Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

This blog will pay for itself.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

He really is that stupid.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

You are here: Home / Healthcare / COVID-19 Coronavirus / Vaccination Update

Reader Interactions

133Comments

  3. 3.

    MisterForkbeard

    Okay, but to be extra safe you should probably just cut off the arm and get a new one. You can be a slightly aged Jax from Mortal Kombat, complete with integrated garage door opener.

    And bonus, you can start a new blog category: “This fucking arm”

  6. 6.

    Timurid

    I found a long article today about ‘What should I do after I’m vaccinated?’ It covered everything from side effects, how long until you’re fully protected, what activities are now safe, what precautions to take (still wear your mask, etc.). Right now it feels as relevant as an explainer about why I’ll need a pilot’s license to drive my flying car.

  7. 7.

    Tim C.

    “+99 COVID resistance” in green letters suddenly floating up from your head happens too sometimes.

  10. 10.

    Gvg

    I think people who have been vaccinated and who are now doing slightly more things, should get a badge saying vaccinated. I am worried about the unvaccinated idiots seeing other people going out now and thinking it’s Ok for them too.
    I realize fakes and liars are a possibility but I really think we need some clarity. Also more vaccines. My parents have been vaccinated and are starting to venture out for some things. It’s been on my mind.

  15. 15.

    jl

    I got my first shot today too. So far, same stuff as a flu shot for me: a little woozy and a sore arm. I got Pfizer. Kizzy PhD said in a twitter thread that both of the mRNA vaccines are designed to ‘smother that sucker’. So, I’m good.

    They wouldn’t tell me whether the Gates chip is implanted on the first or second shot. I asked some clinical staff and students about it, but they said if they told me the hit squad would be on me before I could get out of the office.

  16. 16.

    Chetan Murthy

    John, it’s heartening to hear that you’re getting vaccinated.  And I mean that in a (nearly-)selfish way: nobody wants the people who anchor their metal image of their country, to be hurt in any way.  But also, it’s great b/c every time somebody gets vaccinated, it means that the system is working.

    The right thing to wish for, for the second shot, is a moderate reaction, right?  Not too much, not too little, right?

  17. 17.

    dmsilev

    My employer sent out an email this afternoon saying that we’re included in the county’s next phase of eligibility, so as of March first, I get to join the lottery. Looking forward to the jab, but not so much the process; that’s still a mess.

  19. 19.

    jl

    @Chetan Murthy: “a moderate reaction, right”

    Clinical types have told me that the immediate reaction doesn’t make much difference. That is due to a different part of your immune system, the ‘innate’ immune system, and how people feel that innate immune system kick in is very idiosyncratic. Anyway, apparently part of the signaling pathway to get the adaptive immune system revved up, but that doesn’t affect how you feel.

  20. 20.

    Ruckus

    John, today when I got my second shot the nurse that stabbed me asked how the first shot was and I told her a very slight bit of pain when I tried to sleep on the stab side. Asked me what I expected from the second shot. I said I’ve heard a range of things, hurts like hell, a slight fever, feeling a bit down and nothing at all. She said “You want to feel something from the second shot, that means the body and the shot are working. If you feel nothing, it’s possible that the vaccine doesn’t work on you.”

    I’m happy to report that my arm knows it had a shot today. The arm isn’t pissed off about it but it knows. Right now, 6 hrs in, arm feels a bit heavy and the slightest bit sore. Temp and pulse/ox are normal.

  21. 21.

    jl

    @Ruckus: “If you feel nothing, it’s possible that the vaccine doesn’t work on you.”

    Huh, that is different from what I’ve been told. Immunologist told me the immediate reaction to first or second shot is from a different part of the immune system than the one that makes antibodies and T-cells, and the actual signaling the innate does is separate from how bad you feel. Maybe some clinical expert on the BJ commenter team can clear it up for us.

  22. 22.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    Since this is an open thread, the US embassy in Jerusalem has been bugging me. I don’t understand why Biden won’t simply move it back Tel Aviv where it was before and I don’t understand why Chuck Schumer expressed support back when it happened. It shouldn’t be there. Fuck the Republicans if they complain. Israel is an apartheid state anyway.

    The United Nations issued a condemnation of the Trump Administration’s move a few years back. Doesn’t Schumer or Biden care about the will of the international community?

  24. 24.

