Coronavirus 5: Let the Vaccination Begin

[Alisamer]

I got to hang out with my friends this Sunday for the first time in over a year! We all wore masks, no hugs (we did silly "air hugs" from a distance), and ate lunch outside while distanced then sat in the field with the new lambs for an hour or so. We did eat dinner indoors, but separated by a few feet - there were fewer of us there at that point and three of us are half-vaccinated so slightly reduced risk. It was chilly out and too windy to set up dolls outside as we'd originally planned. 

Hopefully in summer the only ones not vaccinated will be the kids (they're not old enough yet) and they spend most of their time playing upstairs and not around us visitors anyway.  

[FiveAcres]

Last night, we had a snow storm. My best friend had an appointment scheduled for her chihuahua and does not have an AWD vehicle. The roads were still pretty dubious this morning so I picked her up and took them to the clinic. I stayed in the car while they saw the vet.  According to the vet, Bond looked healthy for a rescue chihuahua and was a Very Good Boy for his vaccinations and his blood draw. 

When we got back to her house she invited me in to her house for an early lunch. She has had both her vaccinations and it is three or four weeks since her second one. I've had my first one. We have both been semi-isolated since March of last year. I took her up on her invitation. Of my closest friends, she has been the one I have been most worried about because of how hard she gets hit with any sort of respiratory ailment.  

It was great. We joke that her house is my miniature schnauzer's second home. I realized, after I went inside, that it is also my second home. When we were between Colorado house 1 and Colorado house 2, we stayed with her for almost a month while our new house was being built. 

It was awesome. 

[apple1]

@FiveAcres

Mini schnauzer home here, too. ?

[Sarcastically spinster]

8 hours ago, clueliss said:

US AstraZenca trial results are in.  79% effective - no increased risk of Blood Clots.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/22/astrazeneca-coronavirus-vaccine-79percent-effective-in-us-trial.html

This was a post that came across my news feed regarding the clotting issues summarising the data - it looks like AZ does increase risk of clotting, but it's still rare enough that it didn't show with the numbers in the trials.  

https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.gruenke.5/posts/625490830516?__cft__[0]=AZXjO5pFn4VppSlUfYGL7xd90sDfsLx1sKQXcLR6u_52bG37GQCi5duh6C8qt6Ldv_3BKadU01N8RlJ9CVsx-iDA-R7dwEc8JYnzkB7NtVhE-Fu7Rfr_Htxs466wuRqZZYw&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R

Any drug (vaccines included) has a risk of side effects and I'm surprised that there's been so little coming out for major side effects of the mRNA vaccines that we've been using for a while now.  I haven't looked into the data personally, but I'd guess that if it were equivalent to other vaccines already in use for common diseases, we'd have seen more reports of serious side effects.  AZ probably isn't any higher risk than most other common vaccines, it's just the mass vaccination made the risks show up in a shorter span of time.  

[clueliss]

US AZ Covid Vaccine had issues.  Squawk Box first thing this morning was discussing that there was a lot of questioning of the AstraZeneca (AZ) data yesterday after it was released. 

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/23/covid-us-health-agency-casts-doubt-over-astrazeneca-vaccine-data.html

[clueliss]

Staples will laminate your vaccine card for free after your second dose.

 

[47of74]

I heard about some real fuck stickery lately where Branch Trumpvidians / anti-vaxers are making appointments then not showing up for their appointments to deliberately spoil vaccines.  That's fucked up beyond words.  

[clueliss]

I'm on my second day in the office this week.  Not consecutive. 

So let's discuss vaccine attitudes.  Two different coworkers are 'waiting' for the J&J.  Mind you J&J cannot be found in the state right now and the last time it was - it was in St. Louis (and maybe KC) - both locations are massively behind in the vaccine efforts due to the way it was rolled out here.

One of the two had a positive covid test back in Early October.  This is the person that prompted HR to send everyone in my department home for 2 weeks after the last time she was in as a precaution (and led to my general - ya'll - I'm not doing this again I'm going to be scarce for a while attitude). 

The other has worked from home more than I have and he's the one who began babbling about J&J taking their time and getting it right (more or less vaccine conspiracy).

