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You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 Coronavirus / Vaccinated! (Open Thread)

Vaccinated! (Open Thread)

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VP-Elect Harris got hers today:

Coincidentally, so did my sister (a nurse-anesthetist), who is a huge Kamala Harris fan and was delighted to learn they’d been jabbed on the same day. It’s a load off my mind; I’ve worried about sis and her wife, who is also a frontline healthcare worker. Anyone here get the shot yet?

I reckon my husband and I are way down on the list since we’re middle-aged, in good health and in non-healthcare, naturally socially distanced jobs. That’s as it should be. I hope our elderly relatives are able to get shots relatively soon. It’s been tough keeping them in check.

Open thread!

Reader Interactions

147Comments

  1. 1.

    Elizabelle

    Good morning, jackals.

    Looks like President-Elect Joe Biden will speak on COVID at 3:45 p. C-Span will carry it. And they’ve got footage of VP-Elect Harris receiving her COVID vacc.

  4. 4.

    zhena gogolia

    I have the luxury of working at home and getting groceries delivered, so I’m not going to get excited about pushing to the front of the line (looking at you, Marco!). Our doctor sent a message yesterday saying don’t call us, we’ll call you, so I have a feeling they’re being harassed.

    Re what you say about keeping your older relatives in check: I’m finding that my friends who are older than me (and that’s old!) are really hard to persuade to act sensibly. They travel, go swimming at the Y, stay overnight in hotels. Okay, they feel they’ve lived their lives so they’re not going to be afraid. What about the health-care workers?

    ETA: I guess having a friend whose wife is a respiratory technician at one of the early hot spots has really sensitized me to this, but you shouldn’t need that to understand it.

  5. 5.

    Eunicecycle

    My daughter, who is an NP at a clinic, is getting hers tomorrow. Not at the huge healthcare system she works for, but at a smaller system where she is a casual employee. She asked me if I thought it was wrong she was getting it at the hospital where she hasn’t had a shift in over 3 months, and I said No! If they’re offering it to casual employees, they want you to have it.

  6. 6.

    Ken

    I understand some places have set up websites so you can check how many people are ahead of you on the list. Which reminds me, I haven’t watched Kind Hearts and Coronets for a while…

  11. 11.

    Ohio Mom

    I hope 46 and MVP’s spouses and other close family members (plus any housekeepers or other regular household staff) are also being vaccinated right now. Plus the crew working with them on the transition. Not that I expect that to be publicized.

    I want a wall of safety around them.

  14. 14.

    geg6

    I don’t expect mine any time soon, but I am hoping that, based on his age and the fact that’s he had a stroke, my John will get his soon.  I expect that the University, at some point, will coordinate vaccines for students and employees the same as they did flu shots and COVID testing.  And I expect that may happen over the summer or early fall.  Which is probably the same time I’d be able to get at my doctor’s.  I don’t know yet if that is their plan, but based on what I know of how the University usually does things, that’s my guess.

  16. 16.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I hope our elderly relatives are able to get shots relatively soon. It’s been tough keeping them in check.

    I have a passel of 80-plus relatives who have been very lax about isolating, to the frustration of or with encouragement from, depending on the case, their middle-aged children. My uncle told one of his grandchildren (who’s 26), “I’m 88 years old, I’m gonna die from something pretty soon, whatever I do”. Going to church doesn’t count as “going out”. My 90 year-old aunt did a lot more dining out over the summer than I would have liked, always outside, and she’s reined that in since early October, so I guess she won those bets. My mom was increasingly agitated by her shrinking social circles in the last couple years of her life– as it got harder to get around to fewer people– I can’t imagine how we would have handled it if she had experienced this.

  17. 17.

    Cameron

    The county public health department is handling vaccinations here.  So far, they’ve hit 1000 people, primarily health care workers, and they want people to sign up for specific times.  Next target is us Olds, but there are about 100K of us here and only 3.5K doses of vaccine.  I’m going to go ahead and register, although it’ll probably take a while to get in.

  18. 18.

    Barbara

    I have no idea.  I am not even going to think about it until I have to return to the office, which doesn’t seem to be any time soon.

  20. 20.

    Olivia

    We are over 70 and don’t go out except for groceries every 2 weeks. We are double masking at this point when we have to go out. We will wait until we are notified by our doctor’s offices that we can get them. There are so many people who need them sooner than we do, so we will continue this life in our cocoon as long as necessary. I am loving it because I am a natural recluse but it is a bit harder for my husband who likes to be out and about doing things. He hates to be sick more than he hates isolating so it shakes out.

  21. 21.

    Major Major Major Major

    My grandpa survived his bout relatively unscathed (they anticipate he can be rehabilitated to baseline), but I’m excited for the rest of my family’s elderly to get their vaccines. Not too long, hopefully. Won’t be too long before I get it, either, in the grand scheme of things, I suppose.

  22. 22.

    Amir Khalid

    All anyone in Malaysia knows is that vaccinations may be available sometime in Q1/2021. The Ministry of Health has begun evaluating the Pfizer vaccine’s trial data, and hopes to finish that process within 90 days. No word yet on whether it has begun evaluating the other vaccines it has on order.

