and everything being done with paper forms. I felt for the NSW Health team, but many others had trouble minding their anger (including my frustrated SWMBO, who I had assured about a smooth process to look forward to... lesson learned there!
).
We parked at the nearby P3 lot about 30 mins prior to our 1:30PM booking time, and made our way across to the centre. On arrival we found a large queue, which snaked around from the entry and up Figtree Dr almost to Olympic Blvd! We then found a support staff member who said this was the 12:30-45 queue, and we needed to go around to find the 1:30-1:45 queue for our group. The 1:00-1:15 queue ran alongside the building down Australia Ave and up Herb Elliott Ave, and we joined ours about 50 metres down that, in an already lengthy adjacent queue. They said they were running about an hour behind to appointments.
Staff walked up and down and sighted appointment times on slips and devices to ensure we were in the right queues, and indicated that these were slower than usual check-ins due to the digital method not being available. They did indicate it was still quite quick though, once underway with the check-in. True to what was said earlier, our group started moving about an hour after we first had expected to, and we were ushered in with coloured stickers to indicate what shot we were there for. Everyone was directed to the physically distanced waiting area and given paper forms and pens to complete the same detail that was given on the booking pre-registration online (as that wasn't accessible by check-in or nurses). Before we could fill in more than a few fields on the forms, we were called to a nurse station for our shots. We completed the remainder of the form there, and a brief consultation and a few questions later my wife and I were done and moved into the observation seats for about 15 mins.
We left the centre at about 2:45PM. I have to say that given everything was being done manually, it was still quite a solid operation. The team did well in tough circumstances, and I hope they don't have to deal with that too frequently, although a chat with a mate who had done his 2 shots in the past month indicated he had an experience of each, as well - the digital and manual check in - on his two visits in June.
All I am concerned with now is that it is 12 days since the first jab, and no update to mine or my wife's Medicare record. With no official check in and only manual paperwork, I'm a tad nervous. I have my 2nd booked for the 21st July, and don't want to run into trouble on the day with no record of jab 1. Has anyone had to go through manually and has seen their shot appear in Medicare? How long did that take?
Oh... and no side effects at all for me. SWMBO had some injection site and arm soreness for a day or so, and also suffered a very important meeting cancellation for trusting my predictions on efficiency at the location. Yes, yes - I already said 'lesson learned', dear.
Cheers,
Matt.