I got The Shot
31Today I got my first Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination. Duval County FL began no appointment shots, based on birth month, 65 or older, and county residents only. Today was March and April. I stood in line about 25 minutes, and was out within an hour. Efficient, plenty of staff and registration forms. The site was a city senior center. How about you?
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My gosh you are lucky. Today was the first day the group I fell into could sign up. I tried all day. Worse than getting an irk. Lots of no loading of pages and crashes. Now no apts in any county in reasonable driving distance from me until after Feb 3 (except they aren’t even open to sign up for yet). AND only one site in each county. In the ones around me are only doing 27 patient a day (based on the full and open apts listed). Trouble I had was click on an apt listed as open and get a message pick another apt, or pick one and get an error message or the page crashes and I have to start all over. I hope to heaven they have a plan to make sure people get shot #2 on time.
You are doubly lucky it is Pfizer as the research indicates that people 65+ have a slightly better immune response with that than with Moderna.
@Kidsandliz Duval initially had a phone appointment line. That crashed, hard. Then they had a web-only registration, except they only scheduled for five days a week at one site, and it was full within an hour of the (unpublicized) launch. Luddites howled. This method was announced last week, and I’ve had Facebook friends ask how I knew about it.
@OldCatLady Glad you got one and glad it is Pfizer. That is way better than an irk and sounds like it was just as hard too. Yeah technology is just so bad. NOT!!!
@OldCatLady Phone line here is busy with no “hold” to get through. Well let me re-phrase that - maybe there is a hold to wait your turn and it is so full the rest of us just get a busy. I tried to call that line to find out if any site was giving Pfizer and gave up. Online though isn’t much better as the site doesn’t load won’t let you finish… Shades of the early unemployment website debacle around the country. You think the states would have learned from that. Here a university is hosting the website. Definitely not set up to have zillions of people trying to access it at the same time. Likely they don’t have the band width to do that either.
@Kidsandliz @OldCatLady You are lucky-here in Manatee County they have a lottery system so who knows when our names will come up. Our POS governor Ron (lips on Trump’s butt) DeSantASS has promised everything and given us nothing- No surprise for someone who bends over for Trump.
I got the first dose of the Moderna vaccine 2 weeks ago; I go back in two weeks to get the second (I work in a lab). I wish my parents could have gotten it before me though.
@jmoor783 I think a lot of people are in that boat… My hubby who works at a homeless shelter will probably get the vaccine before my 73 yo dad who has multiple cancers and leukemia. There is a logic behind it, but it speaks to our heads, not our hearts…
@jmoor783 @mikibell Since the recommendations have been relaxed to include everyone over 65 can get it now hopefully your dad can get in to get his. If at all possible try to get him to get Pfizer as the research has documented that people over 65 have a slightly higher immune response to that over Moderna. Around where I live no place is giving Pfizer to the general public as only hospitals are getting it due to the deep freeze temp required as all doses the hospitals have are still being used with employees. Of course getting Moderna is better than waiting until Pfizer is finally available to those who aren’t hospital employees.
@jmoor783 @Kidsandliz I think he will get whatever is avail first. CT has not lowered to 65 yet, but I believe it is in progress.
@jmoor783 Same here. I work for a hospital in Florida in internet marketing, and all employees had the vaccine available to them. I took the first Moderna vaccine, and other than a sore arm, I was fine.
My mom’s a senior in NJ with diabetes, and has to wait until next week at the earliest.
I got back for injection 2 next week. Moderna. I work for a hospital.
I recommend most people take Tylenol before they go to bed not the day before, but the day they get the vaccine. Anecdotally, there seems to be less day after headache that way.
I have also seen a fair number of mild fevers the day after the second Pfizer dose. Lots of people not being able to make it into work. Way more than the literature would seem to indicated.
We have joked, repeatedly though, that you need (MASH joke here) Radar and Hotlips to be in charge of distribution. It would be going well if they had. That being sad, for us there have been some lines, but no chaos and seemed well organized.