    As an almost-sixty-year-old person with co-morbidities, I’m told I will be a high priority for early vaccination. But the doctor I asked about it also said that the hospital had not said anything yet about how to sign up for a vaccination.

  24. 24.

    Betty Cracker

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: We’ve been pretty successful keeping my hubby’s 81-year-old mom safe for months, but the holidays seem to have been the last straw for her. She wears a mask when she goes out, but now she’s running around visiting relatives who aren’t all that careful.

    My dad is 75, and he’s good about staying home because he’s always been anti-social; fishing is his primary form of recreation. But my stepmother is a social butterfly and unstoppable shopper, and her kids and grandchildren are always running around their place, so I worry about him too. It sucks.

  25. 25.

    Brachiator

    @Eunicecycle:

    She asked me if I thought it was wrong she was getting it at the hospital where she hasn’t had a shift in over 3 months, and I said No! If they’re offering it to casual employees, they want you to have it.

    I figure that if a person is in a situation where they are offered the vaccine, they should accept the offer. I am just glad to know that we have the vaccine and that people are getting it.  The more the healthier.

  27. 27.

    hedgehog mobile

    mr h will be getting his sometime in the next two weeks, along with other residents and caregivers at his facility.  I am relieved.  I am way down the list in Group 2 (under 65, healthy, not frontline worker).

  31. 31.

    PsiFighter37

    No idea what the schedule for vaccination is going to be for my family, my parents (one who is almost 70 and has diabetes and other co-morbidities; the other who is just north of 60 and is in great shape due to running a lot), or my wife’s parents (her mother is a USPS worker, but doubt that is considered ‘frontline’ to get ahead of most others). The only person I understand who will be getting it soon is my grandmother, who unfortunately has dementia and is in hospice, but at the very least it means she will be safe. Her nursing home (in Kern County, CA) had an outbreak amongst some of the workers, but because everyone has had to wear a mask, my understanding is that none of the residents there have contracted COVID-19 (yet).

    Nonetheless, my wife and I will go get vaccinated as soon as we can. No idea when children will be allowed to receive the shot; my daughter is not even a year and a half old. I don’t even know what studies have been done on younger kids re: the vaccine.

  32. 32.

    germy

    @burnspbesq:

    Every year I get a flu vaccine.  I simply walk down the street to a Walgreens, give them my info, then get jabbed.

    I had assumed it would be this way with the COVID jab.  Once I’m deemed worthy (once all the politicians have gotten their vaccines) I can go to the Walgreens and get my turn.

    I didn’t know I’d have to go through my doctor’s office.  I thought they’d be swamped with sick people.

  33. 33.

    Gin & Tonic

    I’ve mentioned before, my dear wife got her first shot of the Pfizer a couple of weeks ago, and is due for the second a week from tomorrow. No side effects to speak of.

    I mostly sit at home, so I figure I’m down the list.

  34. 34.

    VOR

    @rikyrah:  Pfizer or Moderna?

    My simple answer: Whichever one is available first. That’s my personal decision criteria.

    Perhaps by 2022 if we need boosters there may be more data on which is preferable.

  36. 36.

    PsiFighter37

    @raven: It would be nice if someone asked them a question about how they feel about the impact on the deficit. Whether it’s calling out the hypocrisy or burying the notion that deficits only matter when Democrats are in charge, it should be highlighted at every turn. I am curious about how Josh Hawley, who despite being a despicable asshole is the only GOP member consistently pushing for direct payments, squares this with the Republican mantra about federal spending.

  37. 37.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @zhena gogolia:

    I went to drop off a plant and crochet (macrame?)  hanger to RWNJ mom – this was a sweet gift to her from my youngest child, who propagated the plant off her favorite plant and knitted the hanger herself.

    Neither she nor dad were there – I called, and they were eating breakfast at their local Big Boy (they’re constantly eating shitty fast food). I’d have yelled, but she was teary because they have to have an old dog put down this afternoon.

    They’re determined to get it, it seems.

  38. 38.

    PsiFighter37

    @germy: I have no doubt that there will be a national strategy implemented, along with using the DPA to massively boost output of the vaccine (whether it’s Pfizer or Moderna).

  39. 39.

    Matt McIrvin

    @The Moar You Know: I don’t really believe I’m ever going to be able to get vaccinated, and that the pandemic is ever going to be over. Like, really really believe, emotionally. It all feels like a distant fantasy at this point. Somewhere in my mind I’m assuming it’ll all get fucked up somehow and I’m going to be trapped in this house until I die.

    But I don’t really, in my gut as opposed to some intellectual calculation, believe Biden and Harris are going to be allowed to take office, either. All that feels like a fantasy too.

    Some of these things are going to be easier to believe in a while, I suppose. I hope.

  40. 40.

    burnspbesq

    @germy:

    I’ll show up when and where they tell me. My primary care doc is ten minutes away, and the hospital is about the same.

