CORONA VIRUS VACCINATION EXPERIENCE AT CSUN

What to Expect If You Are Scheduled to Have Your Covid 19 Vaccination at California State University at Northridge (CSUN)

Should you successfully pass the gauntlet of actually being able to schedule a coronavirus vaccination, here is a coronavirus GUIDE as to what to expect if your vaccination appointment is scheduled at CSUN.

As a preliminary point, one of our staff members tried to get a coronavirus vaccination appointment time and after having some difficulty with the web site, with the help of a tech savvy relative eventually got an appointment at a Ralphs Pharmacy, then, surprisingly, received an email cancelling that appointment with NO reason given. Then, with the help of a friend, found a different web site and set a vaccination appointment for today, Sunday, January 24, 2020, at CSUN.

So here is a guide as to what to do and what to expect if your coronavirus vaccination is set at CSUN (which surprisingly, and fortunately, relates a much different experience than what we read about with all the vaccine production and distribution problems) :

Have a valid ID and your confirmation of appointment handy. A current valid California Drivers License with an email confirmation of the appointment date and time were accepted.
Patients stay in their vehicle the entire time.
Our staff member suggests wearing a short sleeve shirt to make the vaccination injection easier.
Bring and wear a face mask.
Arrive on time, but our staff member arrived over 30 minutes early (as a friend of our staff member heard there was a long wait at the Valencia vaccination center and recommended arriving early). Our staff member was seen without any problem even though arrived over 30 minutes early. If your appointment is set at CSUN, based upon the experience of our staff member, there is NO need to arrive early but also no detriment if you do so.
DIRECTIONS

Even though the appointment confirmation for the CSUN vaccination center states to go to 18111 Nordoff Street, Northridge, California 91330, our staff member was advised by a friend to take a different route which worked out great: From the Ventura (101) Freeway exit at Reseda, go North on Reseda, go past Nordoff Street (since apparently there is NO entrance to the vaccination center from Nordoff Street) and at Plummer make a right turn to go East on Plummer. Soon there will be clear signs and staff directing you to the CSUN vaccination center.

There was plenty of staff directing traffic, checking identification and appointment time verification, and everyone was very helpful and polite.

It only took a few minutes to arrive at the vaccination site after entering the vaccination center. There were only two vehicles ahead and with two stations handling this lane of traffic (there were multiple lanes) it only took about a five minutes wait before our staff member was directed to the appropriate vaccination station.

At the vaccination station, identification and appointment time were again checked and verified. Some questions were asked including if the staff member had any allergies or other vaccinations within the last 14 days, and since the answers were negative, the painless vaccination was quickly administered. Again, the actual injection for this staff member was painless.

The person who administered the vaccination gave our staff member a card, on one side titled “COVID-19 Vaccination Record
Card” is the date, location and type of vaccine (Pfizer); and on the other side of the card, titled “Reminder! Return for a second dose!” with a return date in 21 days – 02/14/2021.

The woman who administered the vaccine and provided the reminder card to our staff member, like everyone else a the CSUN vaccination center, was exceptionally courteous, friendly and appeared to do her job perfectly.

After the vaccination was administered, our staff member was directed to a lane of traffic to wait 15 minutes to be certain there were no side effects. The staff member’s vehicle was marked with the time of the injection (with a blue tape on the windshield, similar to the type of blue tape painters use when painting) and eventually advised when the 15 minute time period had elapsed to leave.

Our staff member noted there were three (3) separate lanes to wait post injection, on the left and right were lanes for patients who reported no allergies, and the center lane, which was empty at the time, was for those who reported a past history of allergies so they are required to wait longer – for 30 minutes – before leaving. While waiting, our staff member had a discussion with two of the staff supervising the post vaccination waiting area and these staff members reported observing very few instances of any side effects.

Our staff member reported that while waiting post vaccination, three different medical professionals actually approached our staff member to inquire if there were side effects; and to our staff member’s surprise these medical professionals were a neurosurgeon, a neurologist and a breast cancer surgeon. All highly skilled health care professions who were exceptionally friendly and who all reportedly volunteered their time.

Our staff member experienced no side effects then (or, by the way, as of the time of preparing this guide summary many hours later) and was advised to leave.

Our staff member reported the CSUN vaccination center was highly organized, efficient, and fast, and everyone encountered, from the first staff directing traffic, to the woman administering the vaccination, to the medical doctors in the post vaccination waiting area, was extremely efficient, friendly and courteous.

We acknowledge and sincerely thank everyone involved, especially the volunteers.

We urge all readers to consider getting the vaccination (do your research and consult your health care professionals), and to wear appropriate face masks when near others, maintain safe social distancing, wash hands with warm water and soap and use disinfectant as often as reasonably possible, and avoid large gatherings!

Be careful, be safe and be well!