@Cerridwyn I have read that it is not recommended to take tylenol or ibuprofen before getting the vaccine… I have always given my children tylenol before they received any vaccine, so it interested me that the headlines were saying not. I can’t quickly find whichever reputable site I read it on, but here is one article… Again, I am not disagreeing with you, just surprised at the articles that say not to…
https://bestlifeonline.com/news-otc-meds-covid-vaccine/
@mikibell
correct on before.
is why I said take it the night after.
@Cerridwyn oopss… my apologies, I misread it… but it still surprises me, and makes me wonder if I shouldn’t have given it to the kids way back when. I will say, their dr told me to do it
I had a dentist appointment yesterday. In idle chit-chat, i asked the hygienist if she had the vaccine yet. She replied she wasn’t going to get it. I know there are covid skeptics, but it still surprised me to hear that from a person who has her hands in other people’s mouths all day.
@DrWorm There is no explanation for the utter stupidity of some people in this world. In my opinion her employer should require her to get it since she is a risk to every patient who she sees along with the staff who work there.
@DrWorm You don’t have to be a covid skeptic (or anti-vaxxer) to be concerned about vaccines that were generated so quickly and probably tested less thoroughly than most. And there are the stories (being downplayed IMO) about some pretty serious negative reactions.
Plus the new strains that are coming (yesterday heard another one in Brazil) whose spread may or may not be affected by the vaccines.
It is concerning.
@DrWorm @duodec They weren’t tested less than most as there were far more people in the clinical trials than there usually are (by tens and tens and tens of thousands) and the disease is far more prevalent than the ones they usually develop vaccinations for. As a result of the two it was easier to reach valid conclusions much earlier in the game than if either set of numbers had been smaller.
After something (drug or vaccination) gets FDA approval they then have a site for people to report side effects that didn’t show up in the clinical trial, or even ones that did so they get a better idea of side effects and likelihood once it is “used in the wild” so to speak.
@DrWorm @duodec @Kidsandliz The severity of reactions is similar to that for the shingles vaccine. Whereas the severity of reactions to COVID-19 include suffocating slowly in your own lungs, clots,
strokes, neurological impairment, lasting weakness and exhaustion, loss of limbs, etc. This is a no-brainer. Having had shingles once, I’d get vaccinated just to avoid that again. To save my own or others lives? Hell yes.
It is extremely easy to find details on the vetting of these vaccines. The CDC also has put together a registry and app so they can find out quickly if anyone experiences more severe side effects: Vsafe
@brainmist @DrWorm @duodec Shingles (I had it in 5 nerve roots during chemo with 6 mo fallout of pain and still have issues from it) redefined what I considered 10 on the pain Richter scale. Certainly covid 19 is far more than “the flu” and any short term problem from the vaccination is worth it for ourselves and for others we come in contact with.
@Kidsandliz Ugh, you have my sympathy!
I was so, SO lucky and caught it early; I still had some dryness and blurriness of the affected eye for a few years after. Either it’s resolved or I’ve adapted.
I’ve known a few people who got it young, didn’t expect shingles, and were in bad shape. I wish they’d recognize that younger people are getting it, and open up vaccination/coverage for all of us.
@brainmist I didn’t get the antiviral soon enough. Weekend involved. They thought it was my port since it started to hurt there first. By the time they realized (and I finally figured it out first) more than 72 hours had passed. They gave me the antiviral anyway in case it “might” help. Unfortunately there was an additional 7 hour delay due to the ER being closed as the hospital was full until they finally admitted to the delay so I decamped to a different ER where it took about 2 hours longer to get it.
I encourage EVERYONE who can get the shingles vaccination who needs to get it to do so. You do NOT want to get shingles. Ever. It is the single most painful thing I have ever experienced. And the pain is unrelenting.
@Kidsandliz Ugh, that’s just miserable.