    Ken

    @rikyrah: That is one of the weirdest URLs I’ve ever seen.  The mix of words is like a person, man, woman, camera, tv test (a real one). I wonder if the Sun-Times auto-generates them from keywords in the article.

    Oh, yeah, congratulations Cole.

  25. 25.

    getsmartin

    I’m a participant in the Novavax vaccine trial and received the second dose this week. Post shot, I experienced low grade fever and generally felt like I had a good old fashioned tequila hangover. Have a good hunch I wasn’t in the one third placebo group.

  28. 28.

    jl

    @getsmartin: I don’t know about the ethics of it, but I read some vaccines give you a placebo that makes you feel a little weird. I think one covid trial used an old ultra safe polio(?) vaccine. Or maybe one against bacterial pneumonia? Something like that.

    So, either way, you’re making history. I guess if you want to be a good trial subject now you go YOLO and get exposed. But YMMV.

  30. 30.

    bystander

    Advil is your friend.  I had a sore shoulder after the first and second but definitely felt more after the second.  Advil did the trick.

  31. 31.

    Mary G

    I had zero side effects from the first shot and will be surprised if I have many from the second scheduled for a week from yesterday. But you never know. Looks like it may be delayed due to the shipping snafus from the weather all over but here in SoCal and at Betty C’s in Florida.

  32. 32.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Ruckus:

    Dear Covid-shot Letters,

    You’ll never guess what happened to me today ….

    But seriously, it’s great hear, Ruckus!

  33. 33.

    Ruckus

    @Brachiator:

    I looked at CA and at the VA segments.

    The VA is problematic because it takes you to the VA information which is half assed at best, behind what is happening, not updated. I’m wondering if a lot of the states are basically the same, what is happening and what is being shown as happening are/can be wildly different in both directions, good and bad. Example, because of the handling necessary it’s tough to be set up in a lot of places so in the LA area, a vet has to go to the LA VA hospital. My first shot 3 weeks ago was only in a building that has been turned over into the inoculation center. Now they have army tents set up as another entire inoculation center so they can process twice as many per day. And yet I saw three vets outside when I was there and they could handle 8-10 shots per every 5 minutes. No one else got a shot at any of the tables other than me when I was there, inside the building. And I was 45 minutes early. There was one other vet waiting like me, maybe 3-5 minutes at most and he went in the tent. It’s a success in that it works flawlessly except for the number of customers.

  34. 34.

    bbleh

    @Mary G:

    I had zero effects from the first, but the day after the second, I felt like I got hit by a small truck — maybe a Jeep, going slowly. And the weird thing was, it came on very suddenly. Everything was fine, and then suddenly about 10am I was thinking “ruh-roh Raggy.” Lasted about 4 hours, then faded, but felt a little beat up the rest of the day.  Never had a vaccine reaction (eg flu) before.

    N = 1 so whatever, but FWIW …

  35. 35.

    getsmartin

    @jl:  Re: “feel a little weird” versus what I experienced is a significant differential.  I definitely draw the line at actual exposure, though!  My motivation was mostly self serving with a bit of “for the greater good” factored in…

  36. 36.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    I don’t understand why Biden won’t simply move it back Tel Aviv

    (1) not all Dem pols are going to push for that, and some will feel it’s a bad thing.  It is what it is.  As much as I want our foreign policy to be better, to not prize “he maybe be a bastard, but he’s *out* bastard”, I want our domestic policy to get fixed even moreso.

    (2) he’s gotta pick his battles.  I fully-expect that he’ll end up withdrawing Neera Tanden’s name for OMB, for instance: Manchin’s agin’ it, and that’s enough already.  Move the embassy back, that’ll gin up another shitstorm, when he’s still trying to get the covid relief bill passed.  And with a stack of other domestic priorities behind it.

    (3) what will it really change?  Israel has gone so far to the right, their ruling party is so fucking Nazi these days, it’s hard to see how this little move can improve things.  It feels like the Israeli left is outnumbered and outgunned.  Hopeless, in short.

  37. 37.

    Ruckus

    @jl:

    She was talking over the next day to a few days not immediate. Sorry I didn’t put that in there properly. On both days I didn’t notice anyone in the room that was acting like it was a big deal.

    When I got my first shot they made me wait 1/2 hr rather than 15 min as I’ve had reactions to vaccinations before. Today they didn’t, because no adverse reaction to the first shot.

