I just had my second shot (Moderna). I have to wait 30 minutes because I’ve had anaphylaxis due to allergies (not to vaccines), so I had plenty of time to just enjoy the euphoric feeling of “it’s almost over.” Or, in the words of a song, “there goes the fear.”
From all we’ve seen so far, the danger of contracting a deadly or extremely serious case of COVID if you’ve had one of the mRNA vaccines is way, way less than the dangers we tolerate in everyday life. In two weeks, for me, COVID risk goes to the back of my personal risk line, behind riding my bike on busy streets, my family history of cancer, and the everyday danger of falling down and breaking my neck in some dumb way or other.
As I sat and enjoyed the feeling, I thought about the idiots who won’t partake in this massive free benefit. My attitude towards them is similar to the attitude I’d have towards someone who won’t visit a national park, or who won’t take a nice walk on a nature trail, or have some religious objection to riding a bike. I can sum it up as “more for me.” The more red staters who refuse vaccination, the more likely that my young relatives in red states will be vaccinated early. These anti-vax idiots make it more likely that my elementary and middle school relatives will be vaccinated before school this Fall, as soon as the EUAs come through for their age groups.
My other attitude towards them is “ha ha fucking ha”. Enjoy not attending a sporting event in New York. Enjoy wearing your hated mask longer because not enough of you goobers have gotten vaccinated and COVID is still around. When I visit your benighted red state viral breeding grounds, I’ll don one of my medical grade masks to protect me from ubiquitous virus-laden breath and mouth “fuck you” to every unmasked yokel I see.
It’s been a long pandemic and these people have done nothing but make it harder. Here’s hoping that some of the consequences fall on them now that the rest of us can get vaccinated.
To forestall the usual comments, yes I know that variants will occur, but we all know that they’re coming to the US anyway from places like Brazil. If variants start breaching the vaccine protection, I’ll mask up and quarantine until a booster is created. My guess is that it will arrive faster than the initial vaccine. I do feel bad for the healthcare workers who have to take care of these morons, but at least they’ll be vaccinated and won’t die from inhaling their spew. I do hope the hospitals don’t fill up in red states, but I’ll play my part by staying the fuck away from red states having outbreaks. And remember that almost anyone can get the vaccine — they’re incredibly safe as well as extremely effective.
Anyway, it’s not in my nature to celebrate, but Fox idiots like that fucker Carlson don’t want us to, so it is pretty much our patriotic duty to celebrate long and loud. Consider this my contribution to the cause.
The Strategic Implications of President Biden’s Decision To Adhere To the Agreement To Withdraw US Forces From Afghanistan
Kristine
Did a little shopping today at a couple of places I hadn’t visited since before the pandemic. Picked up an online order at an indie bookstore. I was double-masked and maintained a safe distance, but that relief in knowing I’m vaccinated meant I could have a little fun and talk to the folks behind the counter instead of hurry up in-and-out or curbside pick-up.
All my local friends have been vaccinated. It makes me happy just thinking about that.
gratuitous
I get that “Ha ha, more for me” response, and join in particularly when it comes to fewer people on the bike paths. But the vaccine is different. Unvaccinated people become vectors for Covid-19, possibly infecting others who don’t have the choice to vaccinate (compromised immune systems, allergic reactions, etc.). They also become hosts who provide a chance for the virus to mutate into a more virulent strain. It isn’t “more for me” when someone refuses to be vaccinated for no better reason than “I don’t wanna. You’re not the boss of me!”
To the public at large: Get the shot. If not for your own miserable self, then for someone who loves you.
TaMara (HFG)
I’m actually going to a restaurant for lunch tomorrow and eating inside there…first since the pandemic began.
Kay
I love his bitter, ranty “statements” from exile. It’s like beating him again every day.
“I’m still mad! Everyone pay attention to me!”
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
Enjoy your headache/earache/fatigue/fever/tinnitus.It is temporary, but it means the sonofabitch is working.
Gravenstone
I’ll put money on Carlson and most of the other high profile denialists having already been vaccinated, just in secret like their coward of a role model. They’re just pushing the lie to further rile up their rubes.
Earl
Weird how character is destiny, eh?
