How is the vaccine rollout in your state?

[soloact]

I hope the rollout is going well in your area. It's all goofed up here. The governor has one set of priorities. The county us using the CDC guidelines but not the revised guidelines. I doubt anyone has a clue. The largest employer in this state is a hospital system. They are now accepting vaccine registrations from people age 80 and older. The only way to register is via the hospital's proprietary app. Does anyone else see possible issues with requiring people 80 and older to use an app exclusively?

 

On two occasions I received email from the governor asking me to return to work. No way. Yesterday another email asking me to be a volunteer vaccinator. I have the skills and the time. I would be more than happy to help *if* I was vaccinated prior to beginning. It's vitally important to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible. I am not willing to put myself at risk for the opportunity to be a free nurse. Too bad bureaucrats don't live in the real world.

 

What's happening where you live?

[Julester3]

Right now it varies by county so there is a lot of variance. Hospital staff, first responders, and people 65 and older are priority. They want you to get the vaccine in the county you live in versus the county you work in. I registered in my county as an essential worker in the manufacturing sector. We never closed as we are a small biotech company and we make something that benefits many hospitals and clinics for testing so we indirectly assist the medical sector and the COVID testing. I should be in the next group with other essential workers however the issue is supply. There is not enough to go around right now. I live near a hospital and they were able to get a surplus of vaccines after they did their staff. They extended invitations to nearby nursing home staffs and other first responders who haven't been able to get any in their areas. I'm just trying to keep an eye on current info. 

 

So still waiting here....I have to work on site. We work with very strict guidelines in our office. You have to log in your temperature when you enter the building. Masks are enforced in all open and common areas. You can only unmask in your own office where you can drink and eat. We reconfigured offices so no one is sharing though many offices are originally designed for double occupancy. File drop boxes were installed in the hallways so people do not enter other people's offices but can drop off files and docs. We reconfigured the labs to give people their own work spaces and their own immediate lab supplies so sharing is not necessary. The challenge is keeping PPE in stock in our labs. Many of our suppliers have limited sales to only hospital and clinics only.

[tybec]

I live in a small populated state overall but with lots of big politicians always in the news.  Our governor has been extremely conservative about managing Covid and has gotten national recognition and an appointment now.

My agency, a mental health provider, got us approved pronto, the first week in Jan. I text to get on the list and was told to come that day.  If I did not, it could be delayed by a lot.  So I take my 2nd dose next week.  I do telehealth and hope to get in the office soon, now.  

 

It feels strange as a FB friend in TX that is a nurse with a master's degree who is a specialist in disease control and epidemiology in Houston just got hers yesterday.  She is in Houston at a hospital, and its numbers are high.  Why it took so long there, I do not know. 

[soloact]

tybec, happy to hear of your progress. Please post back after you get the boost dose.  I'm relatively certain we will all be vaccinated eventually. Multiple registrations are required here at various providers. Walgreens, CVS, three area hospital systems and the county to my knowledge. I have registered nowhere. 

 

I'm hoping registration will eventually streamlined or more centralized.  

[Nuggets]

BC, Canada ~ we are out of vaccine, and expecting partial shipments in the near term - supply is expected to stabilize in March.  

We have a calculator for approximating our spot in the queue.... I am mid-May-ish (my birthday present? 🤪), my daughter is mid-March-ish (front end worker, health issues that qualify her) - but we are both casting our lot in with my 80 year old mother that lives with ~ she is 1A for priority. 

There is no provision in the calculator for who lives in the household, and her Doctor has confirmed that is a favourable factor and he has made notes on her file.

Edited January 24, 2021 by Nuggets
- fat typing fingers :P

[soloact]

I'm a little discouraged today. Our governor just hijacked vaccine doses originally scheduled for a new cohort on February 1. He is diverting doses to school staffers demanding schools open March 1. He didn't steal enough doses for all. There is not enough time to do a prime and boost dose between now and March1. He also continues to relax restrictions on bars and restaurants. He's up for re-election in 2022. The dots connect themselves.

 

 Time to mask up, grab a face shield and take my chances at the grocery store.

