Corona Vaccine - Anyone getting it?

03Panther said:

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

In reply to wheelsmithy (Joe-with-an-L) (Forum Supporter) :

You're still going to "need" it.  There's no evidence that natural immunity guarantees you don't get a different strain.

Legit question here:

The flu vaccines, I've always heard "they" pick out the strain of flu that might be most likely to affect people, but you can still catch other strains.

Isn't this vaccine kinda like that also? Even if he gets the vaccine, he could stil get a different strain? (Hey, maybe with natural immunity to one strain, and a vaccine for another, he;s double covered!)

The vaccines will likely protect against all the current straings - and there is the big difference right now. Current Mutations. Influenza has been around for at least 500 years, and possibly over 8,000 years. That is a lot of time to mutate, so there are "a lot" of them. SARS-CoV-2, meanwhile, has only been around for about 14-16 months. Not a ton of time to mutate, so we have 4 or so identified strains (probably a lot more, but not different enough yet)

In reply to mtn (Forum Supporter) :

That makes sense. Wouldn't the same apply to wheelsmithy, as well, then? Not arguing for or against. Just asking for clarifications! With as bad as my finances are about to get, I need to know as much about this virus as i can, in case it ever makes it's big showing in my boring little world.

In reply to mtn (Forum Supporter) :

Which, IMO, means it is crucial to get as close to 100% immunization as possible, so new strains don't get to develop.

aircooled said:

SVreX (Forum Supporter) said:

How come we're all losing to West Virginia?

My guess is that West Virginia is generally pretty used to government based programs and have good infrastructure for that already.  Lack of huge metro areas probably helps also.

The population of the entire state of West Virginia is 1,780,000. The population of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metro Area is 6,397,000. The population of the Los Angeles Metro Area is 18,710,563. More people means more vaccinations and so on. Then you have population density. In West Virginia is is harder to get it in the first place because people are more spread out.

Kind thoughts appreciated, fellas.

It is a legit question: If I've already been infected (which I have), and built up antibodies, which are in my blood, and thus helpful to others, shouldn't I step aside and let someone who might benefit more from the vaccine get it?

I'll definitely give blood once it is safe to do so. My understanding was that a recovered person's plasma was helpful in the treatment of an infected person. This would imply my body has already done what it would have, were I vaccinated.

I also understand, once your body has "learned" to defend itself from one Corona virus, it better knows how to take on similar viruses.

I'm not a doctor, and will do what doctors suggest I do, but it does make me wonder what the best way forward is. 

In reply to wheelsmithy (Joe-with-an-L) (Forum Supporter) :

My family of six already had the Virus back in November.   We are forgoing the vacinne for the time being.   There are people in far more need

In reply to Grtechguy :

Makes sense. Also, I was told my positive case was registered with the Health Department, so I would imagine they'd pass me over for potentially better use of the vaccine.

I would still be getting the vaccine even if I had the virus, but would be pushing it out for a while until it is widely available. 

Why? Because the levels of antibodies vary from infection. If you had a mild infection, your immune system may not have been able to make enough antibodies. Or it could have. But you don't know. We also don't know how long the antibodies last, so if you had the virus in March 2020, who knows if you still have antibodies? Or at least T-cell immunity? 

wheelsmithy (Joe-with-an-L) (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Grtechguy :

Makes sense. Also, I was told my positive case was registered with the Health Department, so I would imagine they'd pass me over for potentially better use of the vaccine.

I think there is still benefit to the vaccine, as I think the antibodies you developed from one strain are not as effective as the ones that are developed from getting the vaccine.   I had read at some point that it may be better to wait a few months to let your own antibody count go down first.  However, after a quick search, I can't find anything about this for certain, so I'd take it with a huge grain of salt.

In reply to mtn (Forum Supporter) :

I had it back at the end of feb/beginning of march. I should probably see if they can do an antibody test to check if they're still there. 

bobzilla said:

In reply to mtn (Forum Supporter) :

I had it back at the end of feb/beginning of march. I should probably see if they can do an antibody test to check if they're still there. 

 

My brother works at LabCorp, and I asked him about it as we now suspect that we or at least my wife had it in January 2020 (before it was known that it was here). He said that there is almost no chance that you will have the "antibody profile" any more. That doesn't mean you're not still immune - it seems that T-Cell immunity lasts a lot longer. 

In reply to mtn (Forum Supporter) :

The last thing I read recommended waiting at least 90 days after a positive test before taking the vaccine. The side affects are apparently significant if the body is already primed to fight the virus. 

Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) said:

In reply to mtn (Forum Supporter) :

The last thing I read recommended waiting at least 90 days after a positive test before taking the vaccine. The side affects are apparently significant if the body is already primed to fight the virus. 

 

That seems to stick out in my head as well. And it makes sense too. 

News (not fully reviewed yet) that the Pfizer vaccine is effective against the English variant:

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/20/covid-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-likely-to-be-effective-against-uk-variant.html

The coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech is likely to be just as effective against a highly transmissible mutant strain of the virus that was discovered in the U.K., according to a study by the two companies.

This of course was the expected result.  Expectations are similar for the South African variant.

There was a cancellation and my office is next door to the Javits Center so they just got me in.  I wish so many others were still here for this. So far 10 minutes in and no side effects other than some wet eyes. I remember the first time coming here as a kid with my dad when the Auto Show moved from the NY Colosseum. It was happier but probably no more exciting. 

It is bittersweet, but sweet nonetheless. I am happy for you, Wally. 