Jeffro
@Kay: man that ‘Former’ sure looks good on him, doesn’t it? He should add that to his letterhead.
kindness
I had a reaction to my second Moderna shot. It wasn’t too bad. Just felt like shit the day after the shot. The next day I was fine though. Hope you don’t get the same reaction.
Major Major Major Major
It’ll take them ten seconds to make a new mRNA vaccine for the variants, just like it took them ten seconds (two days, more accurately) to come up with the initial vaccine. The bottleneck will be approval, but that ought to be a lot smoother.
Hope your reaction isn’t too bad!
Served
I am looking forward to my second shot at the end of the month, and the growing light at the end of the tunnel. We are going to come to a point where we are going to potentially be held hostage from normalcy by the refuseniks, and to break free we may have to violate some public health best practices.
I’m mentally focusing on re-calibrating my comfort levels and anxieties for the upcoming gray zone we will be in for who knows how long.
donnah
My husband and I got our second shots yesterday, Moderna, and like our first ones, we have only some soreness in our arms as a side effect. Both of our elderly moms have gotten their shots and my three adult sons are in the process of getting theirs. It is a huge relief.
I post on Twitter within a small circle, but somehow I posted my happiness from getting the vaccine on a reply to someone with a lot of followers and I’m currently being trolled by hundreds of cuckoo birds, insulting me for getting the vaccines, wearing a mask and basically calling me every name in the book. There’s a loud, resistant crowd of anti-vaxxers out there, folks.
I don’t care, and I’m thrilled to have gotten my shots. I look forward to moving closer to where things once were, even if they never go exactly back.
Jeffro
Speaking of Tucker, this is just a lil’ hint as to how low he will go in years to come. He’ll do it whether or not we get organized, boycott his remaining sponsors, etc…so we really ought to get organized, boycott his remaining sponsors, etc.
(warning: link is to a Fox segment where Tucker complains of ‘two justice systems’ – yes really – since everyone is all wound up about Daunte Wright but there’s just no justice for poor Ashli Babbitt).
Note the subhead, too: we’re the ones using the law to crack down on our enemies, while letting our allies skate. Wut???!?
Gravenstone
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Morning after Moderna #2 and my injection shoulder felt like someone had taken a bat to it (far more modest arm pain following #1). About 24 hours post-injection, my body decided close temperature regulation was for losers, as I watched my temp bounce from 96 to 100 then back, often in the span of minutes. Nearing 48 hours post, and it feels like things are finally settling down. Never a dull ride…
Another Scott
I understand the sentiment, and feel some of it. But it’s not good.
The longer the pandemic rages, the longer the politics of it continues. And the longer we have political battles over masking / vaccines / opening-up the less time and energy we have for things like: fixing the economy for the bottom 50%; addressing our 21st century infrastructure needs (human and otherwise); and addressing big problems like climate change, what to do about tyrants and wanna-be tyrants going forward, and all the rest.
And that’s the point of the GQP doing this, of course.
The best thing we can do is keep our head down, our shoulders to the grindstone, and vaccinate everyone ASAP. Even the trolls.
Cheers,
Scott.
Betty Cracker
@Kay: Not in my wildest dreams did I imagine losing the election and being banned by social media would shut Trump’s big fat mouth to this extent. It’s glorious! :)
mrmoshpotato
@Gravenstone: Oh you know damn well every shitstain at Faux News has been vaccinated! Especially given that they spew their shit out of New York!
germy
beth
My employer came out with a four hour PTO pay policy per vaccine and I definitely heard a few “on the fencers” at work talking about getting it to get the extra day’s pay. I think I read that Marriot Hotels is doing this also. I bet we’ll start seeing more companies offering this – it’s just smart not to have to keep closing down when there are Covid outbreaks in the workplace. We had one person get sick and 8 people had to stay home until we could all get tested.
laura
We passed the 2 weeks past the second shot yesterday and we enjoyed a few friends in the backyard the last couple of days – all fully or partially vaxed. I drove to Bodega Bay and back on Tuesday and walked in the surf with my mask down under the chin even though only a handful of people were present. The well of my soul is just starting to fill after being bone dry for so long. Every single time I read or hear of a newly vaxed person – known or unknown is a tiny cause for optimism and relief. I hope that the conditions improve enough for the Administration to call for a day of remembrance and celebration. It would be nice to have a global day too but that appears to be too far in the future to contemplate.
rikyrah
Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) Tweeted:
Asked Capito why $600B-$800B is a “sweet spot” for an infrastructure bill, as she said yesterday.
