Coronavirus 5: Let the Vaccination Begin

[Coconut Flan]

Continued from here:

 

[Ozlsn]

@adidas you can look up which group you're in for the vaccine rollout. I'm in the last one, unsurprisingly.

[Ali]

I got my first dose of Moderna this week. I had a lot of soreness at the sight, tiredness, and muscle aches that afternoon and evening. The next day I felt a little more tired than usual, had soreness at the sight, and I had a headache. I was able to put in a full day of teaching face to face with no issues. I am prone to headaches, so it may not have been caused by the vaccine.

For those who live in cold weather climates, you want to find out if it is a drive up or walk in. I had to wait in line outside for about 30 minutes before I was let into the building. No one seemed to mind waiting given the circumstances, but it was quite cold that morning. I regretted not wearing an additional layer under my pants.

[JDuggs]

I had my second Pfizer yesterday. Definitely more arm soreness this time around. Made sleeping kind of uncomfortable. I usually toss and turn which couldn’t be done without some pain. I feel better now sitting up. I’m glad it’s the weekend so I don’t have to be at work.

[CTRLZero]

My neighbor texted me to let me know she received her first vaccine.  She is not technically eligible (age early 60s), but she spends a lot of time transporting her parents to various appointments so really, really wanted the vaccine.  She obtained one by monitoring a local hospital’s website for leftover vaccines at the end of the day.  Late at night, she found an opening and scrambled over to the hospital to get the shot.  There has to be an easier way, lol!  

I’m really looking forward to more availability.  My husband is eligible per our state guidelines, but is not quite old enough to qualify under our health care provider’s guidelines (currently giving shots for over 75 years old).  As for me, I’m pretty much last in line, but I can (somewhat) patiently wait.  

[WiseGirl]

My 88+ year old parents still have no shot appointment.  Their state is doing a fabulous job. */sarcasm

[Coconut Flan]

My next door neighbors have given up waiting for Kaiser to send them an invitation and decided to try for getting an appointment at one of the county sites.  If I'd waited for an invitation, I have no idea when I would have gotten in.  Thank goodness my PCP told me to call weekly.  

[adidas]

9 hours ago, Ozlsn said:

@adidas you can look up which group you're in for the vaccine rollout. I'm in the last one, unsurprisingly.

I’ve already tried - unfortunately they haven’t defined which occupations are defined as ‘critical’ ... so I don’t know if I’ll be in that phase.

Last year during lockdown I had to work on site and didn’t spend a single day working from home, so I was classified as critical when they needed me, but I suspect I won’t be in that phase because of some underhanded comments govt leaders have made. I wouldn’t be surprised if they turn their backs on us. 

[Ozlsn]

19 minutes ago, adidas said:

I’ve already tried - unfortunately they haven’t defined which occupations are defined as ‘critical’ ... so I don’t know if I’ll be in that phase.

Yeah I find that somewhat weird (if totally in keeping with our federal govt).  I doubt it will change anything for me, but I'd like to know who they regard as critical (politicans should be group 5 unless they have other underlying issues, but I bet they aren't). Interestingly my husband gets bumped up slightly due to severe asthma, but as far as I can see kids with the same condition are in group 5. 

[SassyPants]

5 hours ago, Coconut Flan said:

My next door neighbors have given up waiting for Kaiser to send them an invitation and decided to try for getting an appointment at one of the county sites.  If I'd waited for an invitation, I have no idea when I would have gotten in.  Thank goodness my PCP told me to call weekly.  

Yesterday, my dad said he received a very long winded email from Kaiser. He said the very last line indicated that if you can get the vaccine elsewhere, to go ahead and do so. So is that Kaiser’s go to plan, to wait it out so they don’t have to deal with immunizing all their clients? The communication from Kaiser has been beyond awful.

[Coconut Flan]

 

2 hours ago, SassyPants said:

The communication from Kaiser has been beyond awful.

Indeed it has.  I do believe that's their plan.  Let everyone else do the vaccinating.  My neighbors mentioned above got on the same wait list I'm on and now neither of us know how to get removed since we found vaccines elsewhere.  Neighbor volunteers at the blood bank and they sent an email today about a new neighborhood clinic that was having walk up vaccinations today.  They both received their first dose and were thrilled to do so.  

Now what do we do with the neighbors refusing to even consider getting vaccinated?  One even lost her BIL to COVID and is still believing the internet lies.   I guess refuse to be near them until they come to their senses and get vaccinated or they get COVID.

Edited February 7, 2021 by Coconut Flan

[clueliss]

UK variant found in Missouri 

A different article is saying the case is in Marion County.  (Looked it up because my Missouri geography is sketchy, Hannibal area in NE part of the state.

