Official Thread: Coronavirus "COVID-19"

[Lazy8s]

I'm not eligible in MA until April.

[Lupine]

On covid-19 protocol until I get tested tomorrow, due to sniffles. Pretty sure its because I'm stupid and was grinding stone without wearing a mask, but I'm okay with the requirement.

Huge plus ... my parents have decided to get vaccinated. My mom was resisting, but something apparently changed. Great news.

[Greasy]

On covid-19 protocol until I get tested tomorrow, due to sniffles. Pretty sure its because I'm stupid and was grinding stone without wearing a mask, but I'm okay with the requirement.

Huge plus ... my parents have decided to get vaccinated. My mom was resisting, but something apparently changed. Great news.

Progress! I hope they get it

[Lazy8s]

Progress! I hope they get it

+1

[xCLAVEx]

I have no idea when I can get mine, even when I'm eligible I don't feel like standing in line for hours only to be told they ran out of shots and to come back later. I'll just wait until it becomes more widely available and I can walk into a clinic and get in and out within an hour.

I'm also considered "lower risk" anyway since I already had the virus, even with the variants floating around so I'd be near the back of the line for it to begin with.

[mizzer]

By the time it's my turn we'll know more about the effectiveness of the J&J vaccine.

[andino]

I have no idea when I can get mine, even when I'm eligible I don't feel like standing in line for hours only to be told they ran out of shots and to come back later. I'll just wait until it becomes more widely available and I can walk into a clinic and get in and out within an hour.

Don't know where you are and each state is different. They give out appointments for the number of shots that they have in clinic. If they have no-shows they vaccinate random people from 4 to 5 so they don't waste shots. Might want to call and check the shot clinics to see if they have extras from time to time. It's not really jumping the line if people no show and they have to use the shots. I know a few people that are lower tiers that have done that already.

Plus, it's not that bad of a process. I walked in, and had a shot in my arm in minutes. Oklahoma had a portal system where you enter all your medical stuff online. They then e-mail you a QR code for the people at the shot clinic so you don't have to fill out any paperwork. Basically I walked in, showed the people my ID and the QR code, got a raffle ticked for my shot, and then went and sat down and got my shot. The station that took the longest was the lady writing down my information on my shot card.... The whole check in process took maybe 3~5 minutes. I then had to wait 15 minutes to see that I didn't have a bad reaction and I was gone. Total time was 20 minutes and aside from showing the lady my ID and actually getting a shot I was 6 feet away from everyone.

It wasn't a bad experience at all and I'm a pretty strict social distancer.

[xCLAVEx]

Don't know where you are and each state is different. They give out appointments for the number of shots that they have in clinic. If they have no-shows they vaccinate random people from 4 to 5 so they don't waste shots. Might want to call and check the shot clinics to see if they have extras from time to time. It's not really jumping the line if people no show and they have to use the shots. I know a few people that are lower tiers that have done that already.

Plus, it's not that bad of a process. I walked in, and had a shot in my arm in minutes. Oklahoma had a portal system where you enter all your medical stuff online. They then e-mail you a QR code for the people at the shot clinic so you don't have to fill out any paperwork. Basically I walked in, showed the people my ID and the QR code, got a raffle ticked for my shot, and then went and sat down and got my shot. The station that took the longest was the lady writing down my information on my shot card.... The whole check in process took maybe 3~5 minutes. I then had to wait 15 minutes to see that I didn't have a bad reaction and I was gone. Total time was 20 minutes and aside from showing the lady my ID and actually getting a shot I was 6 feet away from everyone.

It wasn't a bad experience at all and I'm a pretty strict social distancer.

They do have appointments here, but the problem they've been running into is that even with appointments people have been turned away because they keep screwing up, giving out too many appointments, don't tell anybody, then find out when they run out with still a hundred or so folks in line. It's happened multiple times in my city already.

Also, keep in mind that my city alone has more people than your whole state. The logistics alone to get things like this done are on a much larger scale.

