My first COVID vacinne shot

I had my first shot 3 weeks ago, and the second shot is tomorrow.  There was absolutely no problem scheduling.  The clinic/hospital where I go contacted me by e-mail and invited me to go to my portal account and schedule my shots!  They are amazingly well organized.  Same deal with my wife, who was contacted by a different hospital.

The two major hospitals around here are both doing a great job!  Check-in was fast, easy, and well organized.  No waiting!  And they were moving a lot people through, with ease.

These are private hospitals, one of them is part of the University of Colorado.

Shows you what you can do, when government is not involved!

You are lucky. Scheduling a shot in the Chicago area has been insane. My hospital won't start providing shots unti next week. Walgreens won't start until next week. CVS is not providing shots. My local Osco Drug Store ran out of shots. The Walmart that I am going to tomorrow will stop giving shots after Sunday. On Friday I will try to schedule my second shot. 

I can't get mine until late April. Our state has high risk immunosurppressed patients close to the last, just before the general population, which makes zero sense to me. Even the young folks at the bike shop got it months before I can. Oh well, I guess I'm just not as important as bicycle shop workers and those over 65 even though I work 3 jobs. Either that or they figure a guy with a double lung transplant can weather it easer that a 25 yo healthy man.

OK, off my soap box now.

We got our first doses on Monday but it was an ordeal. The NYS site frequently crashes and even when it works it causes trouble. When you go to book a time it says is available you find it actually isn't. When my wife got our appointments it was after the site said there wern't any but there actually were. Some people have had to book times two months in the future and others are driving hours to get the shots simply because time slots were available in faraway locals. On a positive note the system and people we encountered once at the vaccination site were terrific. If anyone wants to know how to properly set up a statewide system I'd strongly urge looking elsewhere.

Our state is up and down on who/when... now some inmates in the prison system are being moved up, long term care facility.

I have a couple of friends whose Drs have said no way due to their heart conditions.  Still waiting on what my PCP/cardio team tells me.  Looks like sometime in April right now, even though over 65 and health conditions.....

Goldhammer: I have a pacemaker and my PCP and cardio doc both encouraged me to get the vaccine without hesitation. 

I don't know what the issues with the friends are, and I have pacemaker/ICD.  25% ef and breathing issues.  Had phone appt with PCP a couple weeks ago, and an ICD download first part of April, along with phone appt with cardio a week later.  We'll find out in time. PCP told me they're doing vaccine if eligible, just a matter of if and when.

I really don't know what to say to you folks other than try and stay safe in the meantime. What we hear from the U.S. and the U.K. is terrible. Don't have any family in the States, but we do in England and we are very worried for them.

Ive had both.  Got my second Moderna on Monday.  Yesterday I felt a bit punkie. Not sick, just blah.    I registered the end of December with the Tarrant County (TX) Department of Health,  I'm in group 1B.   First week of January they contacted me and had me go to the Arlington TX Convention Center.   There was a line but it only took a bit over an hour including the paperwork.   EMS & fire personnel from Arlington & Mansfield were running the show and there were fire & emergency personnel from other counties observing how thins ran.  I think they did well.   

When I went back for #2 on Monday the line was longer, but still took less than 2 hr.  I asked one of the EMS guys what their throughput was.  He said that they averaged 400+ an hour and were expecting 3200+ that day.  They gave #1 shots in the morning

I've heard gripes about Dallas and other Texas communities on the news,  but I have no complaints about how Tarrant County & Fort Worth are handling it

We stood in line for about 30 minutes waiting for our COVID shot. Everything went just fine.

I got mine last thursday, 8 days ago. Moderna, no real effects other than a slightly sore arm.

Because of my situation, live in Mass and work in Washington, I tried both states.

Mass is a complete and utter mess! I'm a 1b essential worker living in a multi-generational house (My 85YO inlaws live with us). 2 weeks ago my Dr. in Mass said they had the vaccine but could not give it to me because the state said only 1st responders and healthcare were elegibale. There are news stories of the vaccine expirering, being left out too long, and refrigerators being unpluged! Massive waste.

Washington state opened it up to me on January 25th, my Daughter logged on and got me an appointment in Spokane for the 27th. In and out in less than 30 min. VERY efficent and easy. Lucily for me my airline fly's to Spokane saving me a 5 hour drive.

I can't understand why Mass, NY, NJ, IL can not figure out how to do this! I suspect corruption....

I can't understand why Mass, NY, NJ, IL can not figure out how to do this! I suspect corruption....

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Things are not much better in North Carolina,I'm only 62 with no problems,so I can't even get into the process yet.

mach71

I can't understand why Mass, NY, NJ, IL can not figure out how to do this! I suspect corruption....

Add that to states going in their own direction, rather than CDC guidelines.  Then the courts shuffling things around some more...... it's a wonder it's going as well as it is.

