It took a combined eleven or so hours spread across four days spanning two weeks, but as of today, I have partaken of the two shot Pfizer cocktail with a Moderna chaser. I am now boosted like I’ve got a Saturn V strapped to my ass. I have to say, though, there is nothing quite like trying to navigate a Byzantine bureaucracy while not speaking the language.
I started with a friend who helped me get the required paperwork, and filling it out. That was about 90 minutes on day one. Day two was me spending about two and a half hours getting to, getting in and getting denied the booster. Turns out everyone here has something called a Codice Fiscale which, I think, identifies them for anything health related. As a foreigner, I obviously didn't have the card. So, denied.
After consulting with my English-speaking friend, she dig some digging on my behalf and found that I could, as a stinkin' foreigner, get my very own codice fiscale, but that required a visit to another government office in another town, a few miles down the coast. Since it's now December 24, I figure it all can wait until the holiday weekend has passed. End week one.
Enter day three, week two. I walk to the place. Seems...deserted. No cars, no people. I peer in the window, and see a couple of carabinieri. Cool. Less cool: they don't speak any English, and, me, the idiot I am, still have nothing but the language skills of a toddler. Despite the handicap, I (I guess) explain well enough to gain admittance, and get it all taken care of with a combination of guess what I'm saying, pidgin Italian, gestures and pantomime. Woo! I walk back to Taormina and celebrate with whiskey and Netflix. Time elapsed: 4+ hours.
Day four, week two. It's another walk to the vaccination location early in the morning. Apparently not early enough, as I am the 37th on the list. I eyeball the woman who signed up in front of me (made easier, because she was attractive and wearing quite a stylish hat), and followed her lead. It took another few hours - probably two and a half - before I worked my through check-in, get the jabberwocky, and check out. Add in the hour of commute time and my total is up to about eleven and a half hours. Good thing I've not got a lot else to be doing.
The only remaining thing to do is to hit the pharmacy with all my documentation and get the Green Pass. I think at that point, I'll be done with all that - at least for a while.
I started with a friend who helped me get the required paperwork, and filling it out. That was about 90 minutes on day one. Day two was me spending about two and a half hours getting to, getting in and getting denied the booster. Turns out everyone here has something called a Codice Fiscale which, I think, identifies them for anything health related. As a foreigner, I obviously didn't have the card. So, denied.
After consulting with my English-speaking friend, she dig some digging on my behalf and found that I could, as a stinkin' foreigner, get my very own codice fiscale, but that required a visit to another government office in another town, a few miles down the coast. Since it's now December 24, I figure it all can wait until the holiday weekend has passed. End week one.
Enter day three, week two. I walk to the place. Seems...deserted. No cars, no people. I peer in the window, and see a couple of carabinieri. Cool. Less cool: they don't speak any English, and, me, the idiot I am, still have nothing but the language skills of a toddler. Despite the handicap, I (I guess) explain well enough to gain admittance, and get it all taken care of with a combination of guess what I'm saying, pidgin Italian, gestures and pantomime. Woo! I walk back to Taormina and celebrate with whiskey and Netflix. Time elapsed: 4+ hours.
Day four, week two. It's another walk to the vaccination location early in the morning. Apparently not early enough, as I am the 37th on the list. I eyeball the woman who signed up in front of me (made easier, because she was attractive and wearing quite a stylish hat), and followed her lead. It took another few hours - probably two and a half - before I worked my through check-in, get the jabberwocky, and check out. Add in the hour of commute time and my total is up to about eleven and a half hours. Good thing I've not got a lot else to be doing.
The only remaining thing to do is to hit the pharmacy with all my documentation and get the Green Pass. I think at that point, I'll be done with all that - at least for a while.
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