OT: Shot Clock

it took me about five minutes to make an appointment online. I chose the fairgrounds and there were lines of people there. bottom line is it took 30 minutes to get the injection from the time I got in line.

and then I went to the waiting area and scheduled my second shot with my phone. I was at the fairgrounds for a total of 45 minutes

A new angle to share ...

My folks were born during the World War II era ...

As many of you know, my dad stands alongside us here, as a 25-year leukemia survivor and also a prostate cancer patient ...

This fall, Dad contracted corona virus, and almost passed away. After being in 3 different specialty hospitals, he rallied and SURVIVED.

Since then, he has worked hard on his recovery and goes on a daily walk at the park, near my folks' house.

He is a SURVIVOR, in every sense of the word, and reaches out to other cancer patients in my hometown area.

He recently got a call from the clinic, and received his first corona vaccination. His long hospitalization stay for corona, this past fall, placed him in a tier to receive the vaccine.

I think Dad has earned his "place in the vaccine line" --- so to speak!

Mom --- who had a milder case of corona --- is awaiting her turn!

Thankful to hear that comrades HERE ON THIS FORUM are finding open vaccine appointments!

C-Y-C-L-O-N-E ~ # Iowa State University

Post Edited (Cyclone-ISU) : 2/9/2021 5:37:59 PM (GMT-7)

GG1273 said...

GG1273 said...
My wife (who has had both doses of the Pfizer vax - RN) told me that she heard from others at work today that CVS should be up and running with their program this week in Northern NJ.

F8 said...
did she experience SEs from the second shot?

No SE's
She (and I) are vaccinated every year for regular flu - no issues. I get a slightly sore arm for a day...

########

from what i've heard SEs from pfizer can be pretty harsh after second shot. i was a little blah for a day and a half after the first shot (like mild cold) and i slept more than an hour longer than usual the first night. i've had worse arm pain from a flu shot and i never get sick from flu vaccine.

MN tried a lottery approach for those over 65 after a first week public signup crashed, 8,000 vaccinations, 240,000 applicants, and a number of locations scattered throughout state (lookup Thief River Falls MN). My wife and I somehow beyond belief got selected via email notice about 45 minutes apart and got our first shot a week and a half ago. Next shot is in a week and a half. No one we know was selected. The program was reworked after two weeks and more vaccinations are going to pharmacies and clinics.

Our neighbors are 82, husband is getting his shot at VA this week, wife is still looking for a vaccination and on lots of waiting lists this week. Seems like they should have gone first and probably would have if the government stayed out of it.

Vince - The first MN signup was exactly like Ticketmaster from 15 years ago and a Rolling Stones concert, overwhelmed and crashed, phones were not answered, etc. My wife was online and calling with no luck for hours. Finally got waitlisted in the system at some point. Being retired and winter makes it a little easier to do such stuff. Very few of the folks at the vaccination site were over 75, most looked to closer to 65, computer skills were required which might explain it.

VinceInMT said...
I don't anticipate getting it until summer. My state seems to not really care and keeps moving around who is eligible and who is not. Of course, everyone in the legislature was first in line.

I'm not going to sit for hours on a phone cue or play the morning log in game like I was trying to get concert tickets. Luckily I am retired and, except for classes I take at the university where we are masked distanced, I have no need to travel, see family, etc. I'll get it when the rush is over.

#########

i went to yellowstone and tetons last september. my feeling in bozeman was half the people did not take the virus seriously. ditto for west yellowstone. many did not wear masks or social distance. when i went to jackson (wyoming) masks were worn by nearly everyone and were required indoors.

it all comes down to leadership. the united states leads the world in covid deaths and we ain't out of the woods yet.

ICU, I’m glad that your dad got the shot and hope your mom gets her turn soon. They’ve both been through so much and they deserve it

DjinTonic said...

Michael_T said...
Too young!

"Younger than springtime are you..."

You have to be quite "young" to know that song!

A little later--"they try to tell us, you're too young..."