“It’s just a ballpark figure. It doesn’t — it may not even be that much. I don’t know. I just kind of threw that out as a talking point.” https://twitter.com/igorbobic/status/1382756135497777161?s=20
mrmoshpotato
@donnah:
The Rolling Stones – Can’t You Hear Me Blocking
rikyrah
@Kay:
Such a whiner
Sure Lurkalot
My supposedly blue supposedly highly educated state decided to turn over COVID rules to local authority. Despite evidence of a 4th wave, the Executive Director of Denver’s health department decided to move the city down a notch to open up more establishments and “see how the virus responds.” Of course, the more conservative urban county south of Denver is declaring the pandemic over and is abolishing all restrictions.
It will be a total hodgepodge of varying regulations with municipalities pitted against and businesses cannibalizing one another.
And I’m pretty sure the virus will respond as viruses do…by spreading and mutating.
I went into a store today for the first time in over a year but my hidey hole is still available.
JaneE
Amen.
Yesterday I was out and masked and someone I know spoke to me. She wasn’t wearing a mask, probably because she didn’t expect to be close to someone, and apologized to me for not having it. She was noticeably relieved when I told her I had been vaccinated. She is the only person I have seen not wearing a mask who apologized for their lapse.
rikyrah
@Kay:
I resent the clowns who post his “releases”
They are written like tweets
mrmoshpotato
@Betty Cracker: He can no longer spew shit at the world from the shitter.
Doc Sardonic
@beth: My wife’s employer is giving bonuses for vaccines as a part of their healthcare incentive package.
RaflW
Today is 7 days since jab two of Pfizer. I do not offer medical advice, but from what I’ve read, at T+7 most people are within a few percentage points of the peak immune response they’re gonna get from the two doses of Pfizer (Pfz studied 7 days, Mod chose 14, so it isn’t really that the vaxs may be that different, just what response day was selected for the efficacy/safety trials, as I understand it).
That said, I’ll still be wearing my FFP2 at the big box home store that I’ll be going to in an hour or two. But I am also at least thinking about getting on an airplane in the next 30 days. I just didn’t even let my mind go there for over a year. Travel is one of my greatest pleasures in life. We’ve continued to do so in very limited terms by car, but the last hotel night (pre vaccine-eligibility for either of us) was the worst in terms of poor mask compliance.
I still won’t love that, because there’s still some risk of contracting mild Covid. Do not want. And yet, I will start venturing out more (with mask!). Indoor dining still feels a bit of a ways off. Thankfully patio season is nearly here in the upper midwest — we had a couple day’s teaser last week, but back to 40s and 50s now.
Gravenstone
Mmmmm, fresh meat!!
Eljai
@beth: I’ve been wondering if company policies encourage more people to get vaccinated. I work at a law firm that has a pretty generous policy. We get 16 hours paid time off, without having to use our vacation time, to be used toward getting a vaccine and dealing with any side effects. Plus, we get a $200 wellness bonus. I would have gotten vaccinated regardless, but that’s a pretty decent incentive.
Hoodie
Wife’s middle school moved from hybrid to full in-person last week with predictable results. In less than a week they already have something like 80 eighth graders in quarantine and she had two kids in one of her classes announced positive today, which will mean several more in quarantine. She’s been fully vaccinated for several weeks and stays pretty distant from the students, who all are wearing masks, so we don’t worry too much (I’m awaiting shot #2 of Moderna next week). However, this was all predictable and, at at least in my opinion, dumb for at last three reasons: (1) rushing these kids into school right after spring break was bound to lead to outbreaks, because idiot parents were doing things like taking family vacations to ski resorts and Disneyworld; (2) the schools are not really prepared to handle this (parents – predictably- are sending positive, even sick kids, to school) and (3) rushing these kids for a few weeks of in-person instruction crammed in before year end is not going to come close to making up for the deficits incurred during the last year. Maybe you could get away with this if at the same time you weren’t letting bars and restaurants go apeshit and violate distancing and masking right and left. My guess is that the school board was getting nasty messages and threats from the very people you’re “haha” – ing and finally had to give in. That’s another problem with these folks, they influence policy.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
PA vaccine scheduling has been a little chaotic but I managed to snag an appointment for Saturday (Pfizer).
