July 11, 2021: Need to find vaccines

July 11, 2021: Need to find vaccines. The need has changed. The experience of the peak of the second wave has now been replaced by a new need – vaccines. Had a productive conversation with the leader of a small NGO and we realized our barrier now is procuring the vaccines. Devdas has already been working with his Youth Club and they are ready to set up the vaccine camp as soon as we are ready. The Wake Angels are working the phones to see where to get the vaccines from. We need to connect with a health care provider – a hospital or nursing home – to get the vaccines. Then comes the organization of the actual camp and find the people who will administer the vaccine. Devdas is also suggesting a careful registration system so that there is accountability for the vaccine distribution and the maintenance of the records of who gets what. I am really impressed by this person’s management capability. He called me late in the afternoon and reminded me of the celebration of “rath” on July 12 – our original date for the next distribution of the food. He anticipated that there will be disruption of traffic and wanted my permission to distribute today, in the evening. That would mean I would not be able to be there, but we agreed that it was best to distribute today. He completed the task and sent me the video. All in a day’s work. Tomorrow we start the search for connecting with a place who can support with the vaccine procurement. The Wake Angels are taking on that task. It is a good amount of coordination between many different units to pull this off, but the availability of the original financial support from the bondhus at Wake Forest University is allowing us to do this work. We remain indebted to them. It was a busy day, several phone calls, different things happening in the midst of an oppressive 95F with 97% humidity. Stepping out of any airconditioned place is an immediate sweat trigger. I was telling a family member that I actually do not mind this weather as long as I can escape into an AC space occasionally. Remember the days before we had the prevalence of ACs, and AC 140 was a sweltering place. But of course there were fewer houses and the breeze in Salt Lake is legendary. Now the buildings have put a barrier to the breeze, and we find shelter in AC. In this air-conditioned room, I consider the non-airconditioned room in the Chabad House on Gayle Drive across the UCLA medical center, but on the fourth floor, he gets a breeze, and the ocean is a beckon away. The day was topped off by a visit to see my grand-niece and that “adda” that makes up the fabric of life on a hot July Sunday evening in the space I am in; will soon be at Wembley to see the outcome of the historic match about to start soon. Given the teams, and not knowing how it will go, perhaps today we revert to our Colonial past and hope that someone “can save our gracious Queen.” Tonight we will know. Now to TV.