Massachusetts opened up shots (if you could find one) to people 75 and over two weeks ago. I won't be 75 for two more weeks. I have most of my health care through "civilian" doctors, but also have an annual visit with a VA doc, which keeps me in their system if I need them. The only notice I had from the VA was "don't call us, we'll call you" when they decide you are eligible. But thanks to another forum I found out the Bedford, Mass. VA hospital was giving COVID shots to vets 65 and over. I called them and had an appointment for my first shot (Pfizer) the next day. I have an appointment for the second shot next week.

With consecutive nights of 1 minute after midnight logging in to the state's chaotic COVID vaccine site we were finally able to get a shot (Moderna) for my wife 10 days ago with a 100 mile round trip in a snow storm, and with a scheduled second shot. Then thanks only to my wife's diligent prodding of her network of people on the lookout we were able to get a first shot locally for my 96 year old mother - who couldn't possibly do a hundred mile round trip, even without a snow storm.
Jim

I'm so flippin' aggravated about the whole vaccine situation in Illinois and Chicago that I cannot even watch the news. Our vaccine sign-up process has been described as the medical version of The Hunger Games. They post in the newspapers how well we are doing vaccinating people, yet noplace has any vaccine, nor can they predict when they will get any. They send emails inviting you to their web sites to sign up, but there are NEVER any appointments available. The sites at some of the store chains make you answer a questionnaire to "qualify" and then click through entering your zip code for locations, pick a location, pick a date. . . then "There are no appointments. . . " You then have to start the whole shebang over again, answering the questions, enter zip, choose a store, choose a date. . . and there are no appointments available. What a crock of road apples.

To make it worse, there is no central organization in charge. The state has their system, the county has another, the city has yet another. The rules are all different, you may qualify for all or some of them, but the one constant is that nobody has any darn vaccine. They continue to show news video of all these people getting vaccinated, but all of the centers are on the south and west side of the city -- the areas where minority ethnic groups are the majority. Until a bunch of us complained and threatened our alderman with unemployment, there was NO vaccination center on the entire north and northwest side of the city. Well, they designated a site, but there is still nothing there. Heck, they even closed the one testing site on the northwest side and moved it to a minority area.

At this point, I've signed up with the city, the county, the state, my PCP, my cardiologist, my pharmacy chain. NOBODY has any appointments available. No wonder Illinois is about the 4th worst state in this program. I've seen three year olds organize their toys better than these supposed experts have managed this process.

If you're in Illinois, don't hold your breath. I'm guessing maybe by Christmas, but I can't guess which year.

P.S. If I came across as biased against minority population groups, I do NOT mean that. I am just angry that our governor and mayor only see the needs of those areas, at the expense (near-complete exclusion) of the non-minority areas.

ohio has vaccinated 10% of the population with the first shot and 3.5% with the second shot, which at a glance looks better than the national average -- comparable to california, for example.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/01/28/960901166/how-is-the-covid-19-vaccination-campaign-going-in-your-state

i'll bet there are more states where minorities -- those at greater risk of contracting coronavirus and dying -- have poorer access to vaccinations. in fact i'd bet on it.

New rule here for all counties in the state ...

Due to a sluggish roll-out here ... a new state policy:

Each county now has to get 80% or more vaccines administered, each week, or their supply order is cancelled for the following week.

This weekend, 5 counties did not meet the new 80% distribution quota ... and their allotment for next week has now been cancelled ---- basically for not being "aggressive" enough in using up their allotment of vaccines.

I imagine residents in those 5 counties will now seek vaccination appointments from neighboring counties ...

Yet another chapter in the vaccine roll-out saga ...
CYCLONE

Definitely agree --- or a "one week warning" with a chance to improve distribution.

This new policy does not serve all the deserving citizens who live in those 5 counties, who are awaiting their chance to become vaccinated.

I have a feeling this is also intended to be a "warning" to all 99 counties in Iowa to "speed the plow" and get vaccinations done, based on doses shipped.

We did seem to have a "log jam" issue here ---- with actual vaccinations falling far behind doses shipped and delivered.

We are having a snowier winter than usual, and the POLAR VORTEX blankets the Midwest currently --- with wind chill far below zero. Most schools and even colleges are closed in this area today, due to dangerous wind chills.

Corona testing sites and vaccination efforts have definitely been impacted by the winter weather lately. It's an unfortunate roadblock to overcome in the vaccination effort here.

C-Y-C-L-O-N-E ~~~ # Iowa State University