I’ve been going through quite a rollercoaster of emotion just at getting the appointment. I imagine it will be kind of overwhelming when it’s actually in my arm.
Before I was steeling myself to be prepared to be locked in till well into the fall. In fact early on in this thing, when projections were 18 months at a minimum for a vaccine, I was preparing to be locked in for up to two years. Even a week ago I told myself I’d be lucky to get one before sometime in May.
Now I’m actually allowing myself time to think about outside activities. We’re going to celebrate our anniversary out in the world. And we just booked a B & B in June.
West of the Rockies
Got my second Pfizer yesterday. I only have injection site soreness about like a junior high charley horse. Otherwise, I feel fine. Does that mean the vaccine is not working? That seems to be what some are saying.
pat
Despite having the two Pfizer jabs, I am still wearing a mask everywhere I go. And most of the establishments around this democratic town still require them, in spite of the dumb dumb repukes in the legislature and the supreme court.
I fear that the anti-vaxxing, anti-masking, let’s crowd into that restaurant NOW idiots will keep this madness going well into next year.
trollhattan
I’ll note that Carlson (Born 1969 in godless SF) and his age cohort, now doing the wingnut heavy lifting, are too young to have grown up seeing the distinct age cutoff for folks relegated to a lifetime using crutches after having suffered polio. No vaccine: polio for millions. Vaccine: no polio. This is not hard.
Betty Cracker
@West of the Rockies: I looked into this, and a seemingly reliable source (I’ll try to find a link) says there’s no correlation between side effects and vaccine efficacy
ETA: here’s a link.
mrmoshpotato
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
Were you able to schedule the second dose too?
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
It’s hysterical. “I hate HIM and HER and …Her too!”
MisterForkbeard
@Hoodie: My daughter’s school went into 4-days-on and 1 day remote on Monday, where each class is split into 2-4 ‘cohorts’ of 12 kids.
We went two days before a kid got a positive covid test and one of the cohorts had to go back to in-home instruction. The other 25 cohorts are still in-person.
trollhattan
@germy:
I’m fine with that. Better safe than sorry, etc. I get the flu shot yearly, and it’s less effective than the Pfizer jab.
Doc Sardonic
On a personal note….On Pfizer 2nd jab +2. Feel better today than I did yesterday. Yesterday started out with just the arm soreness like the first shot, by mid afternoon I felt like I had been dragged through a knothole backwards, achy, no energy, queasy. Today, still a little off energy wise, but damn mentally it is like a weight has been lifted off my entire being. In 12 days it’ll be time to setup the mani/pedi/brazilian appointment bust out the Borat speedo, shades, rip the lid off the Jeep and the fat man hit the beach. With appropriate mask of course.
Steeplejack
? Geraldo vs. Bongino on Fox!
So glad that Popehat is back.
trollhattan
@Betty Cracker:
Suppose it’s possible that inside some not-completely dense skulls former thoughts of, “I’m going to miss him SO much!” have changed to, “Huh, maybe I don’t miss him after all.” He’s just so exhausting.
NotMax
Feel it in my bones that two weeks after my second shot Mom is going to start on “now you can come visit this year.” Need to start polishing up to a fare thee well the counterpoint that air travel – especially double digit–hours long flights – is not on my dance card for 2021.
Suzanne
I am fully vaxed as of four weeks ago. I got my face waxed yesterday, which of course means I couldn’t wear a mask for about 20 minutes, though the waxer did. She told me she had Covid about a month ago and it was pretty brutal.
I was getting all excited and now I’m not. Our case counts are not declining, even as more people get vaxed. They are going up.
And my younger and youngest Spawns still don’t have them.
germy
I got my vaccine through walgreeens, and they scheduled my second dose 28 days later rather than following CDC guidelines of 21 days. This became a news item because thousands of people complained. Turns out it was more convenient for walgreeens to just schedule everyone 28 days.
So my second jab is this Monday. I hope they don’t send me an email saying they ran out of pfizer. I remember a commenter here had that experience with that pharmacy chain.