Edited February 7, 2021 by clueliss

[adidas]

8 hours ago, Ozlsn said:

Yeah I find that somewhat weird (if totally in keeping with our federal govt).  I doubt it will change anything for me, but I'd like to know who they regard as critical (politicans should be group 5 unless they have other underlying issues, but I bet they aren't). Interestingly my husband gets bumped up slightly due to severe asthma, but as far as I can see kids with the same condition are in group 5. 

Yeah, I have severe asthma too so it might bump me up if being a critical worker doesn’t. Crossing my fingers - I just want the jab by April or May before the winter lurgies begin.

[Coconut Flan]

Don't get ready to kick the face masks to the curb any time soon.  Predictions are solidifying that COVID is going to become endemic.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-vaccines-raise-hope-cold-reality-dawns-covid-19-is-likely-here-to-stay-11612693803

My face mask PSA may have to switch to my finds of cute, fun, or fashionable.  

[CTRLZero]

16 minutes ago, Coconut Flan said:

Don't get ready to kick the face masks to the curb any time soon.  Predictions are solidifying that COVID is going to become endemic.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-vaccines-raise-hope-cold-reality-dawns-covid-19-is-likely-here-to-stay-11612693803

My face mask PSA may have to switch to my finds of cute, fun, or fashionable.  

I figured that would be the case, and that it was possible we’d have to get yearly COVID shots along with the annual flu shots.  
 

My neighbor (the same one mentioned above who was recently vaccinated) showed me her latest mask acquisition.  It was from  starks.com (vacuum company of all things) and seemed well made plus came with a little flap to keep glasses from fogging.  I ordered some this morning, because we need masks tucked away everywhere at this point.  ?  I also need to order some N95s/KN95s if anyone has a good source for those... 

[Coconut Flan]

One good thing with masking, distancing, and emphasizing hand hygiene is that flu, RSV, colds, etc. are WAY down.  It's letting people know that their health habits do matter.  If we continue at least some of that we may continue to prevent widespread colds and flu. I can get behind continuing masks to do that.

I don't know how good these are, but they are tempting me.

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B08Q8HKCTW/?coliid=I1UGMI8RUAAA4X&colid=25JSSLBUIWY4K&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

[Becky]

26 minutes ago, CTRLZero said:

I figured that would be the case, and that it was possible we’d have to get yearly COVID shots along with the annual flu shots.  
 

My neighbor (the same one mentioned above who was recently vaccinated) showed me her latest mask acquisition.  It was from  starks.com (vacuum company of all things) and seemed well made plus came with a little flap to keep glasses from fogging.  I ordered some this morning, because we need masks tucked away everywhere at this point.  ?  I also need to order some N95s/KN95s if anyone has a good source for those... 

I have those Stark’s masks and they are really wonderful. Do not double mask with them, though. They are already 3 layers, including a permanent filter. 

Edited February 7, 2021 by Becky

[adidas]

2 hours ago, Coconut Flan said:

Don't get ready to kick the face masks to the curb any time soon.  Predictions are solidifying that COVID is going to become endemic.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-vaccines-raise-hope-cold-reality-dawns-covid-19-is-likely-here-to-stay-11612693803

My face mask PSA may have to switch to my finds of cute, fun, or fashionable.  

I could only read the first bit before being prompted to subscribe, but I’ve suspected for a while that it would become endemic. I read this article a couple of days ago - they’re saying 7 years to get the actual pandemic under control ?

https://www.news.com.au/world/coronavirus/global/coronavirus-calculation-shows-when-pandemic-is-expected-to-end/news-story/c8a7d5668d071b28bb1eb89e8939422c

[Coconut Flan]

I have a question and since I haven't taken epidemiology I have ideas, but no solid answers.  How much of a given population has to be vaccinated before you start seeing a drop in infection numbers?  In our county, half the 70-79 cohort has had at least one COVID vaccination.  So would you think in two to four weeks we should begin to see a slowing in their share of the new cases?  I'm not talking herd immunity, but just seeing a drop in cases within the age cohorts.  

[church_of_dog]

1 minute ago, Coconut Flan said:

I have a question and since I haven't taken epidemiology I have ideas, but no solid answers.  How much of a given population has to be vaccinated before you start seeing a drop in infection numbers?  In our county, half the 70-79 cohort has had at least one COVID vaccination.  So would you think in two to four weeks we should begin to see a slowing in their share of the new cases?  I'm not talking herd immunity, but just seeing a drop in cases within the age cohorts.  

I don't have an authoritative answer either but my initial thought is that it can't be well predicted, for two main reasons:

First, there is at least a couple of weeks lag time between exposure and diagnosis, and the contacts during that lag time need to be factored in.