We will be in the next wave to get shots. I see my doc this afternoon for routine follow up, see what she says. Massachusetts initially sent people to mass. gov to schedule. For those of us who had to use it at work (state service) it was known as "site of the blind drunken monkeys." Looks and works like a site from 1994. Having that as a scheduling portal was absurd. It appears as the vaccine is getting out to pharmacies, it may go more smoothly. For some reason, people who have been getting their first shots have not been able to immediately schedule their follow up. The Red Cross can schedule your next donation upon completion of your current one. 

In Ohio we have several tools which appear to be limited at best. The Fed's have allocated immunization stock to the state only to recind or change the shipments quantities to lesser amounts. The state is breaking down the deliveries to each County Health Department (CHD) only to have to change the delivery quantities because of the Federal shipment problems previously mentioned. That makes it difficult for the counties to forecast and schedule shots. So they end up only scheduling slots for the number of shots they currently have in thier hands. 

What the CHD decided to do is divide each shipment for several locations within the county. The CHD web site tells you to call into thier COVID hotline to schedule an appointment at one of those locations. I called countless times to schedule an appointment for my mother only to be put on automated hold telling me I was in the call waiting line. After waiting over a half hour the automated system hung-up on me. This happened countless times with other people I've talked to as well. Yesterday I received an e-mail from the CHD informing me that they are moving to a web page for COVID shot scheduling, but it is not yet available.

Out of sheer luck I found a functional web link to Krogers (a large food store chain) that would allow you to schedule your Covid vaccine in the pharmacy. This was total luck as the State or County offices did not provide any information about the Krogers link. 

When I started to key in my moms information there were three days available for around 50 shots each day near my zip code. Within 40 seconds of keying my mothers information, the first two days slots were already filled. I was fortunate enouch to pick a time on on the third day which was still open. Time slots at the four closest Krogers stores were already taken so I had to drive my mom 45 minutes to get her first shot. Before I got off the web page all of the appointments times were filled.

Once at the pharmacy they had one pharmacy tech do nothing but answer a phone line which was constantly ringing regarding COVID questions. The Krogers Pharmacy members did an exceptional job with my mother and the whole process lasted less than 15 minutes. 

During that time I heard from two tech's that people who were not authorized the shot yet were abusing the web page and taking the slots for those who are eligible. Once they were identified the pharmacy would cancel thier appointment and reopen it for other seniors to use. The problem is that in many instances they do not identify the person as being non-elligible until they arrive for thier appointment. That means that slot was waisted.

When talking to a friend working at the CHD, she told me that there are aproximately 7,500 seniors in the county over 70yrs old but they only had 800 shots available for that week. I think the supply and demand needs to get a little better as the ratio will only get worse as the age elligibility drops to larger groups.

I guess time will tell.....

I'm outside Philly, 67, with some risk factors. It's a mess, but I'm just waiting for my turn. Biggest issue statewide at the moment is lack of predictability on vaccine availability which comes down to production and top level distribution problems. Availability of the J&J and AZ vaccines should help that. Of course Philadelphia itself is another story.

I had the very interesting job in early June of organizing a Zoom meeting of 16 CEO and CMO officers from some of the largest healthcare organizations across the country. The agenda was a discussion of the lessons learned from the pandemic at the time which was still early days. Lots of early signs of issues to come, especially around equity. Twenty minutes was a presentation from some senior members from Warp Speed who were unanimous in two areas of thinking: 1) developing the vaccines is very risky and hard, but 2) if you thought the development was hard, wait until you try to distribute the stuff - it's going to be ugly. Boy were they right.

My wife and I are scheduled for our second shot on March 4th at a Walgreens about 30 miles from our house.

My wife and her three sisters worked as a team to get vaccine appointments for their family members. They aggressively searched the Internet until they got appointments. For example, my wife's job was to log onto the Walgreens' website once an hour until she found a Walgreens that was scheduling appointments.  She then called her sisters and told them to logon to the Walgreens website and how to make an appointment.

I really feel sorry for people that either do not have a computer, or do not know how to use a computer. How in the world will they ever be able to make an appointment for a vaccine shot. They will just be left behind. As an example, when we got our first shot this week there was an older man standing in line behind me. The Walmart employee asked him for his scheduled time. He said that he was unable to schedule a time because he didn't own a computer. The man had tears in his eyes. The head phamacist (a very nice man)  told him that he could get a shot even though he had no appointment.

The Walmart that we went to earlier ths week to get a COVID shot was located in a neighborhood where the local citizens are people of color. As we waited in line there were about 20 people in front of us and about 20 people behind us. There was only one person of color in the entire line. I thought that that was pretty strange.

Maryland's admin of the virus roll-out has been lousy. Websites that flip you back and forth between state and county, or send you to a pharmacy site that isn't even serving the state. Somehow they've gotten around 7% or so of the population vaccinated. I'm in my county health department queue, as well as a local grocery stores'. I'll get it eventually.

It all comes down to the six "P" principle:

"Prior Planning Prevents Pi$& Poor Performance"

Here's another: 

If you fail to prepare, be prepared to fail

Now its time to play catch up, but you know us Americans... we can do this.