I don’t want to delay the second dose any longer.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
I’m thinking about a friend of my sweetheart, who suffered a reaction to her first shot severe enough that she was advised not to get the second shot. Every rat bastard who refuses to get vaccinated because of “my FREEDUMB” is a threat to people who can’t get vaccinated.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@mrmoshpotato: They schedule your second dose at the same clinic when you walk in the door for your first one.
randy khan
I have spent chunks of the last few months resisting the impulse to yell at “No vax for me” people on social media because I know it won’t do any good. Some of them will come around when people in their circles get the shot, and I’m hopeful that calm, factual discussion will convince a few others that they should go ahead, but I know it’s in their hands, not mine, and also know that yelling only tends to make people more stuck on their positions.
The good news is that we don’t need everyone to be vaccinated to break the back of the pandemic (and, unfortunately, we don’t even need to vaccinate as many people as you might think because of all the people who’ve had it already). I do worry about people who can’t have one of the vaccines, which is why I will continue to talk about why the vaccines are good, but at least our current trajectory is likely to take us to the point where we need to be as a country.
Anoniminous
SARS-CoV-2 is a positive-sense single strand RNA virus.
Meaning:
1. Positive-sense means the virus can directly replicate using the cell’s molecular processes.
2. Single strand means the virus not only lacks the ability to detect and correct errors during replication it has a high rate of errors and, thus, a low rate of viable viruses or, put another way, lots & lots of non-viable mutations.
This kinda follows what we’ve seen. Yes there are variants: B.1.1.7, 501Y.V2, B.1.427/B.1.4. And they are more contagious than the “standard” (sic) virus. But the original wasn’t all that deadly* – thank heavens – so a more/better contagious variation on a not-all-that lethal – working on 2% in the US – virus is not to be trifled with and we definitely need to keep a handle on the situation but not deeply worrisome.
* some novel zoonotic diseases, e.g., Ebola, have a 90% death rate.
Pittsburgh Mike
Yup, your annual vaccines may now include a Covid vaccine to cover the new variants showing up that year, but at least for people willing/able to get the shot, this pandemic should be dropping back to the level of background noise.
NotMax
Day three post-Moderna #1 – almost full range of movement without intrusive discomfort of varying degree in injected arm/shoulder restored. First day can grasp and lift anything weighing more than a couple of pounds without needing to shift to using the other hand. Inadvertently rolling over onto that side during sleep still enough to shock me awake.
@germy
Costco zapped an e-mail ~2 hours after my receiving the 1st shot there, confirming date and time for 2nd. Required doing nothing on my part to arrange it.
Major Major Major Major
@Anoniminous: Also the vaccines are showing probably-adequate resilience to most of the variants so far.
This virus isn’t going away any time soon, so annual vaccination to the degree that your eventual infection isn’t so bad is likely the best we can hope for. And… that’s pretty okay! An annual injection to downgrade viral pneumonia to a mild/moderate cold (in the unlikely event you get it that year) is great.
Sebastian
After Labor Day (maybe Veterans Day) everyone unvaccinated contracting COVID pays for treatment in full. No insurance, no Medicare, nothing. If anyone in their family or close social circle gets sick or dies, test the genetic fingerprint and if connected, hold them liable.
Pittsburgh Mike
@West of the Rockies: Only about 40% seem to get strong reactions to the vaccine, but the vaccine is 94% effective at preventing infection, so pretty clearly a lot of people are protected but had no symptoms.
trollhattan
Things are going swimmingly in congress.
germy
@NotMax:
Yes, walgreeens sent me an email confirming my second shot appt.
I still worry they’ll cancel. That happened to another commenter here. She had to scramble to reschedule.
Anoniminous
@West of the Rockies:
The effectiveness of a vaccine is measured by the frequency of illness found in the vaccinated versus the unvaccinated (placebo) groups.
Side effects are a result of the vaccine interacting with your body’s molecular machinery.