  38. 38.

    dr. bloor

    Congratulations on the Fauci ouchie, and remember, tripping over a mop and dislocating your hip whilst in your birthday suit is not a necessary symptom to catalyze immunity.

  41. 41.

    jl

    I decided to read up on the innate immune system. Turns out that is the old school immune system we got from our OG proto fish, amphibian, reptile ancestors, and even plant, ancestors.

    The innate immune system is in some ways a brutal and thuggish thing. Has a flavor of a Mafia hit squad to it.

    Natural killer cells give me the creeps, if I understand wiki correctly. These things want to kill every god damned thing they find, but other cells apparently tag whatever they’re not supposed to rip up and they keep off.

    Oh Lord, please, some expert commenter come along and tell me that I misunderstood the wiki article.

  42. 42.

    jl

    @Ruckus: OK, thanks. I hope some expert can untangle it for us.

    I was told the shit that starts right off is the innate immune system, and maybe you notice it kick in and go to work or maybe you don’t.

    Of course, if it’s an infected wound or a cold, then sooner or later you do notice it bigtime.

  43. 43.

    Ruckus

    @bbleh:

    I’ve been hospitalized for 9 days from a vaccination. At first I didn’t feel anything because I passed out. After that it felt like a semi had run over me and then back – a couple of times. 105 fever for 7 days before it broke. Every flu vaccine shot I’ve had I’ve had a reaction to – 105 fever but not as long. I had no idea what to expect from this. But it was worth the risk.

  44. 44.

    NotMax

    Hawaii still working through the 75+ cohort for the general public. Maybe – maybe – they’ll get through that group by the end of March (although I fully expect it will drag on into April).

    Meanwhile, pulled a muscle in my back bending over and retrieving a heavy pot from the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.

    Not a major pull this time but enough for it to keep reminding me it’s there.

  45. 45.

    VFX Lurker

    @Ruckus: So glad you, John Cole, and an increasing number of other folks are getting protected. ❤ Looking forwards to my turn this summer.

  46. 46.

    Ruckus

    @jl:

    Over dramatic a bit but no you did not misunderstand. To protect you the cells must jump on any “enemy” that comes their way. If they don’t, you get, well sick. If you don’t have any “killer cells” for a particular invader, the invader can have a free for all. That’s what happens with Covid, we don’t have any natural “killer cells” for Covid. Now that doesn’t mean you will die, it means you can get sick. But if your system can’t recognize when it’s sick or cant’ muster up a recovery defense, you can die. That’s what comorbidities do, they make you weaker in a recovery defense situation. This is not a textbook response to your question but it is a sort of realistic way to look at it. Take me for example, the flu vaccines that make me sick – sicker than most, my body for whatever reason can not process them reasonably, so the vaccine seems to my body like a full scale attack. I get a far stronger reaction than the vast majority. I have the defense, I can survive the high fever, I must be able, I’ve done it enough. But as one ages and has more systems that don’t run at normal or peak but sub standard to say a 25 yr old, or actually has systems that have been damaged by other events, say a heart attack, one loses a bit of the ability to mount a defense. The less defense that one can muster, the sicker an event can make you. Read the Chicago Sun Times article. You’ll get the picture.

  48. 48.

    Comrade Colette

    I envy you, John. I’m 60 and in no kind of risk group (my asthma is mild and well-controlled), and I’m in California with its chronic vaccine shortage, so I don’t expect to be able to get it for months. Even if I could, there are lots of others here with more urgent needs.

  49. 49.

    patrick II

    I am sitting here feeling very selfish. I am hearing about Pfizer vaccine being 85% effective with just one shot. I have had one shot and am supposed to get the second in two weeks. I would like to keep that appointment.

  50. 50.

    Chetan Murthy

    @patrick II: Please don’t feel selfish.  The “85%” effective, from what I remember reading, wasn’t from a phase 3 trial — it was just measuring immune system response.  Now sure, that correlates -some- with actual protection.  But there’s a reason they’re so damn -careful- about the claims they make for drugs, and why there are so many rules: we really don’t know analytically how the body works.  So get that second shot!  And then two weeks later, do a victory dance!

    And let us all know, of course!

  51. 51.

    Ruckus

    @VFX Lurker:

    I’m looking forward to the vast majority of people getting the shots so that life can get a bit back to abbynormal.