Don't mind me though - I got my moderna 1 and will get my moderna 2 on 4/16.  I just can't with this folks sometimes.

[47of74]

I'm looking around to see if I can get in.  What I might do is see if I can get mine down in Davenport on April 7 when I go for an appointment there.  They have a large vaccine clinic set up and have regular openings.  Might be easier than getting into one up here.  Of course then I'd have to take some time for the return trip but I'll see if they can do late evening. 

[OHFL2009]

My mom really wants to get the Johnson & Johnson, because she had a flu shot that caused a frozen shoulder that required months of physical therapy and still bothers her on occasion even years later. So even though it was a freak thing and not likely to happen again, she's terrified of getting shots in general, and getting 1 vs. 2 is easier for her to cope with. Our county didn't get any J&J shots this week but the next county over did and ours did last week. She didn't get an appointment today (they release appointments for the J&J shot on Wednesdays) but I'm hoping in the next week or two she'll be able to. 

I'd also prefer to get the J&J one, because I have to get allergy shots, and my allergist requires a week between the COVID shot and allergy shots, which throws off my progression. So I'd rather only have to skip one week of allergy shots rather than 2. But if the time comes that I'm eligible and it doesn't look like I'll be able to get J&J quickly, I'll get one of the others. 

[Ozlsn]

22 hours ago, 47of74 said:

I heard about some real fuck stickery lately where Branch Trumpvidians / anti-vaxers are making appointments then not showing up for their appointments to deliberately spoil vaccines.  That's fucked up beyond words.  

And this is why wait lists are helpful. 

Also black lists - fail to show twice and you won't get another appt.

[47of74]

1 minute ago, Ozlsn said:

And this is why wait lists are helpful. 

Also black lists - fail to show twice and you won't get another appt.

Had my way I'd make it a crime to knowingly make a vaccination appointment with the intent of not showing up and allowing the vaccine to spoil.  The only way some of these people will get the message is to have a criminal record.

[Ozlsn]

It could be hard to prove intent I guess. But at least a wait list means that you are likely to have less wastage. 

Meanwhile our rollout is still slow, and basically I think the group I'm in will be lucky to get both doses before the end of the year. Sigh.

[OHFL2009]

Our governor just updated the timeline and I'll be eligible on April 5! A couple months ago I would've guessed it would be late summer before I was eligible. Fingers crossed for those of you elsewhere that your rollouts pick up the pace like ours has!

[clueliss]

Late yesterday afternoon - HR sent an email out saying they had partnered with a local(ish) pharmacy to provide vax for employees and needed a count.  Also to let them know if you already had their shots.  I provided them with my in process information.  Will be interesting to see how many of my fellow department members suck it up and get a shot now that HR made it convenient.

[Alisamer]

On 3/23/2021 at 9:36 PM, 47of74 said:

I heard about some real fuck stickery lately where Branch Trumpvidians / anti-vaxers are making appointments then not showing up for their appointments to deliberately spoil vaccines.  That's fucked up beyond words.  

That is horrible. Although hopefully it won't work - I know the guy behind me in line for the vaccine said he'd just got the appointment scheduled 45 minutes before, and it took him 30 minutes to drive to get the vaccine! So he had to have gotten a no-show or last-minute cancellation spot. I'm fairly sure my spot was a cancellation, there were no appointments available then suddenly just one popped up. 

I got mine at the hospital, so I think it would take huge numbers of no-shows to spoil the vaccine. The staff are all vaccinated already but if there are leftovers there would likely be patients and people in waiting rooms willing to get the vaccine. Seems like it'd be easy to use up any leftover doses.

18 hours ago, Ozlsn said:

And this is why wait lists are helpful. 

Also black lists - fail to show twice and you won't get another appt.

Yes, I've been encouraging people I know who aren't eligible yet to check if there are no-show call lists around. Better that people get the shot "out of order" than for the vaccines to spoil!

I like the idea of blacklisting people who no-show repeatedly, and also charges (even if it's just "criminal mischief" or something) for those who no-show and brag about it on social media. 

I'm one week and one day past my first vaccine, and all good so far! 

[clueliss]

The FB group I'm in keeps telling people to CALL walmart (and other) local pharmacies.  And to talk to a real person to get on what they're calling Waste Lists (within roughly 45 minutes of their home).  People are reportedly getting call backs from multiple locations they've registered for a waste list on.