[Java Cool Dude]

California is opening up gradually on April 1st: indoor gyms, restaurants, movie theaters, theme parks etc...
Reduced capacity and masking mandate still on though

[MangaSpawn64]

California is opening up gradually on April 1st: indoor gyms, restaurants, movie theaters, theme parks etc...
Reduced capacity and masking mandate still on though

Same for Quebec city, but it starts on monday

[Greasy]

I'm not going out to eat until I've been vaccinated. I look forward to it, even though my wife is an amazing cook. She could use a break.

[Java Cool Dude]

It's been my morning routine for weeks to google "covid vaccine tracker" first thing in the morning: Yesterday there were 2.9 millions shot administered

[Cyko]

California is opening up gradually on April 1st: indoor gyms, restaurants, movie theaters, theme parks etc...
Reduced capacity and masking mandate still on though

Won't step foot in a gym without being vaccinated, even though I'm dying to...because I don't want to be dying from going to it

[eNforcer]

Taking my dad for the vaccine in a few mins, he's in the age 75+ rollout. I'm glad cause our cases are rising in the city.

[mizzer]

California is opening up gradually on April 1st: indoor gyms, restaurants, movie theaters, theme parks etc...
Reduced capacity and masking mandate still on though

[koralis]

Well, my mom finally got the vaccine... she was resisting, citing auto-immune concerns (bullshit quackery from a non-doctor) but said she did it because I wanted her to. I think she realized that not doing it was going to make family visits less likely/more tense and worrisome. So, at least one of the "I don't think so" people down.


I'm scheduled for my first shot on Thursday.

[Lazy8s]

Well, my mom finally got the vaccine... she was resisting, citing auto-immune concerns (bullshit quackery from a non-doctor) but said she did it because I wanted her to. I think she realized that not doing it was going to make family visits less likely/more tense and worrisome. So, at least one of the "I don't think so" people down.


I'm scheduled for my first shot on Thursday.

That's good news for your mother...we still have some that won't get it.

3 more weeks for me unless something changes.

[xCLAVEx]

Texans don’t have to prove they’re eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, and some are jumping the line. Here’s why.

When a new mom in Austin found out that COVID-19 vaccine appointments were open in Killeen, she sent her healthy, 28-year-old husband and her 65-year-old mother to get their injections.

Both were vaccinated, despite only one of them being eligible under the priority groups outlined by Texas state health officials.

“I mostly sent them to get vaccines to protect me and for our newborn baby’s sake since [my husband] tends to see more friends,” said the 37-year-old woman, who requested anonymity for fear of public retribution.

Tensions over so-called “line jumpers” are high as Texas scrambles to vaccinate the majority of its 29 million residents, reduce deaths and hospitalizations, and stem the spread of the virus among highly vulnerable communities of color.

Current state guidelines require recipients to be 65 or older, a front line health care worker, employed as a teacher or child care worker or medically vulnerable and older than 15. About 4.3 million people in Texas — or roughly 14% of the state’s population — have gotten at least one dose. Between 10 and 13 million people are eligible for the vaccine under Texas guidelines, said Lara Anton, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Anton said that if a provider has access to a recipient’s medical records — for example if the person is an existing patient — those may be used to verify a person’s medical eligibility, but providers are not allowed, under state health guidelines, to require recipients to prove a medical condition.

She added that the state does not want to make it more difficult for people to get the shot by requiring them to bring medical records.

“We don’t want to create barriers that would prevent people from getting vaccinated, and every person who is vaccinated slows the spread of the disease and relieves pressure on the hospital system,” Anton said.

While many providers say they believe, based on anecdotal evidence and state data, that most people who are getting the vaccine are eligible, they acknowledge that it’s difficult to confirm eligibility and enforce requirements beyond a person’s age when there are no medical records to check. Many qualifying conditions, such as diabetes or sickle cell disease, aren’t easily confirmed without them.

The result is that providers are largely operating on the honor system. And from backlash over an older Texas state senator getting his vaccine before his age group became eligible to reports of young, seemingly healthy college students lining up to get shots on campus with little more than a student ID, anecdotal evidence shows that not everyone follows it.

“The ethical thing to do is to wait until it's your turn, even though I do know that it's frustrating for a lot of folks,” said Allison Winnike, president and CEO of The Immunization Partnership, a statewide nonprofit focused on eradicating vaccine-preventable diseases.