    If I didn’t say it here before the only reason I got my shots is that I pushed in several directions. My primary sent me a message and a phone number to call because just ten minutes before they’d been told that the age bracket went down to 65 from 74. I’m 71 so didn’t make the first group but called and got an appointment – and had my choice of days. And my primary did that because I pushed for more info as the vaccination center told me that I could get an appointment or walk in and my primary didn’t know that or a number to call. It’s getting better in many places, ie John getting a shot. But shitforbrains fucked up everything he touched – no surprise there, but this fuck up has killed a lot of people it didn’t need to do, because of shitforbrains.

  53. 53.

    glc

    @Ruckus: As far as NJ is concerned, NPR gives the relevant links but the state doesn’t seem to know what is going on itself.

    Some of their information is about 2 weeks out of date, but at least if you click through the websites you reach explain that.

    The main information telephone number was converted to an automated message explaining why it is useless, after which one can wait if one wants. They don’t estimate wait times for the call – it is at least an hour, possibly a week or more.

    They decided not to prioritize, just to have a huge eligible pile of about half the population of the state. Which avoids most of the possible complaints about fairness. I think they would have liked to have a national plan to implement.

    I’d have preferred a system which gave some indication of when one’s turn might come. This month, or next month, or the month after that. At the moment the rope is trying to fit through the eye of the needle. Very wasteful – but it could easily be much worse.

    Anyway, I suppose there may still be some people not aware of the registration system, so that’s good to have there.

  54. 54.

    Subsole

    Grats on the shot. Hope you don’t go full BrundleCole.

     

    Also please go slap Joe Manchin.

    Thx.

  55. 55.

    J R in WV

    I signed Wife and me up on the WV vaccination interest list some weeks ago. We both got an email soon after to let us know that our signup worked OK. Then nothing for weeks!!

    Then Monday or Tuesday I got a call from the local Primary Care Clinic, the only health care facility in our very rural county. After the power had been off for a couple of days! Asked for me by name, was a real person, wanted to know if we were still interested in a vaccination? Hell Yes!!

    So today at around 1:55 we got our first shots of Moderna. A little sore in my arm, really all over, but that’s one of my health issues, arthritis and tendonitis, etc. So no telling how much is toting the groceries up to the house and how much was the shot.

    But a big relief to have one down and a date for the next one!

    After not hearing anything from DHHR (the web list we signed up for) for weeks, I was toying with signing up with the VA, just to get a shot. Never mind!!

  56. 56.

    patrick II

    Ari, subbing for Rachel, is reporting on the new election law Republicans are trying to quickly push through in Georgia. It’s as worse than I could have imagined. Passing out water to voters waiting in line. Soliciting grants to improve voter turnout — illegal. Drop boxes —  gone. They claim it is to prevent fraud, after their have been assuring everyone there was hardly any fraud in the election they just had.

  57. 57.

    jl

    @Ruckus: OK thanks, I trust you know what about it.

    Still, it creeps me out. We all have homicidal maniac cells wandering around inside us looking for something, anything, to murder, dismember, maim and destroy, 24/7. Anything that has a hall pass, they lay off, but their natural inclination is still to kill it. How am I going to sleep tonight?

    Anyway, as above, I was informed that with a vaccine, whether you even feel the innate immune response is very idiosyncratic, and the vaccine can work even if your arm doesn’t hurt and you don’t feel like crap right away after the shot.

  59. 59.

    Ken

    @jl: No, that’s pretty much how the innate immune system works.  “Is this cell I’m touching me?  No?  Time to get pre-Cambrian on its ass.”

    Mind you, the adaptive immune system isn’t much better.  “That cell just died. That’s suspicious. I’ll mutate a few thousand times to find something that binds to the remains. Then if I see those pieces again it’s KILL KILL KILL KILL.”

  60. 60.

    Ella in New Mexico

    Good for you, John!

    Do not, under any circumstances freak out if you get tender, swollen lymph nodes in the armpit or chest area next to the arm you got it in. We in Primary Care have had a lot of this reported and we’ve even gotten guidance not to send female patients for mammography for these symptoms until 4-6 weeks after their second shot.

    It’s your immune system chugging away, responding heartily and it’ll go away pretty quick.

    I love to hear people are vaccinated. LOVE it.

  61. 61.

    James E Powell

    @Subsole:

    I try to avoid bashing Manchin for the reasons that are well known and have been thoroughly discussed on this, the last of the really good blogs. But today pissed me off because the president of his party made his first trip to promote his & his party’s COVID relief package. Why cause a distraction? Why not make your objection known through channels and wait to see what the president of your party is going to do in light of it? Why not wait till next week?