Mom and dad got their first rounds of the Moderna today.  They were unable to give them an appointment for the second dose, though, since they don't actually have those doses in stock yet.

Oldest son (26) has had both doses of Pfizer now. First shot resulted in a slightly sore arm for a day and a half. Second shot caused some nausea for a few hours about 30 hours after receipt of the shot. I will get it when available but it sounds like that is likely quite a ways out. 

Well, right or wrong, our turn or not, moral or immoral, my wife and I are now vaccinated. Or half vaccinated anyway. 

My wife is not working because of the pandemic. Our daughter was born March 2; shortly after, Illinois went on stay at home. We weren't comfortable with her going into the hospital every day; at the time we made that decision, there were a lot of unknowns, and a lot of deniers who were in and out of the hospital as well - a patient literally told my wife "I don't believe in the virus, I'm not wearing a mask and you shouldn't either" - this was when my wife was a patient as well, not in an employee capacity. Aside from the risk of the virus and the idiotic public, we didn't have any daycare options since they were all shut down. So she hasn't been working. 

Despite that, she is a licensed healthcare professional. And in Illinois, they went on that list. She got an email telling her she was eligible. She scheduled her appointment. I drove her to the appointment, she asked if they could squeeze me in (waiting in the car with our daughter). They said yes. We never stated that I was anywhere in the healthcare realm. When my wife was done with observation, I went in and got the shot. 

My mom is in a similar situation to my wife. Licensed healthcare professional - retired, but she keeps up with her nurses license and CEUs. So she got the same email. Dad went with mom. He did the same thing that I did. And as of last night, my wife, myself, my parents, and my MIL are vaccinated. All Moderna (ironic, Dad is retired from Pfizer).

My FIL has an appointment today for his shot - we think that was a glitch in the system that he was able to get it, or else his doctor pulled something funny to move him to the front of the line. Although he is very  high risk (public facing, 63, Atrial fibrillation, pre-diabetic, obese, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, asthma, shall I continue?), he should be in the 1c group. We're concerned he'll get turned away, but are cautiously optimistic that by this time tomorrow, my parents, my wife's parents, my wife and I will all be [1/2] vaccinated. And as my wife and daughter are breastfeeding, our daughter should have significant protection by the time she turns 1. 

We may be able to have a birthday party for her, and will be scheduling her baptism as well. For us, that is a HUGELY important. Our first born's baptism occurred in a hospital room, immediately before an emergency surgery. My wife and I were the only people there. I baptized her myself. Her sisters baptism has been something we've been looking forward to since we knew my wife was pregnant. We wanted it to be "normal". Now, we finally are getting there. 
 

I'm so relieved, I may cry.

My wife (teacher) is getting her first shot on Saturday. She's been nervous about the vaccines, but I talked her into it. I barely go anywhere, so if Covid was to come to our house, it would be through her.

In the meantime, I'm signed up with my county health department. I'm willing to wait my turn, but as soon as it comes up, I'm taking it.

We're on the list for next week.

SWMBO & I both work for the state's land grant university system.  As a researcher, I didn't expect to be lumped in with teachers, but our administration pushed to make it available for all of us.

We talked earlier about distribution and prioritization.  I had another thought of an alternate method of prioritization.

Right now vaccine has been distributed to an enormous network of providers and health departments who have varying capabilities and skills to accomplish the goal.  Some of them are very good, and some of them are very, very bad. 
 

Since the goal is to get the stuff in people's arms, I suggest that a case could be made for getting it into the hands of the providers who are most efficient and capable of getting the shots INTO people's arms.

It actually doesn't matter who "should" get it first, if it's sitting in freezers somewhere. Stab people. Fast. 

wae said:

Mom and dad got their first rounds of the Moderna today.  They were unable to give them an appointment for the second dose, though, since they don't actually have those doses in stock yet.

This is absolutely nuts. A lot of my work over the last couple months has been in the IT systems that schedule and document these things. Our take is 100% the opposite. 

You schedule the 2nd dose because you want the PATIENT to come back. The doses will come and we will cross the bridge when we get there if they don't. But if you have a ton of people who never choose to schedule the 2nd half, you risk wasting an insane amount of vaccine, or you have to do an insane amount of work to track down all the individuals with one half of a vaccine and call them, leave message, wait for call back, triage call, schedule patient (now short term because window for 2nd dose closing quickly), blah blah blah. 

Whoever made the above decision is a knucklehead.  

SVreX (Forum Supporter) said:

Since the goal is to get the stuff in people's arms, I suggest that a case could be made for getting it into the hands of the providers who are most efficient and capable of getting the shots INTO people's arms.

It actually doesn't matter who "should" get it first, if it's sitting in freezers somewhere. Stab people. Fast. 

This is why I feel exactly 0 guilt for jumping the line. I was there. I asked. I got it. 

FWIW, we got ours at a for-profit doc-in-a-box. The type that has 58 strip mall locations across 11 states, advertises that they accept Medicare, all the doctors are brand new out of med school. I personally would never go to one as my primary care physician. They are doing a tremendous job with this, IMHO. I think they have 12 locations in my state. Right now, 6 of them are ONLY doing Covid vaccinations. Very assembly line process, they have it down. Appointments are made online, they're always full so you have to keep refreshing the screen for when a cancellation occurs or they release the next days/weeks appointments. They had the observation room as full as it could be while still being socially distant. I really don't know how they could pump more people through unless they eschewed the observation afterwards.