Hoodie
@randy khan: We have one staff person who is vaccine hesitant. This may start to be a problem because everyone else in the office has been vaccinated and we have other staff members who are worried she won’t wear a mask when we return. I imagine this has something to do with her husband being a total wingnut, e.g., she makes allusions to not trusting the CDC, etc. (I wouldn’t be surprised if he watches Carlson). She keeps saying she wants to wait until more people get the vaccine. I told her millions have , we’ve already had the world’s greatest clinical trial and all eyes are on this (e.g., why do you think they paused J&J so quickly). Pfizer and Moderna have emerged with flying colors. This is a person whose daughter had Covid and had to be hospitalized. She’s clinging to a fantasy that she and her husband had Covid back in February of 2020 (which would seem impossible considering where she lives and works), and that gave them immunity that prevented them from getting Covid when her daughter and her husband had it. Still no reason not to get vaccinated. When are people going to get over this nonsense? Christ, I remember getting all kinds of vaccines back when I was in grade school in the 60’s, no one said anything.
Major Major Major Major
@Anoniminous: From what I’ve read, the severity of the side effects is a factor of how strong your immune response is, which is thought to correlate with how much protection you develop. Whether antibody count etc. above a certain threshold matters much is another question, and of course it’s not a perfect correspondence between side effects and antibody count.
Matt McIrvin
@Betty Cracker: That’s why I’m a little bothered by people saying “the side effects mean it’s working”; it’s a nice thing to say to reassure people bothered by the vaccine’s side effects, but it implies that there’s something wrong if you don’t get them, which is not true.
Anoniminous
@Major Major Major Major:
Yeah – right now the current vaccines look good for the foreseeable future. And there was an announcement from Illinois Tech they have a therapy in the works. Needs clinical trials & etc. but that’s the half we’ve been missing.
Steeplejack
Congratulations to everyone getting fully vaccinated. Personally, I’m getting concerned. Today I’m at five weeks since my first (Pfizer) vaccine, and I have yet to hear anything from Fairfax County (VA) or Inova (who actually gave me the first shot) about getting the second one. Supposedly the optimal window is between three and six weeks.
Fairfax County has a notice on their website basically saying “You’re on our list; don’t call us, we’ll call you.” But elsewhere on the site it says that Inova would give me instructions about the second shot at the first shot (which didn’t happen) and that Inova would be getting in touch with me (which hasn’t happened yet). I have gotten on Inova’s site and tried to schedule a shot, but it won’t let me do that. (Shows no appointments available.)
So I guess I am going to [shudder] get on the phone and try to talk to a real person about what’s going on. My fallback plan for next week is to schedule a (Pfizer) shot wherever I can and tell them it’s my second one at that time, possibly after I’ve received it. Desperate times, desperate measures.
I have read some stuff saying that a “slight” delay is not a problem, but it’s very vague and hand-wavey. I want to get this over with.
mrmoshpotato
@trollhattan:
Michael Cain
I’ll be two weeks past my second dose on Monday, and my wife will hit two weeks eight days after that. I am cautiously optimistic. There are lots of people out there who are not yet vaccinated. There will apparently be a fair number of people — many millions — who are not going to be vaccinated. I fully expect that we will each have to have a booster shot by the end of the year, either of the current vaccine, or with a somewhat different vaccine to handle some variant.
misterpuff
Thumbs up for the Doves reference.
That is one banging song!
NotMax
@Hoodie
Ah, the “I know which direction I’m going, so don’t need no es-stinkin’ turn signal” defense.
//
Ruckus
@Jeffro:
It’s actually true that we are using the law. In Brooklyn Center they have arrested the cop. The conservative side is that all minorities must die, so cops that kill minorities are OK. How many cops have gotten away with beatings and murder? Arresting cops, trying them, that’s new territory
Anoniminous
@Major Major Major Major:
I’ve read the same thing.
TriassicSands
It won’t really be over until the pandemic is fully under control in the US (and beyond). It seems doubtful that we will reach herd immunity given the levels of vaccine refusal and hesitancy among Americans.
One lesson that Americans will almost certainly fail to learn is that with widespread mask wearing and social distancing, we can virtually eliminate (or greatly reduce) our annual flu seasons and with that save the lives of thousands of Americans — young and old — every year.
Another Scott
@Betty Cracker: Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
Ruckus
@rikyrah:
It sounds like a big number, and it is but you have to think about it 2 ways. It’s a starting point to negotiate, it’s also not too big that it shows anywhere near what we should spend, which makes it easier to both control spending and screw over their opponents.