[tybec]

Well,  I got my 2nd.  3 weeks apart exactly.  Pfizer.  No problems first dose.  Sore in injection site only. This one I had chills, low grade fever and slight headache for about 8 hours.  I consider myself lucky. I had no wait.  Walk right in, check in, go to open nurse and done.  I feel bad for those waiting hours in cars and still not getting it.  Our states  in the US very much have different management of distribution.  I believe my low populated state but yet highly involved nationally politically must be a reason. Well, we are at the bottom in many things, but not this.  

We also are very rural overall. I don't feel so afraid getting out. I am outside and not around people. The stores are not over run.  I don't eat out much and if I do, go like at 2 pm. There is no one eating at 2.  I could see how scary it is in cities where you are in close housing and even the streets are full of people.  Hoping by summer things are more settled to a "Norm". 

[soloact]

@tybec, it's wonderful that you have that boost dose. Your reaction to the second dose sounds like what Dr. Fauci described after his. You are in good company. Good call to avoid peak hours in stores, restaurants etc. The variants are here so that's another concern. 

 

I was not the only kook in mask and face shield yesterday. A few people in the parking lot were loading groceries in their trunks at the same time I was. We had a quick convo calling to each other. The mask and shield does muffle speech. Store clerks were patient and kind as I spoke up and repeated when necessary.

 

Hoping we all stay well.

[trying2breathe]

It's encouraging to hear that covid numbers are going down right now, hope this continues.  My mom is in her 80s and got her first dose a couple of weeks ago, it was relatively easy for her as she's in a retirement community and it is managed there.  Others 65 and up have access to an on-line registration system which has not gone well, appointments are quickly taken and the system is not user friendly, and the elderly are having a particularly hard time with it.   Several friends with elderly parents drove two hours several counties away to a sports arena to get their doses, inconvenient but seems to have worked for them.  I'm in an area with a lot of seasonal residents and doses are going to them rather than those that live here year round.   Am also hearing that non-residents are driving in to receive vaccines.  I'm low on the list to receive, will patiently wait my turn and take precautions in the meantime.  

[soloact]

Great that your mom had her first dose!. In this area only 50% of people age 80 and over have been vaccinated. Lack of vaccine is the reason given. February first people age 70 and older were up to be vaccinated. Nothing much happening as they have not started age 75+ due to vaccine shortage.

 

Care facility residents are being vaccinated by one of the retail pharmacies at the LTC. A few day ago they reported a cold chain breach affecting four LTCs. The residents will be revaccinated. 

 

Thursday I got word from a friend that she was notified a vaccine would be available to her next week. I followed up on the particulars. She is in religious life. Her order has a relationship with the hospital that will do the vaccinations. Her order gets their health care there. I smiled. I thought it was the sisters who got things going. The sisters can get more done quickly with very little. They amaze me. They are amused when I tell them they are rockstars. I mean it from the bottom of my heart. 

 

It made me feel so good that she will be vaccinated. 

 

[soloact]

@trying2breathe, the online sign up here is not going well either. I will never understand how they expect all super seniors to use the online option. Hopefully all who want the vaccine will get it eventually. Infection rates are lower here too, now. We are finally recovering from holiday gathering numbers. Now it will be Super Bowl parties possibly running them up again.  I hope not. We shall see.

[soloact]

This is a zombie thread, sorry.

 

I did get vaxxed as all did who wanted to. I still remember the day I received an email from an area hospital where I was registered inviting me to schedule. 

The link opened. A schedule dropped down. I was so excited it appeared as if it was my first time using a computer. 

All went well. I had a mild systemic reaction after the boost dose. No reaction after the prime dose. 

 

The vax site staffers were so kind. They thanked us for visiting. I was overwhelmed. My now pcp is on the staff there. I changed. The place that did all my care never notified although I was registered for a vax.

 

Subsequent boosters were at the pharmacy of an area supermarket. Whenever CDC says go, I do.

 

Now I wonder when there will be another booster? mRNA boosters wane in a few months. My bivalent booster was more than six months go. N95 is my daily driver in indoor public spaces.  

 

Still a Covid virgin. Hope to continue as such. Fingers crossed.

 

Be well everyone!