Quantifying the incidents and impact of line jumpers is impossible, officials say. The state also does not keep track of how many people are on waiting lists for the vaccine, because Texas has more than 1,500 of vaccine providers, each has a different system and some people are on several waiting lists simultaneously.

Anton said providers have not reported having problems with ineligible people overtaking the priority groups, but if a provider does indicate that they plan to do so as a matter of practice, “we reach out to them immediately and explain that they should not be vaccinating people outside of those groups.”

Once Texas broadens eligibility requirements to include more people and likely essential workers, a move expected later this month, the issue of giving shots to people who aren’t qualified will have less of an impact, Winnike said.

“As you continue to open it up, there are more opportunities for line jumping, but less reason to,” Winnike said. “At some point it will almost be irrelevant.”

An ‘ethical gray area’
Headline-grabbing stories in Texas and across the nation tell of the battle between the qualifieds and the unqualifieds.

States like New York are struggling to vaccinate people of color while white residents line up at vaccination hubs aimed at communities of color. Reports of people crossing state and county lines to get vaccinated triggered clamp-downs in Florida. Social media is rife with personal stories of people either getting the shot out of turn or angrily complaining about seemingly ineligible people getting vaccines while prioritized people sit on waiting lists.

Half of all Texans age 65 and older have received at least one dose, which accounts for nearly 2 million people and almost half of all doses administered in Texas, according to DSHS numbers. Older people, who comprise about 13% of Texas’ population, are the most likely to be hospitalized and die from the virus.

In Austin, more than half a million people meet the eligibility requirements, and about 200,000 are pre-registered through the Austin Public Health system and still waiting, an APH spokesperson said in an emailed statement. Some 167,000 people have gotten at least one dose at Travis County locations, according to state health officials.

Line-jumping is “an unfortunate reality for many providers” but “overall, we are trying to achieve herd immunity and a shot in an arm is good for the entire community,” the spokesperson said.

“We want to prioritize our most vulnerable who can suffer the most from the virus,” the spokesperson added. “Instead of jumping the line, help a senior sign up for the vaccine.”

Registration glitches have happened in several states, including Texas, that allowed thousands of ineligible people to bypass priority guidelines and register for appointments or show up at large vaccination events on a walk-in basis to get a shot they weren’t yet eligible for, according to reports.

At the University of Texas at Austin in late February, an online registration link for appointments through UT Health Austin was “inappropriately shared” and resulted in people believing erroneously that they qualified and signing up for a shot, officials said. Officials later canceled most of those appointments.

“Everyone's fighting through the same bugs in the system,” said Jen Stratton, director of communications for Family Hospital Systems in Williamson County, which partners with the county to run a vaccination hub. “I don't know of a single hub in this country that had no problem at all with people getting links that they maybe shouldn't have.

“There's no good answer,” Stratton added. “We are trying so very hard to make sure that the right folks get [the vaccine] at the right time. And we understand the frustration, and we understand the perception. And we just ask for patience.”

Using every shot
Faced with trying to vaccinate against a virus that has killed nearly 45,000 people in Texas in the past year, providers are juggling the cost of vaccinating some who aren’t qualified against the benefit of getting as many Texans vaccinated as possible.

In some cases, shots are administered to ineligible people because providers don’t want to waste vaccine doses when eligible people cancel or miss their appointments or because not enough eligible people show up during a vaccination drive. Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines must be used within a certain period of time after their seal is broken.

When that happens, providers have to choose between vaccinating someone who isn’t in a priority group or throwing away a precious dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, which is already in short supply. Most appear to be following recommendations of state and national health officials to administer the shot to those outside the eligibility guidelines if it keeps doses from being wasted — even as providers face criticism for vaccinating people outside of the eligibility guidelines.

“It’s the ultimate Catch-22,” Stratton said.

The 37-year-old Austin mother, who feared for her newborn if she or the baby caught COVID-19, acknowledged that the family’s decision to vaccinate her healthy young husband is “an ethically gray area” that could bring backlash from family members or the public if they shared it on social media.