    President Biden was in Milwaukee to promote the COVID relief package. Every living Democrat should have been in touch with his or her local press/media saying the exact same thing. That’s how this is supposed to work.

  63. 63.

    jl

    @Ken: Yes, everyone is telling me the terror of the wiki article is true. There are mafia hit squad cells that tell damaged and sick cells that ‘we wanna nice place here’ and if they don’t clean up their act, time for a ride. Nothing personal, just business.

    Jesus. Murderous medieval, mafia, WWI  shit going on inside and I never realized it.

    Edit: Pesci needs to record an immunology intro, as Tommy.

  64. 64.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @James E Powell: among the reasons I’ve seen suggested (he wants to show independence back home– cause from Wheeling to the Hollers, they care about the Director of OMB– he wants to show bipartisan cred to his would-be allies across the aisle– more likely), is that he’s mad that VPKH went on local TV without telling him, which makes as much sense as any explanation.

  66. 66.

    Ken

    @jl: You probably don’t want to know about apoptosis during development, then. “Attention, cells, we’re building a complicated structure.  About half of you will basically be scaffolding to help get the shape right. Then you’ll die.”  And what happens to nerve cells during the development of the eye…

  67. 67.

    jl

    @Ken: OK, thanks. Sounds like Buddhists are right, mere existence is a wheel of death, destruction and sorrow. I’m out for a while, need to calm down. And I had my first shot today.

    If I don’t turn into a fruit bat, and am ready for more zombie horror stories, I’ll come back and read BJ immunology.

  68. 68.

    RandomMonster

    I 56, on medication for hypertension and cholesterol, but otherwise okay I guess. No idea when I should expect a shot. And I wonder if Baltimore will be sidelined for the rest of the state.

  69. 69.

    jonas

    I’ve been told the second shot (the Moderna one at least) makes your arm a lot sorer for some reason. After the first shot (which I barely felt when administered), there was a little tenderness a day or two later, but the same day I suddenly got ridiculously fatigued and napped for like four hours, which I almost never do. Woke up in time for dinner, and felt fine after that. I’m due for my second next week, so we’ll see.

  71. 71.

    Lyrebird

    @patrick II: 

    I would like to keep that appointment.

    YES YES YES Keep that appointment. And I say that even though I’ve been very envious… I am eligible because of my job and it has been very tricky to figure out how to get signed up, but YES every person who gets fully vaccinated makes all of our risks go down!

    I will be cheering for you and your immune system!

  72. 72.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @patrick II: How do we convince Sinema, and perhaps others, that there’s only one party that actively suppresses voting rights, and the more success they have, the more like minded people are elected to continue the suppression?

  73. 73.

    jl

    @NotMax: For some reason, my first reaction was that the street was going to be renamed ‘Dolly Madison Avenue’. I prefer that over some statue in the TN statehouse.

  74. 74.

    Ruckus

    @jl:

    We give names to things which can give visions of horrible. But really it’s simple in description, complicated in action. And I’ve given the really, really basic description.

    Let me simplify a bit.

    We have cells that watch what comes in our bodies. Call them discovery cells.

    We have killer cells that react to what the discovery cells find.

    The discovery cells know what is supposed to be.

    The killer cells defend against everything else. For example, in my case the flu shot, all delivered at once is considered a bad thing by my discovery cells. So instead of letting that in my killer cells go to work trying to kill the invader cells. In my case it raises my normal temp 97.5 to 105, thereby killing the invader cells. Just because it might kill me is seemingly not an issue for them. And I have sort of proof that it doesn’t because I’ve fully recovered on more than one occasion. Now normally it’s not done that way but hey, whatever works, right?

    Now what we do is, especially with the Pfizer/Moderna vaccines is we create cells that fight off the Covid cells rather than have to ingest weakened Covid cells. It’s a new tool that seemingly should work a lot better than prior vaccines or most of the other Covid vaccines. Now the real question is will it continue to work or will the new anti covid cells just die off when they are no longer needed?

    Also remember that while we are all human (with exceptions for ted cruz and other aliens from planet shitforbrains) we are all in some ways slightly irregular. It’s the nature of nature that we are not all exactly the same, thank someone/thing.

  75. 75.

    StringOnAStick

    So, once I get my Bill Gates chip, does that mean I no longer need to carry my avalanche beacon when I go backcountry skiing?  Sweet!