  41. 41.

    hitchhiker

    Hoping mr.h can get it asap, that’s all I know. He’s 65 & has a compromised respiratory system. I’m 68 and I can wait as long as I have to.

    We’re in the far northwest of WA state — basically as far as you can get from BettyCracker in the lower 48 and still be in the USA. The virus has been kept mostly at bay on our end of this island, so far, so I don’t feel hugely at risk.

    Jan 20 cannot come soon enough.

  42. 42.

    Matt McIrvin

    @rikyrah: I suspect we won’t be allowed to choose, at least if we want to get vaccinated in the next couple of years. What you get will be what is available from whatever source you can access.

    From the perspective of the person being vaccinated, it doesn’t appear as if there is any great functional difference between the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Some of the others that aren’t mRNA vaccines, like the Oxford/AstraZeneca one, might be significantly different. The differences are from the perspective of the people distributing and administering them.

  44. 44.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @PsiFighter37: Isn’t the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, about which the TV doctors seem pretty optimistic in terms of approval and effectiveness, both easier to produce and distribute than the two we have? My brain is pretty foggy, and I don’t read as much as I feel like I should, but that’s my impression.

  46. 46.

    yellowdog

    I’m a healthy 72. I doubt if I’ll get it before June. As of now there are about 120,000,000 people ahead of me.

  47. 47.

    Old School

    @PsiFighter37:

    I don’t even know what studies have been done on younger kids re: the vaccine.

    In one of Anne Laurie’s COVID updates (those things have been godsends) from about a month ago, it said that a pediatric version of the vaccine would likely not be ready until the end of 2021 at the earliest.

  48. 48.

    Matt McIrvin

    @NeenerNeener: There have been severe allergic reactions to the Pfizer one as well. It’s a thing that happens with vaccines. Hard at this point to say which ones are riskier–I think we need information from widespread mass distribution for that; not even the numbers in the field trials are big enough.

  49. 49.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @NeenerNeener: Ruh Roh – I had an episode once about 20 years ago – of course, I’d had a shrimp cocktail, a martini glass full of crab, lobster bisque and a lobster, so that was a pretty extreme moment.

  52. 52.

    Tenar Arha

    As far as I know no one in my extended family is getting the shot, yet. I figure if the Feds/States start moving things along  better my elderly relatives will maybe get vaccinated by February. & eventually I might have access to a vaccine by April or May, but I won’t be surprised if I have to wait longer bc who knows what other nasty surprises there’ll be from that fuckwit in the WH.

    Unfortunately with the two shots required for the best immunity it’s 2 months no matter what before it’s safe to eat together. And looking at the calendar, that made me sad because that means Zoom Passover this year too. /sigh

  53. 53.

    Brachiator

    @Matt McIrvin:

    But I don’t really, in my gut as opposed to some intellectual calculation, believe Biden and Harris are going to be allowed to take office, either. All that feels like a fantasy too.

    Oh, I don’t know. I have a fantasy image of a heavily medicated Trump being wheeled from the White House on January 20. His fat orange ass is offloaded like cargo onto a helicopter and he is sent off to Mar-a-Lago.  The next day, Melania files for divorce.

    Trump can make all the noise he wants. But he is done.

    I am also looking forward to the first photos of Biden in the White House.

    The vaccine and his small role in getting it developed might have been a tiny, partial redemption for Trump. But instead he will be most remembered for his man baby antics at the end of his blighted term in office.

  55. 55.

    Amir Khalid

    One reason vaccinations will start late here, according to Science Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaludin, is that Malaysia is only a middle-ranking nation in terms of wealth, and can’t pay the biggest bucks for the vaccines. So we wind up in a lower priority queue, with later delivery, and have secured only 83% of the 32 million-plus doses we need. And at that, Malaysia is better off than a lot of Third World countries that also desperately need the vaccine. Meanwhile, richer countries are buying up enough doses for multiples of their population.

  57. 57.

    Matt McIrvin

    @germy: The pharmacy chains are already handling distribution even to places like hospitals. I think what’s likely to happen is that you’ll be able to get it at Walgreens, but not by walking in–you’ll have to register in advance and get a notification when your dose is available.

  58. 58.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    looks like McConnell’s gonna poison-pill the $2K checks

    Jake Sherman@JakeSherman 18m
    MCCONNELL non-commital on $2,000 checks. Said the Senate will work this we
    ek to bring “into focus” some of Trump’s additional priorities including the checks, sec 230 and election fraud

    McConnell noted Trump “linked” these together

    A harbinger, perhaps, of what’s to come

  59. 59.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    I’m trying not to be impatient. My building management is registered to get some vaccine eventually, though after the memory unit/assisted living building that’s also on campus. And I’m registered with the county. So eventually someone will tell me there’s a shot ready for me.

    In reality, my 44 year old son should get it before I do. He has to go into work every day. And my DIL is a kindergarten teacher currently trying to teach remotely. She needs it too. I can stay home for a while longer.

