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ADVICE FOR THOSE WAITING FOR A VACCINE APPOINTMENT BE PROACTIVE. Know your state or county's vaccination plan, and when you'll be eligible, Kates says: “People who are either

really savvy about figuring out how to get an appointment, or have an advocate who can help them, an adult child or somebody else, they're probably going to fare better than those who

don't have access to the internet.” If you need to, ask a friend or family member for help with the technology. And network with others in your area: Ask neighbors if they've

snagged an appointment, and if so, how. And take advantage of your neighborhood email group, if you have one. Many are full of advice from those who have successfully secured vaccination

appointments. BE PATIENT. “We're really ramping up production,” says Gabor Kelen, M.D., chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, “and those of us who

have been involved in the vaccine delivery, we've really learned how to do this efficiently now. Hang in there." HAVE PERSPECTIVE. We are so lucky to have this lifesaving vaccine,

says Kelen, who asks us to imagine if we didn't. “If the pandemic was allowed to rage, or just go on, because there was no vaccine, there would be somewhere between 100,000 and 300,000

new infections a day … and it would take five, six years to get to herd immunity. And so here we are now with a vaccine, and people are frustrated that they have to wait a month or two, or

even a few weeks.... Everybody just needs to chill a bit." KEEP PROTECTING YOURSELF. A more contagious strain of the virus is spreading, so you'll need to be even more vigilant

with mask-wearing and other infection-prevention measures, Kelen says, until you are fully vaccinated. But even then, you'll need to continue to be careful. He adds: It's still not

clear whether those who are vaccinated could still be carriers and infect someone else, and the vaccine is only 95 percent effective, so “1 in 20 people is not going to be fully immunized.”