  76. 76.

    James E Powell

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    he’s mad that VPKH went on local TV without telling him, which makes as much sense as any explanation.

    So he reacts like a middle school stooge. He’s the chair of the fucking Energy & Natural Resources Committee – the most desirable spot for a senator from WVa. He is who he is and we will all have to live with him and his ways, but it’s disappointing that he doesn’t see the long term advantage of having Biden owe him.

  79. 79.

    StringOnAStick

    Husband and I won’t be able to get vaccinated for who knows how long, but he did just get his first Shingrix vaccination and they asked him if he’d had any Covid vaccination in the prior two weeks before they gave him his anti shingles jab.  So there are considerations.  We would gladly have traded a shingles jab for a Covid jab.

  80. 80.

    Mary G

    It just struck me that in one way I’m glad CA may have to reschedule my second shot due to delivery problems. At least the ones we have are being given out promptly, not sitting on a shelf somewhere.

  81. 81.

    MomSense

    @jl:

    When I was a kid I had the small Pox vaccine twice and it didn’t work either time.  All my friends had that cool round scar on their shoulders and I wanted one too.  Both my mom and my grandmother were naturally immune.  The vaccine didn’t work on them either.
    My son and I are actually visiting cousins this weekend at camp.  My cousin is a physician and has been vaccinated.  Her kids work at the vaccine clinic so they have been vaccinated as well.  We are all wearing masks, but we get to hang out together.  It’s so nice to be social again.
    Tomorrow we are going to cross country ski around the lake.  Hopefully we will see some bald eagles.

  82. 82.

    Poe Larity

    Great! Check out your local liberal PBS station with Ian Bremers Gzero World tonight sending dittos to Rush, teachers unions hating your kids and puppet skits about Biden owing all his success to Covid!

    Then go over to Snooze Hour where I guess Jonathan Capehart has replaced Mark Shields and he’ll argue with I guess PBS’ now progressive David Brooks about how innovative Mitch has bravely positioned Republicans to take the Senate back in 2022 with his strong stand against Trump.

  86. 86.

    dww44

    @jonas: Everyone I know who’s had the Moderna has had a reaction to the second shot.  Spouse and I had our 2nd Pfizer shot 2 days ago, 3 days before the 3 weeks  window since the first was upon us.  Neither of us had any reaction to the first at all and just a bit of a sore arm since the 2nd one.  IHope this doesn’t mean that the vaccine didn’t take!

  88. 88.

    Sloegin

    Cheers to people who have gotten their first shot.  My state is still slogging thru the over 65s, with weeks to go before the next group can start lining up – the blessing and curse of very low declination rates in my region.

  92. 92.

    StringOnAStick

    @dww44: Not everyone has a reaction.  Someone above with the professional chops to say so said having a reaction or not to the injections doesn’t indicate anything about the efficacy of the vaccine.

  93. 93.

    Yutsano

    In case you missed it, they’re still being fuckers.

    UPDATE: South Carolina’s near-total abortion ban signed into law on Thursday was temporarily blocked by a federal judge on Friday.The law would have effectively prohibited abortions as early as six weeks of pregnancy. https://t.co/iybOCSxDcw— 19thnews (@19thnews) February 19, 2021

  94. 94.

    Mousebumples

    @jl: I don’t want to say I’m an expert on these vaccines but that’s not true of most other vaccines.

    Skill of the administrator is part of it (eg Boostrix can be painful for me, but when I got the booster at my ob/gyn office while pregnant, I barely noticed it), and some are known to be painful (eg Shot #3 of Gardasil).

    This sounds like an urban legend that doesn’t have scientific basis, to me. I could be wrong, but all reports of soreness, etc., are likely to be self reported, and i doubt they are checking antibody titers to see if there’s any correlation.

  95. 95.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    If you want to get back to pointing and laughing at the geriatric toddler, an inside report from the restaurant at the old post office hotel in DC

    Trump himself never returned a plate, but if he was disappointed, you can bet the complaint would travel down the ranks. Like the time the President questioned why his dining companion had a bigger steak. The restaurant already special-ordered super-sized shrimp just for him and no one else. Next time, they’d better beef up the beef.