  62. 62.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I’ve heard discussions of keeping people around at the vaccination site for 20-30 minutes after the shot to see if they have an immediate anaphylactic reaction, since treating that if you’re at a pharmacy or a doctor’s office is not too hard. Of course the logistics of doing this at, say, your neighborhood CVS in the middle of a pandemic are already difficult.

  66. 66.

    Major Major Major Major

    @NeenerNeener:

    Moderna can cause a severe allergic reaction if you’re allergic to shellfish.

    *A* doctor with a shellfish allergy had a reaction. I believe you can count the number of anaphylaxis cases from COVID vaccines on your fingers and toes. This isn’t too uncommon with vaccines in general, and we should take care not to blow it out of proportion.

  68. 68.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    Fascinating link to the FTFNYT on where you are in line.

    Just 268.7 million people “ahead” of me.

    I walk most mornings at the ungodly hour of 3am with two retired women, one of whom is 85.  We mask and keep our distance which is easy when walking around Denver’s City Park at that time.  Even at her age (no health risks that I’m aware of), there’s 118.5 million people ahead of her.

  69. 69.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    This should come as no shock to anyone even marginally familiar with RWNJ-run Misery.

    You knew that of course.  Man oh man am I glad we got out of there pre-plague.  The couple of times we’ve had to go back for property issues really made us cringe at what we were seeing.

    Stay safe down there where you are.  I know most of my RWNJ neighbors in red, rurl, central Misery haven’t done shit.

  70. 70.

    JR

    I’m in a low-risk category and am happy to wait but obviously I want the vaccine as soon as I can given my risk status. The thing that is annoying is that I have absolutely no idea when that is. I wish there was a list to get on and then they call me when it’s my turn…I really don’t want to harass healthcare providers.

    The funniest thing is that I am, and have been since March, working on one of these vaccines. Even so I have no idea how to get it because it’s a government function and not the responsibility of my company.

  74. 74.

    trollhattan

    Speaking of things Florida, this fucking guy.

    Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., went on a Twitter rant Sunday to accuse Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease specialist, of lying about coronavirus in general and masks in particular.

    “Dr. Fauci lied about masks in March,” Rubio tweeted Sunday morning. “Dr. Fauci has been distorting the level of vaccination needed for herd immunity. It isn’t just him. Many in elite bubbles believe the American public doesn’t know ‘what’s good for them’ so they need to be tricked into ‘doing the right thing.’”

    Why, he sounds almost presidential.

  75. 75.

    Almost Retired

    My 87-year old mother lives in the Midwest, and her children are on both coasts.  My sister and I tag-team terrorize her by phone and Zoom to deter her from venturing out for non-essential tasks.  My wife is in education, so she may be eligible in the next round.  I, on the other hand, am an attorney who has been deemed non-essential by the Governor (something I’ve always suspected). I am sure I am at the end of the line (58, no co-morbidities).  Indeed, there may be some societal benefit to be gained by keeping my sort confined to the home office indefinitely.

  76. 76.

    Major Major Major Major

    @PsiFighter37:

    McConnell just objected to unanimous consent. Fucker is always willing to be the bad guy because Kentuckians are too stupid to vote that jerk out.

    After all these years, I think it’s safe to say that they are proactively voting for him because they want a white christian ethnostate more than they want $2000 or health insurance.

  77. 77.

    Timurid

    I’m 52, healthy with only one risk factor (high blood pressure, hereditary and pretty well controlled by meds), not a ‘front line’ worker (a professor but all my classes will be online through spring semester at least). I’m probably in the second to lowest tier, just above ‘random healthy 30-year-old guy.’ So right now the vaccines are pretty much science fiction for me…

  78. 78.

    cope

    Well, because Florida (and Texas) have jumped the gun on CDC recommendations, us olds (65 and up) are in the first group.  I have made reservations in our county (Seminole) for Saturday the 9th of next month.

    I feel a little bad about jumping line as we are both retired and have been bunkered down in our house since April (?) but my wife is on immune suppressant meds so, OK, I don’t feel that bad.

    Each county is handling distribution differently.  I read today that in Ft. Myers (Lee County), people stood in line for as long as 19 hours.  Apparently, Lee county did not have an online registration system in place.  Having taught for 28 years in Seminole County, I have always been aware that ours is a relatively progressive county for Florida.  Plus, it went Biden, the first Democrat to win the county since Truman.  Baby steps, baby steps…

  80. 80.

    Tenar Arha

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    I have allergies & tend to get some rare reactions, usually to just meds myself. So I checked about the actual numbers. This really is like the John Oliver bit about 99 out of 100 scientists. The news is reporting reactions, but the way they’re doing it they’re making a big deal out of a few bad reactions in a million.

    IIRC out of about a million people who’ve received shots so far, only a dozen have had what have been called “severe” reactions. Even the doc who reacted to the Moderna one (shellfish), just used his epipen & was fine.

    I suspect it basically means that they may tweak some of the stabilizing agents sooner, but this seems like overall good news to me.

  81. 81.

    Suzanne

    My BIL, who is a dietary worker in a hospital and who got COVID earlier in the year, got his vaccine last week. I’m so happy for him.

  83. 83.