Another Scott
@Steeplejack: In the e-mailed instructions with my first appointment with FFX County (tomorrow!!) it told me:
You’ve been more than patient. Get them on the horn until you know what’s going on.
Good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
smith
CDC says that as of today, 198.3M shots will have been given in the US. We should reach 200M tomorrow, and 200M-in-Biden’s-first-100 days within a week.
80% of people 65+ have gotten at least one shot, and I think we can safely assume most of these will get the second one if it’s a 2-shot variety. CDC gives these percentages on a per-state basis, and some of the states have really high numbers of uptake, at least among the Olds. Especially in New England, most states are approaching or have surpassed 90% of 65+ having gotten at least one shot. New Hampshire shows 99.9% (!) for this group, but I think that must be an artifact of Massholes or Canucks crossing the border to get the vaccine. I know there are more ornery old coots in NH than that. Most amazingly, even in Texas, over 87% of 65+ have had at least one shot.
The point to all of this is, I think a lot of people who say they won’t get the shot are lying — basically it’s a public display of tribal loyalties more than meaningful resistance. Certainly among the people most likely to die there seems to plenty of willingness to get the shot.
catclub
This seems a little ironic, if you look at the present pandemic maps. Those benighted red states have pretty low case loads at the moment. (although i live in one of those benighted red states, and do the ‘fuck you bit under my mask.)
randy khan
@Steeplejack:
CALL THEM!!!!
I live in Fairfax County. My wife and mother-in-law had similar questions, and I called and it eventually turned out that they had been lost in the system. (My guess is that the team that vaccinated them did not turn in the paperwork properly for some reason.) They were very responsive once they figured out the issue.
There’s a specific COVID-19 number somewhere on the Fairfax vaccine page – it ends in 04, I think. Use that, and if the person can’t find your record, ask to be bumped to the next-higher person.
Ruckus
@West of the Rockies:
This is totally my opinion, so worth the hot air it generates.
Two things, 1st I think any one person’s reactions are based upon prior exposure to Covid and their underlying health conditions. 2nd, Anyone’s basic metabolism/general heath will likely also have an effect.
Brachiator
I totally understand your view here and share it. I felt so much relief getting the second shot. And relief knowing that my siblings and mother, and nieces and nephews all have got at least one dose.
But this is a global pandemic. We need to get as many people protected everywhere.
And risk is not a single value. The head of an Orange County ER who has been deeply involved in dealing with the pandemic noted that he recommended the Johnson and Johnson vaccine to his own son. But if he lived in certain foreign countries, he might strongly recommend that while older people should take whatever vaccine they could get, he might recommend that a young person avoid some vaccines because of the differential in risk.
We are learning more about the risks to young people. We are learning more about the potential risks to women of childbearing age. We are learning more about the possible effects on women’s periods.
The risks are often small, very small, but still significant enough that alternatives be sought.
We are seeing that some places that have relaxed restrictions have not yet seen a surge in new cases. Some idiots are taking this to mean that further precautions are unnecessary. It really means that simply coming up with a vaccine is not the end all and be all. We still need to investigate how the virus operates.
There will be future pandemics. We can be ready or we can be stupid.
Steeplejack
@Another Scott:
I have been “monitoring” my e-mail, even checking the spam folder to make sure something didn’t fall in there by mistake, but nothing so far.
After I registered at the Fairfax County site originally, I got an e-mail (and a text) saying that I was on the list, and then on March 9 I got an e-mail (and text) saying that I could schedule my appointment, with a link to Inova’s site. I got my first shot on March 11.
I figured that the notice for the second shot would drop out of the blue in similar fashion, but this is cutting it too close for (my) comfort.
At my first shot, I specifically asked the shot-giver about the second shot, and he said “they” would be notifying me. So, when you get your first shot tomorrow (congrats!), be sure to find out what the deal is.
I am thinking this is some comms snafu between Fairfax County and Inova, or maybe just on Inova’s side. Like they are (now) thinking that appointments for the second shot were made at the first appointment, not realizing that that didn’t happen in the early going. I think early to mid-March was the beginning of the big vaccination “surge.”
Steeplejack
@randy khan:
Thanks! Good to know that it is possible to reach a real person. I’ll look for that number.