    “It was the same steak. Both well done. Maybe it was a half ounce bigger or something, I don’t know,” says Williamson, who had previously run the kitchens of DC staples Birch & Barley and the Riggsby. The chef had always prepared a bone-in rib eye or filet mignon for Trump. After Steakgate, he switched to a 40-ounce tomahawk. Trump would never again gripe that he didn’t have the greatest, hugest, most beautiful steak.

  96. 96.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    From the same article

    Aaron Rupar @atrupar 12h

    “A tray of junk food needed to be available for every Trump visit: Lay’s chips (sour cream & onion), Milky Way, Snickers, Nature Valley Granola Bars, Tic Tacs, gummy bears, Chips Ahoy, Oreos, Nutter Butters, Tootsie Rolls, chocolate raisins, & Pop-Secret”

    Paul @pablo_honey1

    This explains why Trump’s primary doctor was a gastroenterologist.

    twenty bucks says he never touched a granola bar, the raisinettes are a surprise too

  97. 97.

    patrick II

    @Sure Lurkalot:After Sinema, how would you convince the Supreme Court, at least five of whom will be looking for any reason to repeal a new voting rights law, to consider a vote to be at least as important of a person’s right as the right to carry a gun?​​

  102. 102.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Stuart Frasier: since you brought it up:

    Trump always had the same thing: shrimp cocktail, well-done steak, and fries (plus sometimes apple pie or chocolate cake for dessert). Popovers—make it a double for the President—had to be served within two minutes and the crustaceans “immediately.” The manual instructed the server to open mini glass bottles of Heinz ketchup in front of Trump, taking care to ensure he could hear the seal make the “pop” sound.

  103. 103.

    Ruckus

    @dww44:

    I was told that you want A reaction to the second shot. Doesn’t have to be a 911 call level situation just something to let you know something is going on.

    And now, at 9 hrs in my arm is starting to not be it’s normal engaging self and I’m feeling a touch weak. So I’d say we’re good to go and it can stop anytime…….

  107. 107.

    Tehanu

    Hubby Dearest and I got our first shots today too. No soreness or anything.

    About 10 minutes ago I sent a “Site Feedback” email saying I couldn’t comment — this was on Albatrossity’s lovely post — and now here, I can. So who knows? Not me. I spend my life working on computers and the amount of cursing and swearing and foot-stamping I do is, well, a lot.  Maybe someday computers won’t constantly be annoying.

  109. 109.

    Ken

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Popovers—make it a double for the President—had to be served within two minutes and the crustaceans “immediately.”

    No problem, just cook the popovers every morning at 7 AM and keep them under the heat lamp until needed, like at a gas station.  Same thing with the shrimp, except keep them in the fridge. It’s not like a gourmand will notice that they’re stale.

  110. 110.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Bill Kristol endorsing Neera Tanden for OMB director on the Williams program

    “I think there’s a little misogyny here”… of all the Biden nominees to oppose, Manchin picks the woman of color? (from memory)

    What is going on ?

  111. 111.

    Freemark

    @StringOnAStick: ​
     
    I am holding off on the shingles jab because the COVID scheduling form asked if I had any other vaccinations in the last 4 weeks. I was able to get scheduled at a Rite-Aid only 20 miles away for March 5.

  112. 112.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    he claimed to be a germaphobe

    Heh, no, he was never any such thing: he screwed Stormy Daniels without a condom, boasted about doing same in the 80s to Howard Stern (“my personal Vietnam”).  He’s no germaphobe.

  115. 115.

    patrick II

    Newsmax attacks President Biden’s dog for being un-presidential and dirty

    Trump didn’t like dogs but having this “unkept, looks dirty” dog is worse. Actually insane. Guys in suits being paid, I assume, a reasonable salary to say insane things on whatever media Newsmax is on.​link:​
    Biden’s dog according to Newsmax

  116. 116.

    SWMBO

    @Chetan Murthy: My theory (and I don’t want to get close enough to Trump to test the hypothesis) is that he faints at the sight of blood.  The story about the guy having a stroke and Trump fleeing because of the blood and germs is probably because he thought it made him a tough guy but a germaphobe.  If he had stayed and fainted at the sight of blood, that would have just been sissy.  He’d rather be a germaphobe instead of a fainter.