    CarolDuhart2

    On the bubble..64 with co-morbidities. My doc says I’ll get it when they get it-and I find myself Googling everyday to see if enough has arrived at the hospital to start vaccinating patients. One good thing is that my doctor’s practice is located in a hospital, so there should be little problem getting the doses once they get enough.

    I’m counting down the days until Biden takes over-I feel sorry for them. No inaugural balls-a natural superspreader there, and probably 80 hour weeks getting up to speed and getting a handle on all the undone crap that Trump left them with.

  84. 84.

    VeniceRiley

    I hope J&J and Novavax report out good news and get approved soon. Did we pre-order any Oxford/Astrazeneka?
    Otherwise, it’s going to be too long a wait for too many.
    I’m in healthcare but don’t expect it very soon for me. But hospitals and clinics will rue the day they forgot their IT departments

    Biden got Pfizer and Harris got Moderna. They’re covering all the bases to inspire confidence.

  85. 85.

    trollhattan

    Priorities, people.

    “Congress’ attending physician informed lawmakers Monday night that two staffers in every House member and senator’s personal offices are now eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine,” Politico reports.

    “In addition, the Office of the Attending Physician is offering the vaccine to four staffers of every committee chair and every ranking committee member.”

  86. 86.

    Kent

    @Amir Khalid:All anyone in Malaysia knows is that vaccinations may be available sometime in Q1/2021. The Ministry of Health has begun evaluating the Pfizer vaccine’s trial data, and hopes to finish that process within 90 days. No word yet on whether it has begun evaluating the other vaccines it has on order.

    Surprises me that countries like Malaysia are spending 3 months revisiting the same data that countries like the US, Germany, and the UK have already reviewed and approved.  90 days?  The data have already been available for what?  Over a month already?

    Is this simply a matter of bureaucratic imperatives, turf protection, and process for the sake of process?  Or do you think it is legitimate?

  87. 87.

    trollhattan

    @Tenar Arha:

    Have allergies and get shots for the environmental ones. Before my shots they have me take an antihistamine and I’ll probably do that before my someday COVID shot. Not that I have any way of knowing whether it could help, “But it can’t hoit.”

    The good news: none of the vaccines are made from peanuts.

  88. 88.

    PST

    @Brachiator: I agree. If you have a legitimate high priority for vaccination there is no reason not to accept it, even if the particular circumstances are not what you expected. A friend of mine is a 98 percent retired physician who still carries on a few administrative and committee duties with his old group. One reason he retired is because he has multiple myeloma, a form of cancer that is often treated successfully for many years, but the medications can be brutal and some of them suppress immunity. Kevin Drum has written eloquently about it. My friend just happened to be at his old hospital on the day of the first Pfizer vaccinations there. So many nurses declined to be vaccinated that there were leftover doses. They couldn’t be sent back, so his colleagues insisted that he be vaccinated, even though he isn’t on the front lines anymore. That was really good news.

  90. 90.

    Mary G

    Housemates who are home health workers go Jan. 8 and 10. The state has published only groups 1a, 1b, and 1c, none of which I fit in. I would love to get it ASAP, but I can keep isolating and want essential workers who bring me stuff to be first. So summer maybe?

  91. 91.

    Kent

    @rikyrah:

    Do we get to choose which vaccine?

    For those who have thought about this:

    Pfizer or Moderna?

    And why?

    I never bothered to ask or care about which pharma company made the flu vaccine I took this summer, or any other vaccine I have ever taken.  I’m not going to start now.

  92. 92.

    germy

    @Sure Lurkalot:  Do you have to go through your doctor’s office?

    I don’t know. I thought I could just visit my local Walgreen’s once my age group got the green light.

  93. 93.

    sempronia

    I got mine the first weekend it was offered, since I am in the ER and ICU. This area is extremely hard-hit by Covid, and even so, it seems like a lot of the hospital staff did not want to get the vaccine. Mostly nurses, anecdotally. Several nurses said that every doctor they talked to got the shot and took pictures of themselves doing so, whereas the majority of nurses were waiting. The doctors all said they trusted the science. People who were holding off cited reasons including distrust of the politicization of the process, can’t tell good information from bad, and fear of long and short-term side effects. People are really conflicted about whether to get vaccinated, and we are in a deep-blue area.

    Yesterday they were announcing overhead that the vaccine clinic was open to walk-ins, no appointment needed. I walked past, and the vaccination staff was sitting idle, no one waiting. I wonder how much that sort of thinking is affecting the low vaccination rate. I don’t really understand it – we are flooded with patients, and two-thirds are covid-positive.

  94. 94.

    bluefoot

    @PsiFighter37:

    That sociopath needs to die already.  I was hoping when he had that weird hand thing going, but no luck.  I am going to be like those Brits who danced in the streets after Thatcher died.

  96. 96.

    MisterForkbeard

    @germy: Right. I think I read that we’re at 10% of our desired pace right now – we wanted to have 20 million done by the end of January. We’re at 2 million vaccinated but something like 11 million doses delivered, IIRC.