“But here’s what I know now,” she said. “I know if I get sick, he [my husband] or my mom could take care of my baby in the same household. ... I didn't feel great about the decision. But I was like, I'm gonna make it anyways because your motherly instincts kick in and you're just like, ‘Nope, I’ll do anything to protect my baby.’”

https://www.click2houston.com/news/t...ine-heres-why/

This is one of the MANY problems in this state for vaccines. There are people that are knowingly unqualified for the current round of vaccines but are exploiting loopholes to cut in line and get vaccinated even though they aren't part of the high risk groups that need it far sooner. They can justify it all they want, but they are putting those who do need sooner at higher risk for their own selfish reasons. If everybody followed the rules and nobody tried to find exploits and loopholes, this could all be done in an orderly fashion but nope...humans be humaning.

Once again, I hate people.

[Nascar24]

Signed up to be notified for an appointment a min. ago, I guess I'm considered essential at least according to my work so I signed up. Still have a hard time seeing it that way but bleh, they are opening up for my age in about 2 weeks anyways, I'm sure I wont hear from them in that time anyways.

[Greasy]

Signed up to be notified for an appointment a min. ago, I guess I'm considered essential at least according to my work so I signed up. Still have a hard time seeing it that way but bleh, they are opening up for my age in about 2 weeks anyways, I'm sure I wont hear from them in that time anyways.

99% chance you won't hear **** unless you proactively try to schedule an appointment. I'm up EOM. Will be scheduling mine on the 24th of this month.

[Nascar24]

99% chance you won't hear **** unless you proactively try to schedule an appointment. I'm up EOM. Will be scheduling mine on the 24th of this month.

They do get in contact, it just takes a long time, my Mom finally heard from several but I think it was over a month. They will contact if they are able to get you in. But I figure it will be a good while before I hear.

[Java Cool Dude]

Anyone in Alaska over 16 can now get the vaccine!

[xCLAVEx]

Vaccine may not be all that effective after all;

17 Brenham nursing home residents contract COVID-19 after getting shots

LOCAL NEWS
Brandon Walker, Reporter

BRENHAM, Texas – Seventeen residents of a Brenham nursing home contracted coronavirus after being either partially or fully vaccinated against the virus with an inoculation created to prevent people from developing a severe illness.

Officials at Focused Care at Brenham said Tuesday that nine of the 17 residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 were fully vaccinated, while the remaining eight had received only the first of the two doses.

Nanette Riedell-Mendez said her 95-year-old mother, Francine Riedell, received her second dose of the Pfizer vaccine Jan. 28. She said she got a call March 1 from the nursing home telling her that her mother had tested positive. She said her mother collapsed Sunday and had to be hospitalized.

“She seems to be doing well,” Riedell-Mendez said. “Recuperating and she’s not intubated. She’s not on oxygen, from what I understand.”

In addition to the residents, six staff members have also tested positive. Two of the six had received one dose, while a third had received both doses. The remaining three had not been vaccinated.

Dr. Pedro Piedra, of the Baylor College of Medicine, said vaccines don’t prevent infection, but they work hard at stopping people from getting seriously ill.

“It doesn’t preclude you from getting infected, but the risks are considerably lower,” Piedra said.

Piedra said that’s what Pfizer’s 95% efficacy rate measured.

https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2021/03/10/17-brenham-nursing-home-residents-contract-covid-19-after-getting-shots/

So, the vaccine may actually not prevent you from getting sick but just maybe helping not get as sick?

[Nascar24]

I question how well its going to work against new variants and this could be the early indications. Hopefully it makes it so you dont get as sick from it for the most part. Probably going to become a yearlly shot just like the flu.

[logical]

Going to get vaccinated at 2 today.

[Java Cool Dude]

Going to get vaccinated at 2 today.

Pfizer, Moderna or J&J?

[dodger]

I question how well its going to work against new variants and this could be the early indications. Hopefully it makes it so you dont get as sick from it for the most part. Probably going to become a yearlly shot just like the flu.

With spring break coming up and states re-opening I'm sure those of us in the back of the line is going to get sick with a variant but hopefully the vaccines will prevent a hospital visit.

[logical]

Pfizer, Moderna or J&J?

Moderna

[SD-[Inc]]

Vaccine may not be all that effective after all;





So, the vaccine may actually not prevent you from getting sick but just maybe helping not get as sick?