@Kidsandliz
Don’t have my paperwork available at this time (I’m at work) but I think they gave me a link for an app you can install to track your response to the vaccine (fever, nausea, headache, etc0. I didn’t have any trouble with my first (Moderna) shot last Wed other than a little muscle soreness at the site. Not anything I didn’t expect.
@chienfou @Kidsandliz Yes. There’s a CDC program to track side effects. You sign up after your vaccine and they text you with a link to go to a web site to report on side effects. I think they said daily for the first week or two (possibly depending on what you report as your side effects) and then weekly for a bit and then at 3 and 6 (and maybe 12) months. I signed up right after I got my shot about two weeks ago (Moderna version) and it was very easy to do.
I live in the Deep South, where the vaccination rate is at the very bottom of all U.S. States. Only Arkansas, The Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands are lower. In my state, just 1.6% of the population has been vaccinated, and with only 18% of the available, on-hand supply of vaccine used.
Our elected, mostly conservative, Republican bozos are to blame and can kiss my grits. These are the same knucklehead lawmakers, who won’t wear masks, and refuse to be Covid tested.
How bad are they? Well, they are bad enough to give ineptness and incompetency a good name by comparison.
Unfortunately, this won’t get me an opportunity to get vaccinated probably anytime before April or May, if I’m lucky. Late summer if I’m not. I’m not holding my breath on this one.
@Jackinga In my area, the storage facilities and the people have been available for a month, and there are at least a dozen pharmacies in my county with the ability to distribute vaccines, but there is no (or very little ) vaccine coming in. At the present projected rate, I won’t get the first shot until late March or early April, even though I will be 70 next month. I can be patient because I can stay isolated except for occasional food runs. I’m hoping the employees at the store where I shop will get vaccinated soon, as that will do more to stop the virus spread from the covidiots who refuse to wear masks or keep a proper distance in the store.
@Jackinga I sympathize. My conservative Trumpster “Infect 'em all and let God sort 'em out” state has only recently put out their next tier of eligible people. They took the recommendations of the Infectious Disease Advisory Council…and tacked on the political administration, because they won’t legislate or govern to mitigate this disease, but these maskless mouthbreathers sure as hell don’t want to suffer the consequences of their negligence, either.
And those of us who’ve been diligently doing our best to avoid unnecessary contact, wear masks, etc? Well, I guess since we’re so good at doing the right thing, we can just keep trying to carry a state full of idiots.
@Jackinga Oddly I received an email from U of AR medical center Little Rock that I was identified as someone who was eligible for early vaccination (no longer live in AR although I don’t think they know that). Haven’t heard a word since though.
@oldcatlady how do you feel??
My mom got the Pfizer shot last month bc she’s a nurse and the one side effect she noticed was day two or three she didn’t work but out of no where felt so unbelievably tired and like her body just gave out. She went to sleep for the rest of the day and next day felt fine again. So maybe it won’t happen to you but try not to over do it on those days.
My arm is minimally sore in an area the size of a silver dollar. No systemic problems. I’m treating it with Trader Joe’s dark chocolate covered marshmallows.
@OldCatLady Treatment plan approved
@duodec @OldCatLady Yes that is a very good treatment plan!
@Kidsandliz @OldCatLady and the side effects are less than my last flu shot. That had my whole arm very sore for three days.
@OldCatLady Glad you were able to get it! The second dose is the fun one (the day of headaches and tiredness means it’s working!)
Member of family received Moderna shot today at county health facility. Signed up the whole family online (at normal county gov’t website, but not announced to any local media we’re aware of) but only 1 got an appointment so far.
55yo, works from home, no underlying conditions. Nobody can figure out why they were approved.
/image shrug
According to a friend of mine the most common side effect of the covid vaccine is the inability to stop telling everyone you got the vaccine.
@CaptAmehrican So did you get confirmed that when you were in that study you actually got it like you thought?