    Basically, Trump Admin hugely dropped the ball on this. Like they do everything else. They correctly ordered a lot of vaccine (not enough, but still) and then sort of fucked around for awhile afterward.

  97. 97.

    Betty Cracker

    @rikyrah: My medical professional family members tell me that 70 is officially considered elderly for medical purposes. I don’t know if that extends to vaccine distribution, but it’s a great question.

  98. 98.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    @rikyrah:

    Do we get to choose which vaccine?

    For those who have thought about this:

    Pfizer or Moderna?

     

    Recently, I saw one of CNN’s medical consultants (I think it might have been Dr. Jonathan Reiner) get asked this question.  His answer was to simply take whichever vaccine you can get your hands on.

  99. 99.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    @PsiFighter37:

    McConnell just objected to unanimous consent.

    “McConnell” is just a synonym for scum.  He’s in a long running contest with Trump to see which one will be remembered as the most vile, repulsive, and despicable human being ever elected to public office.  May they both rot in Hell.

  100. 100.

    Juju

    My brother, a physician, got his first part last Wednesday. His wife, who is a nurse is still waiting. At least I don’t have to worry about my brother any longer, but I’m still worried about my sister in law.

    My mother is 87 and will be 88 in early March and I’m compromised because I have had pneumonia four times in the last 20 years,  and I have no idea when we will get our vaccinations. Her doctor doesn’t know, but he will tell us when he has news, so I’ve been told.  So we wait. We’ve made it this far, we can make it the rest of the way.

  101. 101.

    Suzanne

    @MisterForkbeard: I thought the goal was 20 million done by the end of this month.

    And I hear that doses are going to waste because of terrible logistics, not having enough people queued up when a case gets opened.

    If that’s true, then perhaps change the strategy and just vaccinate anyone.

  102. 102.

    NotMax

    Mom (soon to be 93) is reticent, having had a severe reaction to the shingles vaccine only a few months ago. Have been doing what I can to assuage her trepidation but there’s only so much one can say over the phone without becoming pushy about it. As it is, she’s currently juggling differing diagnoses and instructions regarding a pain she’s been experiencing in the upper thigh. Her orthopedist, with diagnosis #1, advised her to get as much exercise as possible. The neurologist, with a different diagnosis, told her it is important to get as much rest as possible.

    As for myself, vaccine will happen when it happens. Not in a tizzy about it as the timing is out of my control.

  103. 103.

    jonas

    @raven:  GOP Sens. Loeffler, Perdue Announce Support For Trump’s $2,000 Stimulus Checks Drive

    I hope the Lincoln Project has billboards with their faces next to Bernie Sanders and AOC plastered all over Georgia by tomorrow afternoon.

  104. 104.

    PST

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    looks like McConnell’s gonna poison-pill the $2K checks

    If McConnell ties the checks to repeal of Section 230 and investigating voter fraud I think Democrats should protest vigorously so no one catches on and then take the bait with a smirk. It’s not that I think repeal of Section 230 is actually good policy, but the whole Republican disinformation ecosystem would collapse without it. And if one thing is clear about claims of voter fraud, it’s that there is no there there. Further investigation can only confirm what dozens of lawsuits have shown. Democrats have nothing to fear.

  105. 105.

    Amir Khalid

    @Kent:

    MoH has said it hopes to expedite the evaluation; but I dig that the process can’t just be skipped altogether, and I agree that it shouldn’t be.

    I think a greater worry from a global point of view is the one I mention in comment #55: richer nations are using their financial power to the vaccines sooner than poorer nations that need them just as much, and in quantities that might leave poorer countries unable to get them soon enough or in enough doses.

  106. 106.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    @MisterForkbeard:

    Trump Admin hugely dropped the ball on this.

    Trump couldn’t find his own fat ass with both hands, a map, and a GPS device.  His name should be adopted as a unit of measurement for stupidity.

  107. 107.

    Evap

    The large university where I am faculty is going  to organize vaccines for everyone who works here, but it will be a while before they get to me.  They have an army of healthcare workers to get through.  I’m guessing they will try to get everyone done by the fall so we can get back to normal, those empty dorms are costing them big bucks.

    I’m hoping my 93 year old mom and her 93 year old husband can get it soon.  It would be great if their caregivers could get it soon, I’m hoping the home health company they work for will push to get their employees vaccinated ASAP

  108. 108.

    Major Major Major Major

    @PST:

    If McConnell ties the checks to repeal of Section 230 and investigating voter fraud I think Democrats should protest vigorously so no one catches on and then take the bait with a smirk. It’s not that I think repeal of Section 230 is actually good policy, but the whole Republican disinformation ecosystem would collapse without it.

    For this, you would nuke the Web as we know it???

  109. 109.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    My MIL is 97 and in a retirement apartment (not assisted living or nursing home).  She hardly sees anyone each day; it is disoriented to her with no communal activities.  We have seen her become more disoriented this year without her routine of games, friends, and church.  My husband has kidney failure and thus dialysis three time a week with 20 technicians and patients three times a week.  I am their sole contact to the outside world.  The vaccine cannot come too soon.  That Trump’s people have screwed up a fast process does not surprise me, but I am constantly infuriated and frightened.

