And the mutations are one issue with the "let it run it's course and protect the vulnerable" method of handling this. Yes, most people who get it have mild symptoms, but each new case is another opportunity for a mutation that won't end well. Lots of mutations are not significant, but as the numbers go up, the chances of one that is more virulent or more deadly goes up. Mutations may make different people vulnerable in the future, so who's to say that one might not take the H1N1 route, and affect younger people more.

We are in a race to get enough people vaccinated, and keep the cases down so we don't get really some ugly mutations...seems we are losing that race right now...

 

Moderna, next jab in 2 weeks

 

And that’s it really!! We can think on the moment or think ahead of the moment!

 

I work for a care provider and visit our care homes regularly and had the jab 3 weeks ago. My wife is a community nurse and had hers before me. My daughter works for a doctors surgery and has just had hers. Only my son left and at 18 it will be a while.

My wife and I had the Pfizer vaccine with no ill effects other than sore arm. My daughter had the Astra Zenica and was quite I'll with flu like symptoms for 24 hours but is fine now.

My wife, through the NHS, and I, working for a private charity, had a similar process for booking our slots. We were provided a link and had to book a location, date and time from those available on line. Turn up, fill in a form and all done in about half an hour.

The surgery where my daughter works were notified how many doses they would be getting and when and then they rang every member of the relevant groups on their books and arranged a time for them to come in, they completed all the paperwork beforehand so the patient just had to come in and give their name. It has been rewarding for her to see all these vulnerable people who have hardly ventured out for the last year come in and go away happy. I think the uptake has been pretty much 100%.

As far as the care homes in the company I work for, the residents and those staff on shift have been vaccinated by teams visiting the homes, some have been from the military I believe. The uptake among the residents had been very high but among the staff, while still high, I think we have had refusals or staff being slow to arrange their vaccinations which surprises me. There have been reports of some staff being quite ill with flu like symptoms for 24 hours but these seem rare and pass quickly.

Thanks. Carl.

 

Very odd it’s actually a drive through jab. This is my second dose went to the first place where I had my appointment they only had Pfizer so they sent me to another town that has Moderna. Apparently u sit in your car while they jab you. Let’s see how this goes

 

Is this the very first wrist shot while waiting in line for a vaccine?

 

Ha ha well I’m done now and yup, they inject you as you sit in ur car, then you drive to another spot and wait for reactions for 15 minutes. Once again I’m getting vertigo which was my only side effect when I got my first dose. It’s unpleasant but passes in a day so I’ll just sit and deal with it. The nurse who injected me said she had the same thing. I’m not trying to scare anyone as I can honestly say most everyone I work with who got the shot reported nothing other than a sore arm.

 

In the category of intuitions being contrary to reality:


America's vaccine rollout has been among the best in the world



“The big picture: The U.S. has carried out more vaccinations than any country in the world, and given a first dose to a higher percentage of its population (12%) than all but five countries: Israel, the Seychelles, the UAE, the U.K. and Bahrain. In fact, the U.S. is distributing doses three times as quickly as the EU, adjusted for population, and nearly five times as quickly as Canada.

Yes, but: The U.S. has secured world-leading vaccine supplies, but been somewhat less successful at translating them into actual vaccinations.

The bottom line: America’s vaccine rollout has been imperfect, unequal, and at times deeply frustrating. But look around the world and it’s clear that it could be going a whole lot worse.“

 

Looking at this and equating it to my personal situation here in Oregon, it seems hard to argue that the #1problem is a complete lack of transparency in the entire process

 

definitely not vouching for the headline, so much as injecting some counter-intuitive info

 

If the intent is to encourage folks to hang on because help is on the way, then thanks for the encouragement. It is indeed trying.

If the intent is a sort of veiled American exceptionalism, this really misses the mark.

 

Exactly right.

 

A good portion of this thread, including from me, was critiquing the apparent sh*tshow here in the states.

So as my lead-in suggested:

Just offering a contrary view I came across, and the possibility that sometimes intuitions/feelings can be contrary to reality - or, if nothing else, things could be even worse.

 

I felt that was plain from the jump

 

I’ve been occasionally checking this site that tracks those that have received one and both doses by state. Alaska is at 21% first and 11% both doses today which is up from approximately 15% and 7% a week ago. I’m not eligible yet.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/health/covid-vaccine-states-distribution-doses/

 

Interesting that dose #2 is well under way. In England, dose 1 is surging ahead, but there's a very long wait for the second, I think more than the World Health Org recommends. Any views - from any part of the world - on that? (Apart from, most people outside 1st world nations should be so fortunate, which is totally understood.)

 

reasearch shows a delay in second dose does not effect efficacy.

that being said getting people the second dose should be a priority over first doses as providing immunity to people is more important then starting the process with someone else.

 

this is contrary to a view widely held by a lot of people/countries

Not to say either side is right, but instead to point out there are two camps of differing (expert) opinion on this.

Because first dose does provide some immunity, the debate comes down to (A) prioritize giving a lot of people some immunity, vs (B) prioritize giving some people a lot of immunity.

Of course reality is more nuanced, as the right answer probably involves simultaneously prioritizing giving the most at risk a lot of immunity while the for the rest of the population giving more people some immunity?

I don’t have a view; my wife (a physician) has the view noted above

 

I think Dr C has put it very well, nuances and all. And then there are other things to consider, like when to start exporting surpluses, and emerging suggestions that the shots maybe even reduce transmission. Thank heavens for experts coming back in fashion...

 

my understanding is an initial dose without the second was proven to not convey much immunity, hence why rollouts are focused more on making sure the second dose is administered and not just first dosing all people.

hence the Johnson and Johnson is 86% effective but stops all severe infections with one dose. They are testing the efficacy of the 2nd dose currently but are getting ready to rollout with 1 dose. Pfiezer and Moderna seem to not be nearly as effective as the J&J with one dose.