@CaptAmehrican LOL
I got the first dose of the Moderna vaccine a little over a week ago, and am scheduled for the second dose in early February. I’m a medical student, so we were in group 1a for our area! (Which was nice, although I feel a bit guilty because I’m not seeing any patients right now; I decided to do a research year when Covid hit, so I’m just in the lab.)
Apart from some arm soreness the day after the vaccine, I’ve felt totally fine! I know shot #2 can be a bit of a doozy, so I’m stocking up on tea and Dayquil/Nyquil, just to be on the safe side.
A friend participated in the covid Pfizer trial. He had zero side effects at the time
He later found out that he was in the placebo group. : )
Pfizer then arranged for everybody who had gotten the placebo originally to start their set of shots for the real deal
He got his first shot about 2 weeks ago and had a slight headache and slight sore arm for a day but nothing notable he went to work as usual.
My sister-in-law also got her first Pfizer shot last week and only had fatigue and a slight headache for a day
My county sign up is crashing a lot and is non-functional in other ways
I’m just going to wait until they sort it out
In the meantime they are giving out as many shots as possible as fast as possible so they are doing what they can to help the community become more resistant to it.
This week two more mass local sites for vaccinations were announced I think you have to sign up first but I’m not sure I haven’t checked them out yet
As long as I get it in the next month or two I’m okay with that.
Everywhere the vaccine rollout is almost proceeding like the Three Stooges are doing it. Almost. Because I think Moe would actually get things done.
@ojohn would be much easier to administer if we had a national healthcare system, and if the federal government hadn’t punted distribution to state and local governments
I got the Moderna shot in very early January. I saw a link on my local subreddit about the county opening up registration. I figured I’d jump on and get my name in. When I signed up there was a box for overweight/obese but no guidelines other than that. I fit that medical definition (as do most adults and many kids) so I checked that box. I’m also an essential employee (defense industry). Turned out I got an appointment for the next day. Sadly I wasn’t available then so I turned the appointment down. I got another appointment a week later and was able to go stand in line (about 90 minutes total…I got there before they opened and was about #40. Ten or so ahead of me were weeded out because they didn’t have appointments.) Once they opened the doors (mass vaccination site), it took me 13 minutes to get the shot and another 15 in the “sit here in case you have a bad reaction” area. When I left there was a line of at least 100 people waiting.
My arm was sore for about a day and a half after, comparable to the more painful years of flu shots. It’s kinda hard to know if I had any other reactions as the second day was Monday which was my first day back at work and my regular routine after a two week Christmas break. I always feel like crap that first day back. But I think I had a bit of a headache late afternoon and maybe a slightly elevated heart rate. Those symptoms did not reappear the the second day after the shot.
I’ve got another about two weeks to figure out how and where to get my second shot. I was told before I got the vaccine that I would be scheduled for my second dose when I got my first. If I was, no one told me. Maybe I’ll get another email/text the day before.
In any effect, I was very glad to get the shot as I’m on travel for work (although the area where I’m working is doing a lot better than my home area in terms of cases, positivity rate, etc. Also more locked down…correlation or causation? Hmmmm…). My parents have appointments for next week and I’m especially glad for Mom (Dad will likely outlive us all unless he tangles with a rabid ground hog who made the poor decision to invade Dad’s garden).
As a person made squeamish by needles, how does this vaccine rate? Was it painful? Large needle? Inquiring minds want to know.
@PooltoyWolf Exactly like the annual flu shot. Normal needle, very fast, I watched to make sure the nurse did it right. She did, but they only had boring normal band aids. I wanted fancy.
@OldCatLady Thanks for the insight!
@OldCatLady @PooltoyWolf Bummer on the boring band aid. I got a Loony Tunes Tasmanian Devil one! But I agree that it was a normal to small needle, very quick, no pain with the fluid going in (or then the needle stick, obviously. Some vaccines burn a little, not this one). Very much like the flu shot.
So ya got poked today huh? Hope they were at least cute