  110. 110.

    trollhattan

    @sempronia:

    Yesterday they were announcing overhead that the vaccine clinic was open to walk-ins, no appointment needed. I walked past, and the vaccination staff was sitting idle, no one waiting.

    This seems like madness. How can anybody ponder the last ten months and not queue up? Madness.

    Or, put another way, I’ll be right over!

  112. 112.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Suzanne: No, you’re right. I meant to type December, not January. We’re supposed to have had 20 million vaccinations by the end of December, and we’re at about 10% of that.

    They bungled this in pretty much every way they could.

  115. 115.

    J R in WV

    @germy:

    Every year I get a flu vaccine.  I simply walk down the street to a Walgreens, give them my info, then get jabbed.

    I had assumed it would be this way with the COVID jab.  Once I’m deemed worthy (once all the politicians have gotten their vaccines) I can go to the Walgreens and get my turn.

    I didn’t know I’d have to go through my doctor’s office.  I thought they’d be swamped with sick people.

    I think it will vary by state under current government quality at the Federal level. My doctor was pretty dismissive of WV plan for pharmacies to disburse/inject people. He doesn’t expect to be doing any Covid-19 vaccinations in his office here in WV.

    It sounds like other places will be using the medical offices to provide vaccinations.

    When polio vaccination programs were executed in the 1950s, shots at first, and later on oral doses were given everywhere, job sites, schools, libraries, health department, EVERYWHERE. If they plan to administer millions of vaccinations daily, that’s going to have to be the plan. Everywhere.

    Fire departments, police stations, national guardsmen everywhere. Else it will be 10 years from now before they’re done. Things need to change and quickly for this to happen as it should.

    ETA: before I retired I got flu shots every year at work. This should be happening real soon for Covid shots. Everywhere. Churches, stores, gas stations, everywhere with power for a freezer. Nurses, medics, EMTs, anyone who can be taught to use a syringe and alcohol swab.

  116. 116.

    beckya57

    I got my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine last week.  (I work in healthcare.). Scheduled for #2 on 1/13.  I was thrilled.  I haven’t even taken the bandage off yet!  No side effects other than the sore arm I get with any injection.  I’ve also signed up to help out with my organization’s vaccine clinics.

  117. 117.

    satby

    @rikyrah: you probably won’t get to choose. People allergic to shellfish are the ones having allergic reactions to the Moderna one.

    I don’t care which I get (my preference would be the Astra-Zeneca-Oxford one, but that’s mostly not going to be available widely here). Doesn’t really matter, they all confer 90+% immunity and help reduce serious symptoms if you do get covid anyway.

    I mentioned earlier, as an employee at the doctor’s office I’m supposed to get it sometime next week. Details forthcoming.

  118. 118.

    sab

    @Matt McIrvin: Keeping people around for 20 minutes after a flu shot has been pretty standard at Walgreen’s for decades. Just to be sire there isn’t a bad reaction.

  120. 120.

    dr. luba

    I got the Pfizer vaccine last week (HCW).  I’ve gotten more vaccines than I can remember, including yellow fever and Japanese encephalitis, but mostly when I was a lot younger (~20 years ago) and traveling to exotic locales.  Never had a reaction except for sore arm.

    This time around, age 62, I had nausea, headache and lethargy the day after.  All mild.  And self limited. Am fine now.

    My niece, a COVID nurse, had it a few days before me; she’s 23 and had only a sore arm.

  121. 121.

    ET

    I am hoping my agency gets them because I am not one of those getting it early….

    My my in New Orleans is getting hers this week I think, and my dentist (in DC) got his yesterday.  My mom was in the facility that got hit hard and early. They had 18 or 19 deaths, but none of the residents has gotten sick in months.  The doc in charge has been real strict.

  122. 122.

    kindness

    Got my first vaccine this morning.  Am scheduled to get my 2nd dose 1/26/21.  I work in a hospital so….

  123. 123.

    PST

    @Major Major Major Major:

    For this, you would nuke the Web as we know it???

    No, I don’t favor repeal, but I’d call their bluff. I will admit that there are elements of the web as we know it that I would not mind excising. I remember back when you would use Mosaic from time to time to check uiuc.edu to see if any new web sites had come online recently. The power exercised by a small group of companies today was unimaginable, and they do so irresponsibly.

  126. 126.

    Brachiator

    @kindness: 

    Got my first vaccine this morning. Am scheduled to get my 2nd dose 1/26/21. I work in a hospital so….

    Very cool to know of someone who soon will have both jabs.

  127. 127.

    Dulcie

    I was lucky enough to receive my shot earlier this month, and I’m scheduled for my second shot on the 11th of next month.

    I work in IT, and my hospital system considers us essential workers. We received our injections after the hospital clinical staff received theirs.

    I experienced no side effects. They had everyone park their cars in an overflow lot post injection for 15 minutes, just in case there were any adverse reactions.

  129. 129.