It’s my understanding that the vaccine fights against the severe symptoms. So, if you contract the virus you don’t get as sick. Flu shot is basically the same idea. If your body gets it the antibodies are already there and waiting to attack the virus. This is also why the CDC recommends you wear a mask in public even when you are vaccinated because possible you carry enough to possibly spread the disease even though you have no symptoms at all. I think that advice is probably conservative. Not sure how much you can spread if the body is shutting it down with the vaccine. The real statistic from the nursing home that matters is did any of the patients end up requiring hospitalization or worse.

[logical]

Moderna

Nevermind it was switched to Pfizer. Now waiting the 15 minute reaction period.

[xCLAVEx]

It’s my understanding that the vaccine fights against the severe symptoms. So, if you contract the virus you don’t get as sick. Flu shot is basically the same idea. If your body gets it the antibodies are already there and waiting to attack the virus. This is also why the CDC recommends you wear a mask in public even when you are vaccinated because possible you carry enough to possibly spread the disease even though you have no symptoms at all. I think that advice is probably conservative. Not sure how much you can spread if the body is shutting it down with the vaccine. The real statistic from the nursing home that matters is did any of the patients end up requiring hospitalization or worse.

One did, a 95 year old lady collapsed and had to be hospitalized according to the article.

[Java Cool Dude]

Nevermind it was switched to Pfizer. Now waiting the 15 minute reaction period.

A smaller gap between the two shots

[logical]

Don't feel any pain or anything out of the ordinary. Looking good and waiting second shot.

[xCLAVEx]

Don't feel any pain or anything out of the ordinary. Looking good and waiting second shot.

Check back in tomorrow, I've heard it takes about 24 hours before your arm gets sore. People attributed it to a giant wasp sting.

[logical]

Check back in tomorrow, I've heard it takes about 24 hours before your arm gets sore. People attributed it to a giant wasp sting.

Will do. I hope not I need my left arm to play Apex Legends Righty is safe for other reasons

[Java Cool Dude]

Shoulder pain went away after 45 hours; it was mild for me and I was able to workout, but my wife couldn't even get dressed by herself...

[koralis]

I'm scheduled for my first shot on Thursday.

Or not. They just cancelled me. Apparently those time slots were for Dose#2, and someone was distributing the link. The form specifically asked if this was my first or second dose, but apparently their site was too stupid to actually use the information.

It's disappointing, but I'm more irritated by the fact that I hadn't been looking for 3 weeks now... at the time I was seeing the occasional opening (just couldn't get to it fast enough), but now more people are eligible.... nada this morning at least.


Edit: found an obscure one for this coming Tuesday... longer drive than I'd have liked, but there ya go.

[koralis]

Shoulder pain went away after 45 hours; it was mild for me and I was able to workout, but my wife couldn't even get dressed by herself...

My wife found an article stating that almost all of the very-severe reactions to the vaccines have been women, and this isn't surprising because it happens more generally in all vaccines.

https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/covid-19-vaccine/news/20210310/women-report-worse-side-effects-after-covid-vaccines

“The sex difference is completely consistent with past reports of other vaccines,” she said.

Last month, CDC researchers published a report about the safety data from the first 13.7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the U.S. Among the 7,000 people who reported side effects, about 79% were women, although about 61% of the vaccines were given to women.

In another report about rare anaphylactic reactions, CDC researchers found that all 19 people who had anaphylaxis after the Moderna shot were female. With the Pfizer vaccine, 44 of the 47 people who had anaphylaxis were women.

...

“Women have greater immunity, whether it’s to ourselves, whether it’s to a vaccine antigen, whether it’s to a virus,” Klein told the newspaper.

Vaccine doses can make a difference, too. Women and men absorb drugs differently, and women often need lower doses for the same response. COVID-19 vaccines, which provide the same dosage to everyone, could create different responses and side effects in people, the Times reported.

[Jkmetal23]

One year on exactly from what I think of as "The Day"

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/buzzfeednews/march-11-covid-tom-hanks-nba-who?utm_source=pocket-newtab

[Greasy]

NC just moved group 4 up to the 17th of this month. Progress!!