West of the Rockies
@Betty Cracker:
Thank you, BC!
Ruckus
@trollhattan:
Considering that I’ve heard her speak, I am amazed that Maxine didn’t tell him to shut the fuck up. Maybe she’s actually running out of fucks.
catclub
c’mon! give us lazy readers a link.
smith
@catclub: It’s here.
Scroll down to the map, set the parameters you want to see using the buttons just above the map, then hover over the state you’re interested in.
NeenerNeener
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: You forgot the queasy stomach and chills.
The chills were the 1st thing to hit me, about 4 hours after the shot. The rest of it rolled in after I went to bed and kept me from sleeping Tuesday night. Catching up on my lost sleep yesterday afternoon was impossible because it was a nice day and all my neighbors got out their lawnmowers.
It seems to be over now, thank Dolly. I can’t wait to go shopping again.
fuckwit
It has been very upsetting to hear so many reports come in from friends, family, colleagues, and neighbors about getting their shots. I signed up with “MyTurn” for the State of California months ago, still have not heard from them. I assume that it means it is not “my turn” yet. But I am 55 years old, and should have been prioritized when they opened it up to 50 and older a few weeks ago.
In classic American fashion, it appears that the secret to getting a shot is to perform an enormous, incoherent, incomprehensible, sometimes frantic, patchwork of tasks to try to scramble and get one, or to just be in the right place at the right time. I have done neither and here I set, still no shot, and no signs of any available for me in the forseeable future.
At this point I don’t give a shit. If America and California decides I deserve to die, then I will die. If not, then I will live. I don’t care either way. I’m travelling anyway. I’m moving on with my life: masked, distanced, and hand-cleaned, but not stopping waiting for the shot that may never come.
Major Major Major Major
@fuckwit: Might I recommend… trying?
Suzanne
@fuckwit: Dude. Make a few phone calls. I bet you can make it happen.
PurpleBabied
I had to sit on myself to not blast this weird fundie anti-vaxxer (the covid vaccines are experimental gene therapy and vaccines cause autism!) whose mother and sister caught covid-19. The mother is in the hospital with covid pneumonia and she can’t understand why people are yelling at her for refusing to wear masks outside and how mean it is that people blame her and her mother for not wearing masks. She’s already been kicked out of one congregration for refusing to follow covid rules. She thinks she’s fine because she caught it and zinc is some kind of cure-all.
J R in WV
@fuckwit:
I made several phone calls before I signed up online for the WV DHHR web site, which is how we eventually got our shots in mid -February and mid March, 27 days after the first shot. We got the expected call about the second shot early in the week we were due for the second vaccination.
My wife has a complex health care history that means she is vulnerable to infection — I am her care-giver, and we both were vaccinated together for both shots.
I did call the Clinic a little before we were due, and they told me that the vaccination program would probably call us soon — and they did.
You need to take charge of your health care and work to get the vaccinations you and your family, if any, need.
Cassandra (fka mostly a lurker)
I’ve said this before, but my honest immediate reaction (which my conscience completely disagrees with) is let them all kill themselves off. Anti-voting rights legislation won’t matter if there’s no one left to vote for the GQP.
Jackie
@fuckwit: I signed up with my county health dept and was told to wait for email to schd vaccine appt in Dec. In Jan, WA opened appts for 65 and older, or meeting requirements. I scheduled my 1st Pfizer appt at the drive through fairgrounds mid Feb and got 2nd vaccination Mar 5th. THREE WEEKS after I received a text from the health dept saying I was NOW eligible. What I’m saying is, take matters into your own hands and don’t wait for an email or text that may never come.
Earl
@fuckwit
In addition to exerting effort beyond filling in some stuff on a website (built by the state of CA and/or a contractor, so probably hot shit) — try vaccinateca.com and then calling. At this point, now that we’ve opened to anyone over 18, you’re probably going to have to wait, but I got a some day appointment about a week ago by just checking local sites at 6 in the morning and grabbing a slot…
polyorchnid octopunch
Ladies and gentlemen, Cucker Tucking Farleson… because you just know that just like his buddy Jerry Falwell Jr. he fantasizes on the regular about his wife taking it top pocket from a BBC.