11:00 is the height of the working day, and there are already many visitors on the third floor of GUM. It's not about discounts or promotions, but about the fact that a free large-scale vaccination started in the main store of the capital the day before. Vechernyaya Moskva talked with those who decided not to waste time and be one of the first to be vaccinated.
The vaccination center on the third floor of GUM opened on Monday, January 18, and immediately became extremely popular with Muscovites - a vaccine with a view of the Kremlin! The point is open from 10:00 to 21:00. Vaccinations are free of charge and without an appointment.
- Focus on an hour and a half of waiting, - advises a local employee who advises those who came, - then, after the vaccination, you will be asked to sit with us for about half an hour so that the doctor can observe your condition.
- What, there were unpleasant precedents?
- Well no. Rather, it is a measure of reinsurance. Yesterday, 200 people were vaccinated, everyone left on their own feet, - the young man laughs.
There are many pensioners in the queue. For a long time, the elderly were not recommended to vaccinate, fearing possible health risks. However, after long-term studies, it was found that the drug does not pose any danger to them. But are there really no fears left?
- My grandmother and grandfather at my entrance got infected in the first wave, both went to the intensive care unit. Grandfather never returned. So it's somehow calmer with the vaccination, - answers the grandmother in a funny hat with earflaps and with a cart in her hands.
Another woman is standing nearby, clearly nervous, constantly looking at her watch.
- Are you late?
- Well, yes, somehow I didn't expect that there would be such a queue. I’m closest to work here, so I thought it would be more convenient,”the woman shares.
- So, maybe you will come another day? Or will you make an appointment with the clinic in advance?
- I can not. I have a plan. A relative has a wedding soon, there will be a lot of people. So I calculated everything so that the second dose would be injected just before I went there. Just right so as not to get infected. Even if I go for the vaccination in a day, I will not have time.
That's really, really, motivation.
Another local employee joins the conversation. He directs the growing queue and advises people on vaccination issues:
- Are you also vaccinated? Don't worry, it's not scary, everything will be fine. But you will leave healthy! Now wait, come in, the doctor will tell you everything in detail, explain. Well, change your mind - come out, it's okay.
- Why do you have so many people? It seems like a working day, and in the clinic near the house it is more convenient.
- Well, what do you want: city center, beauty. Plus, you don't need to sign up here: you just came, waited for your turn, and got an injection. The only inconvenience is that the second time you have to go here. You cannot inject the first drug here, and the second one is already at home, you will have to shake hands. In general, I have not heard bad reviews about our vaccine. Our boss even took part in the tests; she fills in all the diaries about her health. So even she's all right.
There are also those in the queue who have already had time to get sick with coronavirus. This experience turned out to be so unpleasant for them that people decided to protect themselves with a vaccine.
- I had been ill for a long time, even in the first wave, - says the woman. - I was sick quite hard: with fever, breathing problems. The sense of smell, of course, disappeared, it took a very long time to recover. In a word, I endured the illness quite unpleasantly, I don't want to go around the second circle.
- Didn't you develop antibodies?
- Worked out, of course. But I keep track of their level, I see that gradually they started to become less, less … I do not know how the disease will proceed a second time, so I decided to play it safe and go for a vaccination.
People begin to leave the vaccination center - all on their own feet, quite healthy and not even pale.
- Yes, it's okay, girl, don't worry. The same as with the flu shot, only it took more time, says the already vaccinated man. - I came in, the doctor examined me, asked how I felt, whether I was sick. Well, then that's all - they pricked me, asked to sit for a while and let me go. It didn't hurt. I say: the usual injection, and the doctor's hand is light.
- Did you give any recommendations?
- Rest more and not worry if there is any slight deterioration in well-being, weakness. It is very convenient - you can even get away from work for a day, - the interlocutor laughed.
Where and how can you get vaccinated?
To date, about 120 COVID-19 vaccination points have been deployed in Moscow. According to the mayor of the capital, Sergei Sobyanin, about a hundred stationary vaccination points and 20 offsite vaccinations have been opened in the capital. The mayor also added that since the beginning of the program, about 200,000 Muscovites have received the first dose of vaccination. Almost half of them were people over 60 years old.
As Vechernyaya Moskva previously wrote, in addition to the point in GUM, it will also be possible to get vaccinated against coronavirus at the My Documents flagship office in the Central Administrative District, Afimall City shopping and entertainment center, Depo food mall, Helikon-Opera theater, in the shopping centers "Oceania", "Gorod", "Salaris", "K-153", Columbus and "Kaleidoscope".
In the shopping centers "Oceania" and "Gorod" vaccination will begin on January 20. From January 27 to February 2, mobile teams of doctors will work in the Salaris and K-153 centers. In the shopping centers Columbus and "Kaleidoscope" vaccinations can be done from 3 to 9 February.
The main facts on the topic of coronavirus in Russia and the world can be read HERE >>>