Last Sunday, in the rain, I stepped on a rusty nail in a muddy road. The wound wasn't nasty, but it has been 15 years since I got my last Toxide vaccine. The following day, I went to the Thalawathugoda Hemas Hospital to get the toxide.

• Go to the counter and channel the OPD doctor (LKR 850.00)
• Tell the doctor your story, and you will get an OPD Assessment Form signed by the doctor
• Go to the pharmacy and hand over the assessment
• They will invoice you for the shot (LKR 908.38 for the first Toxoid shot)
• You will get a blue cooler box with the vaccine
• Take it to the "Vaccination Room"
• Knock on the door and go in (they may not hear you knocking because of the TV)
• Get the shot and make sure you get a vaccination card if it is a multi-part vaccine

The process in detail

Channel the OPD doctor from the counter and join the OPD queue. In Thalawathugoda Hemas, the OPD is the first of 3 rooms to the right side of the entrance. Because there was only one doctor, I had to stay in the queue for about 30 minutes.

When it is your turn, explain your condition to the doctor. If it is, like my case, a wound, the doctor will check the wound where it may need cleaning and perhaps stitches. Then, take the OPD assessment form and go to the pharmacy to make payments. I wasted another 15 minutes at the main counter to be redirected to the pharmacy. I would usually be pissed at this point, but the receptionist was courteous and sweet.

Give the assessment form to the pharmacist, who will, in turn, put the vaccine in a cooler box. They may ask a question or two for clarification (because doctors have the best handwriting). Once you pay, you the cooler box and go to the vaccine room (to the right of the pharmacy).

The pharmacist told me to wait. So I knocked on the door and sat down. After a while, I knocked again, opened the door, and talked to the nurse inside. So try knocking on the door harder or open it slightly and talk to someone.

An ICU nurse administered the injection. She first showed me the vile and its content ("Toxide") and the expiry (in my case, late 2024). I like to be informed. They then gave me a vaccine card with the next date marked.

I thought of writing down the process in case someone would find it helpful. I like my hospital visits to end quickly with the least friction. Every extra second you spend in a hospital increases your probability of walking out with a new disease.

Note: Always wear a N95 or KN94 mask when visiting a hospital. Some people in this country don't use a handkerchief and sneeze into the open. You will always find at least one less-evolved ape in a hospital.