    Ruckus

    The VA has started vaccination of staff, then it’s those living in VA care facilities, then by order of disability/health/age. So I have no real clue how long it will be for me. I’d bet at least a month.

  130. 130.

    Ruckus

    @rikyrah:

    I’m going with whichever I get. Likely that will be Pfizer, because the VA’s email said that the vaccine had special refrigeration needs and they are starting at the hospitals, which have the facilities to keep it cold enough, and that’s where I go, is the hospital, rather than a stand alone clinic.

  131. 131.

    Low Key Swagger

    My wife works for Vandy Childrens Hosp…though she works from home, she was put on the list (possibly because there is an outside chance she could be called in to help, but a very very small chance).  The vaccination was offered to her entire team, and she was one of two that agreed to get it out of eight co-workers in her dept.  The others were not interested, it seems.  These people are all RN’s.  Experienced, long term RN’s.  So, today she went and got the Pfizer vaccine.  We are both having trouble understanding the reluctance shown by her team-mates.  Makes no sense.

  132. 132.

    Ruckus

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    The older one gets and therefore closer to the end, and of course have no real idea how far away it is, you don’t want to miss anything. But you also likely can’t do everything so you do what you can. I imagine that if you are in your 80s/90s you just want to get out of life what you can. For me, I’m healthy enough to possibly last another 15-25 years but one never knows. But sometime in the next 4-6 months I will retire. Likely closer to 4. 71 years is long enough.

  133. 133.

    egorelick

    Got mine on Sunday 4 to 5 weeks ahead of anticipated. Don’t know why (possibly thawed too much pfizer – only 5 days after removed from supercold – or better than expected progress or worse than expected uptake) but they threw it open to walk-ins for any employee at the hospital and I drove from home when a coworker texted me. Definitely a little bit more arm pain than the flu shot (but very minor) to be expected due to bigger needle and more volume. My sleep is always a bit dicey since I work a 7 on 7 off schedule but the second day of more than 10 hours of sleep confirmed that fatigue was a side effect (for me at least). Making a list what to do after I get my second jab (actually, two weeks after second jab).  So far 1. haircut 2. hugging other vaccinated people who want hugs. 3. airplane flight to anywhere (probably seattle or san diego, but maybe Denver or KC). 4. Breathe a sigh of relief and try to go back to normal and maybe start dating.

  134. 134.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @egorelick:

    try to go back to normal and maybe start dating.

    note to self: Figure out this whole “computer” thing and develop an app for vaccinated dating…

  136. 136.

    PST

    I checked the NYT priority estimator, for whatever it’s worth. I’m at about 23 million, which strikes me a pretty high. I feel a little embarrassed because the “co-morbidities” that get me there seem more like lifestyle choices than anything else. I’m not quite serious about that. It is interesting that both my diabetes and my hypertension emerged only after the pandemic began, and both are very, very mild, which makes me feel almost like I’m angling for a push toward the front of the line.

  138. 138.

    JAFD

    I have a scheduled checkup with my PCP at University Hosp. in mid–January, figure by then they’ll be able to either give me a jab or tell me when to come back for one. Hibernating till then – slept 15 hours of past 24.
    Waybackwhen, once took young lady to the lunch buffet at old Crystal Room of Wanamakers. Turned out she’d never eaten raw oysters before, nor seen anyone else consume them. Interesting… (She worked her courage up enuf to try one, don’t know yf she’s had more since.)

  143. 143.

    J R in WV

    When did people start calling injections, vaccinations, “jabs“?

    This is the worst possible framing for a life saving treatment I can imagine. No one in media should be allowed to use this term, it should be a firing offense upon first usage. Just a “shot” is a bad enough term, but a jab is more like being stabbed with a weapon.

    How did this become common usage? I know it has been typical in British usage, but have we had so many British reporters bringing hateful slang over here that this had become common? Horrific terminology. Don’t use it anywhere. No wonder people are reluctant to get JABBED even for a live saving therapy. Crazy talk — just stop, right now!

    Now back to your regularly scheduled conversation…

  144. 144.

    Matt McIrvin

    So there’s been all this discussion of carefully rationing the vaccine supply, but it sounds like even among medical staff, it’s difficult enough to persuade people to actually get vaccinated that unless they start making it mandatory, maybe it’d be easier to just “ration” it by who wants it, first-come-first-served…

    (then again, my reasoning may be distorted by: I fucking want it)

  145. 145.

    Matt McIrvin

    …you know, I’m overdue for both a colonoscopy and possible knee surgery that would happen sometime next year, and the instructions for thing #1 have all these additional dire provisos about needing a negative COVID test within 3 days of the procedure. If they can get me and everyone in the vicinity vaccinated by then, I’d imagine that would make all this a lot simpler…

  146. 146.

    Gvg

    Sister doctor at a
    Florida VA hospital got the first shot. Was called in early but then had to wait in line over 2 hours.
    Alachua county Florida health department has signup sheet online for over 65 and the link is being passed around from relatives, friends and on Nextdoor here. Parents, Aunt and Uncle signed up. No idea when they will actually get the shots though.

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