  118. 118.

    patrick II

    @Ruckus: ​ It wasn’t meant to be funny, but it kinda is. I am getting the shot because I am old and think but there are others who could benefit — mostly teachers.Being raised as Irish Catholic and especially going to Catholic school builds up unreasonable guilt about many things. On the other hand, maybe I’ll say three Hail Mary’s and it will be O.K.. I don’t know, it’s confusing sometimes. Maybe that’s why there are so many Irish poets.​

  119. 119.

    frosty

    @Ken: ​LOL That’s the best description of the immune system I’ve ever seen. It’s late, I should get to sleep and give them a chance to catch their breath so they can go out tomorrow and KILL KILL KILL KILL!!!!

  120. 120.

    smike

    @Doug R:

    You know, we could really use one of those flashy/forgetty things right about now. For some people you might be able to simply set it for t####, and for others maybe a clean wipe is more suitable.

  121. 121.

    glc

    I’m no expert on Trump, thank goodness, but I had the impression he is a severe germophobe who doesn’t know what germs are. Which is probably a fairly common state of affairs.

    I recall he revealed a scientific discovery last spring that the cause of the current plague is invisible, which he found remarkable and iniquitous. Most diseases are caused by dirt, which is visible, and which is found on poor people (the genetically poor, not the accidentally bankrupt), who are also visible.

  123. 123.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Sure Lurkalot: Sinema is really passing me off and she’s my fucking senator. Sinema is supposedly such a huge John Lewis fan that she voted for him for speaker when she was in the House(so she could tell her AZ bigoted voters she didn’t vote for that SF liberal Nancy Pelosi.)  How exactly does Sinema expect the John Lewis voting rights act pass with a filibuster? Also she isn’t up for reelection till 2024 – a POTUS year which is easier for her.

  124. 124.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @patrick II: that clip looked like an SNL skit. BTW, I saw Champ in a clip. That dog looks old and is old – he’s 15 which is pretty ancient for a GS. Don’t think he’s going to make it through the 4 years.

  128. 128.

    ColoradoGuy

    A 40-oz steak! FFS! What kind of animal devours something that huge!? Not even my dog could eat that much without barfing it up a half-hour later.

    But maybe the point is leaving a huge portion on the plate, to show how “rich” you are. Still, I’m astounded he has the tastes of a third-grader, with physical appetite of an animal in the zoo.

  129. 129.

    Blue Mouser

    There is great anime that focuses on the myeloid and lymphoid cells in the body. It’s called Cells at Work. NK cells are featured in episode 6 and 7. And you can guess what type of cells is the antagonist in the episode. It’s dubbed on Netflix if you don’t like subs. Yeah the whiten blood cells are quite bad ass in the series

  131. 131.

    Ruckus

    @ColoradoGuy:

    He doesn’t have the tastes of a third grader, he has the tastes of a spoiled toddler. Because that’s where his mental abilities stalled out at – toddler. He gets mad when he doesn’t get his way – spoiled brat. He yells and screams at everyone till they give him what he wants – toddler. He never negotiates because he’s always been a spoiled toddler/brat. And it’s worked because no one can believe that a 73 yr old supposed billionaire would act like a spoiled brat toddler.

    And all the people he surrounds himself with rate a person by how much money he has, nothing else, so as a spoiled brat he claims to have far more than they do.

  132. 132.

    J R in WV

    We’ve had a tomahawk steak — it was for the both of us at a fancy restaurant, served rare, cut with your fork tender. Our 40th anniversary IIRC. Also a 32 ounce porterhouse again to split between us, at B B King’s Nightclub in Manhattan, before a show with Jimmy Vaughn. Also really rare and tender. But I mostly buy tiny tenderloins to serve rare, here at home.

    The junk food platter sounds great – for Halloween maybe… what a juvenile monster Drumpf is!

    My arm hurts a little, and I’m tired after sleeping about 12 hours, off and on. So SNAFU for me, how do I know it’s working? I kid some, the injection site is tender, and the arm around there may be a little swollen.

    Meanwhile I have some foodstuffs and water, gallons of water out in the car, from our stop at Kroger’s yesterday after the Vaccination Adventure — they had a ton of bottled water in a variety of sizes from 2.5 gallon down to cases of pint bottles. I got one of those, 4 of the 2.5 gallon containers and 3 two gallon jars. Well prepared, I’m sure they sold out after the power dropped last Sunday and Monday.

  133. 133.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @J R in WV: My arm hurts a little, and I’m tired after sleeping about 12 hours, off and on. So SNAFU for me, how do I know it’s working? I kid some, the injection site is tender, and the arm around there may be a little swollen.

    Second complaint. Maybe you should unleash on yourself like you did on me.

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