Second, exposure isn't a constant -- individual exposure isn't a straight line but varies -- and not only naturally as the person chooses to either stay home or interact with others, individually or in groups -- but those risks are even further altered by the possibility of the person changing their own behavior, ie relaxing their isolation rules, because of having gotten the vaccine.

My nonscientific two cents.

[Ozlsn]

5 hours ago, Coconut Flan said:

I have a question and since I haven't taken epidemiology I have ideas, but no solid answers.  How much of a given population has to be vaccinated before you start seeing a drop in infection numbers?  In our county, half the 70-79 cohort has had at least one COVID vaccination.  So would you think in two to four weeks we should begin to see a slowing in their share of the new cases?  I'm not talking herd immunity, but just seeing a drop in cases within the age cohorts.  

It depends on what you're vaccinating for. Measles is highly contagious (e.g. if you're susceptible you can catch it two hours after the infected person has left the room you just entered) and so 90-95% vaccination is needed to control it. Polio is less contagious, so you need 80-85% of the population to be vaccinated. Covid-19 they're still number crunching - and of course the variants can change things. The best population level data at the moment is out of Israel, where there has been a drop in the most highly vaccinated group.

Close to 90% of people aged 60 and older in the country have received their first dose of Pfizer’s 2-dose vaccine so far. Now, data collected by Israel’s Ministry of Health show that there was a 41% drop in confirmed COVID-19 infections in that age group, and a 31% drop in hospitalizations from mid-January to early February. In comparison, for people aged 59 and younger — of which just more than 30% have been vaccinated — cases dropped by only 12% and hospitalizations by 5% over the same time. The figures are based on analysis of roughly a quarter of a million COVID-19 infections.

This is in the 6 weeks after they started rolling out, so hopefully there should be a noticeable effect soon. There are some confounders though - Israel also went into hard lock down during at least part of that period, which will also have affected transmission.

But it's hopeful.

[Sarcastically spinster]

I had my first shot of Moderna just about four weeks ago - I get my second this week if all goes well.  Brutally sore arm after the first one.  Worst I've had with any shot.  No other side effects.  I'm gearing up to spend the day in bed after the second one, though.  

Pretty much anecdotal evidence, so take it for what it's worth, but I'm in groups with a very high percentage that works in the medical field, so I've been seeing posts about vaccine side effects for weeks now.  Based on what I've seen, side effects are worse with Moderna than Pfizer, and much, much more significant if you already had COVID.  First shot is generally just a sore arm (and sometimes rash/hives), second shot you see the flu-like symptoms with fever and body aches.  

From what I've seen, the only place the vaccine is actually getting rolled out with any kind of efficiency is the military.  In some regions they're also vaccinating DoD beneficiaries (or those over a certain age), so if you've got vulnerable family members who qualify, they may be able to get it through base medical quicker than any civilian route.  

[Coconut Flan]

8 hours ago, Ozlsn said:

It depends on what you're vaccinating for. Measles is highly contagious (e.g. if you're susceptible you can catch it two hours after the infected person has left the room you just entered) and so 90-95% vaccination is needed to control it. Polio is less contagious, so you need 80-85% of the population to be vaccinated.

I'm only asking about COVID and when the numbers begin shifting not herd immunity in general.  I think most of us already understand that.  But thanks.  The Israeli data is the kind I was interested in.   

56 minutes ago, Sarcastically spinster said:

I had my first shot of Moderna just about four weeks ago - I get my second this week if all goes well.  Brutally sore arm after the first one.  Worst I've had with any shot.  No other side effects.  I'm gearing up to spend the day in bed after the second one, though. 

That's what I had and am hearing from my friends.  Larger people seem to be having less of the sore arm among our group.  We're all on injection one and the sore arm lasted longer than other vaccinations.  We're all planning a couple days of down time with the second round.   I don't think it's surprising Moderna has more of a reaction as it has more "active ingredient."  I did a lot of icing the injection site and the arm was annoying, but not brutal.  

[CTRLZero]

1 hour ago, Sarcastically spinster said:

In some regions they're also vaccinating DoD beneficiaries (or those over a certain age), so if you've got vulnerable family members who qualify, they may be able to get it through base medical quicker than any civilian route.  

This is true.  My husband is over 65, so he qualifies for a shot in our county, but military is only taking over 75 at present.  Our (military) doctor tells her patients to get a vaccination wherever possible (i.e., county health department or civilian pharmacy), because military facilities have different priorities (i.e., deploying troops).  We are monitoring for any available vaccine appointments, military or civilian.  It’s nice to have options, but the vaccine is still scarce.  We are getting more hopeful, though. 

[Sarcastically spinster]

17 minutes ago, Coconut Flan said:

Larger people seem to be having less of the sore arm among our group.

I..... am completely the opposite of large.  So that may be part of why it was rough for me.  Small bones and high metabolism is a great combo.  ?