Sitting outside clinic while SWMBO gets her first one.

DRUMS01

It all comes down to the six "P" principle:

"Prior Planning Prevents Pi$& Poor Performance"

Here's another: 

If you fail to prepare, be prepared to fail

 

Now its time to play catch up, but you know us Americans... we can do this.

 

 

Ofcourse there nothing remotely funny about any of this so I don't mean to be light hearted.

Science show on radio today predicts probable one year booster for the first wave by end of year and foreseeable boosters from there out every three-four years.

And yes we can do this. I insisted we make 250 mile round trip today rather than wait a few more weeks. I turn 65 in August.

Bill

I am actually waiting to be called as with my heart problems I am in the "At Risk" category.

My dad (93) has already had both his jabs and has had no adverse reaction at all and he too has a pacemaker fitted.

Both myself and my sister were worried when one night he went mad and wrecked his bedroom taking a set of toenail clippers to his bedside lamp and electric cable amongst just generally turning the place upside down and having no memory of it.

Despite all the safe distancing etc our local GP's, District Nurses swung into action and this incident was and is being fully investigated and it seems that he was overdoseing on Zopiclone which is a sleep aid. Both of had noticed a sudden change in his attitude and a shortness of temper which is not like my dad at all.

One major clue was the nightmares he was having which had made me wonder what was going on. Our family itself has several doctors of various disciplines and video conferencing between them and then passing the information to our GP sorted this out.

Dad stopped taking zopiclone, the nightmares stopped the bad temper has gone and he is back to more or less normal (LOL). Tomorrow he has an MRI scheduled on his head to see if these episodes have caused any damage. Really we just want to see if there is anything in there!

At this moment he is being treated for limphodema and "has his legs changed" twice a week and attends a special clinic. He is also on a water tablet to help which he does grump about going to the can more than usual but he can see that it is helping.

The Covid Vaccine jabs held no fear for him (apart from the needle) and all I want is mine. Better safe than sorry.

He has had issues with his false teeth to which he has had new ones made and there's still problems. I have now refused to go looking for any itinerant loose teeth wandering around the house on a morning after escaping during the night. Wrangling an escaped top set is not the first thing I want to be doing on a morning. It is quite scary when you find them in a chair staring at you.

Mind you, there was the teeth incident at Filey whilst on Holiday when his bottom set fell out whilst on the beach having fun in the sea! They were only found when someone stood on them. The scream brought 2 miles of packed holiday makers to a screeching halt. Dad just picked them up washed them in the sea and put them back in!

AAhhh! those wonderful family holidays!!!

Anyway. Chaps, don't be afraid of the vaccine. All the stuff about it floating round the net is not true. It is the way back to a "normal" lifestyle.

\y next door neighbor says guyshe and her mother will not take the first shot because they are scared of the things they heard about it on the news.  Another neighbor across the street is refusing because she does not trust the government.  She doesn't follow politics or history, and knows very little about the news, and doesn't seem to care.  I have had both shots and she can't understand why or even explain why she doesn't trust the government.  She seems to follow along with what she hears on the negative side.  No offense but strangely they were all from N.Y.

I took my wife over to the VA clinic for her first shot and got a idea for when I got my second shot.  They always ask the same question about any side effects from the first.  On my first shot I asked what people had been changing into and got a reply that usually the third eye didn't mutate until the second eye.  When they asked me about side effects I told the med tech that my head had been itching and raised my hat to show a medium eye taped to my head.  After he collected himself he went to the next booth and brought in the next victim.  That day I got three med techs, two nurses and two doctors.  I left my spare eye with my med tech because he was going to do the same.  Good time had by all, my work was done there.

'I know everything in the internet is crap, but I heard..'

That's a thing I hear.

Wife got her first and got a puffy shoulder but nothing worse.

Friend of mine has gotten sick twice before getting his first shot.

bill

Billk

Lol Ikar your funny stunt reminded me of the Twilight Zone episode with the diner guy having a third eye on his forehead. 

My second dose date is getting close and can’t wait for it.

My 26 yo daughter got her second shot of Moderna Friday evening. She is having a bad reaction, Fever (102.6), aches, fatigue, and headache. It ramped up Saturday, and we think she is over the worst. She is still happy to have gotten the vaccine.

She is in her 1st year of Med School, all of her classmates have gotten their shots. All have had a greater reaction to the second shot than the 1st, but she seems to be hit the worst.

I suspect one reason she is getting slammed is she has had thyroid cancer earlier in the year and a bunch of lymph nodes removed.

Even with the reactions people have been having, I'm still very much looking forward to my 2nd shot on the 27th. 

Hope she gets well soon.  I got the phizer version and had no problems.  

It might be the age thing, genetic, or some minor difference between the two versions, who knows.

I was thinking of that episode at the time.  IUnfortunately I didin't get a shot of me with the third eye.