Getting the vaccine??

[frugal-one]

Got first Pfiser shot yesterday. I have a sore arm (DH does not) and slept like dead last night. The same dose is given to everyone. I wonder if that made a difference? I am a small person and DH is a tall man???

[KayLR]

I feel like I'm up against a rolling train here. I'm on a wait list for my first vaccine. I'm in group 1B (65+), who are currently being vaccinated here in WA. But there's not enough vaccine. So, by the time vaccine shows up, I'll be competing with those who are due their second one. I'm not too worried about it since I basically don't go anywhere but my solo office, see about 3 people a wk outside my home. But the process of this is so wacky and hard to find the patience for. I don't expect my first vaccine until March or April.

[ApatheticNoMore]

My mom got her first vaccine, and my bfs mom is scheduled for one. Win. I was giving lectures "people need to hustle harder if they want a vaccine (those who are in priority lists that is, anyone outside of that getting them is a bit of random luck of being at the right place at the right time), you won't get it by sitting back and waiting to be contacted, do everything you can. A vaccine isn't just going to show up on your doorstep one day" etc. Ridiculous, but maybe true. But I was serious about hustle hard and pushed poeple, because new groups are opening up for eligibility (not the general public but teachers, food workers etc. here) so the over 65 have to rush before that hits. Heh ridiculous And younger people with preexisting conditions that make them high risk are just plain entirely out of luck.

[KayLR]

I'd be glad to have a teacher take my place in line. Like I said, I'm not too worried about it. But I just think this process is a bit ridiculous. I suppose there hasn't really been time enough to plan it adequately. Believe me, I do check every day to see if I can get in, but no vaccine means no vaccine.

[SteveinMN]

I heard that a hospital is a vaccination site. Their policy is to use all the supply every day. If there are no-shows from the waiting list, the doses are given to patients being discharged, regardless of age (>16).

Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have to be transported frozen and are thawed before being administered. They can't be refrozen so I understand places are just finding anyone nearby who hasn't yet received the vaccine and giving remaining thawed doses to them. Better than wasting it because of "protocol".

But the process of this is so wacky and hard to find the patience for.

It is wacky and they keep changing how (and why) it's done. In Minnesota, they opened up a Web site and phone lines for people to sign up for vaccinations; the Web site held up but the communication lines did not, so the following week they asked people to register via Web or phone and they chose to do a lottery of those who signed up -- fairer than prioritizing people who could wait on line for hours. That seems to be going well.

But now there are a couple of voices suggesting that second doses be delayed so people can get their first. Many unanswered questions, though, like how much protection is conferred by the first dose, whether getting the second dose after the manufacturer's recommended timeframe adversely affects immunity, and just how long immunity lasts anyway. Plus the finding that maybe those who had COVID-19 and survived have enough antibodies that they don't need as big a first dose or maybe not a second dose. Learning as we go along...

[JaneV2.0]

This is what you get when you leave it up to the states--a patchwork response. I hope that has changed, at least in part, since President Biden took office.

[bae]

This is what you get when you leave it up to the states--a patchwork response. I hope that has changed, at least in part, since President Biden took office.

I'm curious to hear about what a good job the Federal government would do with a county entirely made up of hundreds of small islands, with no real hospitals or big pharmacies, and a handful of health clinics.

Heck, I'd be curious to hear about how the State government, dominated as it is by King and Pierce Counties, would manage....

[JaneV2.0]

I'm curious to hear about what a good job the Federal government would do with a county entirely made up of hundreds of small islands, with no real hospitals or big pharmacies, and a handful of health clinics.

Heck, I'd be curious to hear about how the State government, dominated as it is by King and Pierce Counties, would manage....

It would be a challenge, but we got off to an abominable start, so we'll probably never know.

I have no plans to be out in public any time soon, and I have four or five--maybe more--likely vaccination venues within a short drive, so I think I'm covered.

[jp1]

I'm curious to hear about what a good job the Federal government would do with a county entirely made up of hundreds of small islands, with no real hospitals or big pharmacies, and a handful of health clinics.

Heck, I'd be curious to hear about how the State government, dominated as it is by King and Pierce Counties, would manage....

How many counties like that are there in the country and what percentage of the population do they represent?

[Chicken lady]

My parents and my aunt and uncle all got their second shots today.

A mobile unit from the health department is doing my whole school staff next Friday. My time slot will require me to dismiss my last (high school) class five minutes early.