[keen23]

I'm in Maricopa County, AZ. On this past Sunday, I scheduled an appointment for Wednesday (yesterday) at Walgreens. My husband scheduled a Tuesday vaccine on Monday morning, also at Walgreens. We are both signed up on the AZ State site, and now the two eligible teens are also set up with user accounts. But there never seem to be any open spots at the County vaccination sites. Oh, and neither of us seemed to have any adverse reaction to shot one. I have a bit of a headache today, but I'm more blaming that on changing weather outside.

[louisa05]

Our health department is doing a wait list now to give leftover doses from no shows. That should be standard. 

[Maggie Mae]

3 hours ago, louisa05 said:

Our health department is doing a wait list now to give leftover doses from no shows. That should be standard. 

That's crazy to me, we've always given out no-shows to whomever is around/waiting in a line. Yeah, it means people aren't "waiting their turn" but the goal is to get as many people vaccinated as possible, why would any health care provider waste doses if people want them? 

We're at 21% of all residents complete, and 85% of educators. We've opened up our eligibility to everyone over 16. 30.7% statewide have had one dose. It's somewhat higher in the rural areas. 

[Ozlsn]

1 hour ago, Maggie Mae said:

the goal is to get as many people vaccinated as possible, why would any health care provider waste doses if people want them? 

To quote Dr Daniel Griffen from This Week In Virology "never miss an opportunity to vaccinate, never waste a dose".

Meanwhile we have a new community transmission case in Queensland, and as a result people are having to rethink travel yet again. There is a reason I gave up on even thinking about interstate travel until we are past this stage  - I just don't trust that state borders won't be closed, or that I'll have to change plans suddenly. Even our in state planned Easter travel is far enough away (about 200km) that I made sure there was a coronavirus cancellation clause in case Melbourne locks down again. 

Roll out this bloody vaccine already, sigh.

 

[WiseGirl]

COVID  cases are on the rise in my little corner of the world We are still learning so much about the vaccine. How long they are effective for and people forget you have to wait a few weeks to let the immunity build.  I get it people are tired, it's beautiful out and people assume it's safe to get together without masks, no social distancing, etc. after getting the shot, it's not...yet.  I predict a rise in cases especially after our spring break in April. Another problem teachers are coming in to work with spring allergies,  slight stomach aches...and it's COVID. *sigh* on the other hand 16 and up will be able to register for the shot next week.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/keythingstoknow.html

[indianabones]

I got COVID arm seven days after my Moderna shot. It started out as a rash from my injection site to my neck then slowly changed to just red swelling a few inches in diameter surrounding the injection. It was gone by the next day.

So exciting to see how strong my immune system is!

[NotQuiteMotY]

On 3/27/2021 at 12:48 PM, WiseGirl said:

COVID  cases are on the rise in my little corner of the world We are still learning so much about the vaccine. How long they are effective for and people forget you have to wait a few weeks to let the immunity build.  I get it people are tired, it's beautiful out and people assume it's safe to get together without masks, no social distancing, etc. after getting the shot, it's not...yet.  I predict a rise in cases especially after our spring break in April. Another problem teachers are coming in to work with spring allergies,  slight stomach aches...and it's COVID. *sigh* on the other hand 16 and up will be able to register for the shot next week.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/keythingstoknow.html

As far as the allergies it can be hard to tell. Right as covid really hit the US I developed a new allergy, possibly multiple. Something airborne; mildew is I'm pretty sure at least one, but other than that? Pfft. No idea. I may on any given day have a sore throat and drippy nose from it/them and I can't predict it. I checked in with my allergist and had a negative covid test, but I can't guarantee it's always going to be allergies. (If somewhere I'm going has a "do you have these symptoms" checklist, I always note that yes, I have a sore throat, but it seems to be allergies. If they tell me no, I'm not going to argue, because who wants to risk it?)

[47of74]

I’m getting shot number one tomorrow. I have to drive to Clinton for it but it’s an evening appointment so I can do it after work.  I’m not sure which one it is but it’s a two shot one so I’ll be heading back on April 28 for shot two.