How is Covid19 affecting you?

[Just Bob]

My wife and I are in the "high risk" category and we are finally scheduled for our first shots, sometime in February.  Here in Washington state the system is truly FUBAR'd.  First you have to go on line to get "approved" then my wife spent well over 8 hours on the phone trying to get scheduled.  There are only 3 places in the county administering the shots.  I swear 2 three year old children on a chocolate high would be better organized.

[wtnhighlander]

23 hours ago, JohnG said:

Which one did you get? Sounds like the reaction my wife’s coworker had to the Moderna vaccine during the trials. He did not react as much to the second part. 

It was the Phizer vaccine, according to the paperwork.

[Chestnut]

Good for all of you that have the vaccine available to you and are taking it. I think it's a great opportunity and may offer some sense of security.

I'll get it as soon as I can but I'm going to be in the 2nd to last group of people. I'll probably only get it before unemployed 20 somethings. There is just no way to go back to a normal way of life without doing something like a vaccine. If there was another way I'm sure society would be considering it.

20 hours ago, Mark J said:

My wife is eligible for the vaccine two days from now.  What's got us aggravated and disgusted is the total lack of any public information on who to contact, where to go or how to get in line.  In Illinois/suburban Chicago there isn't even any information about when and where that information is going to be available. 

Here the news is saying sit and wait if you are in the system they will contact you. Each state is handling the roll out differently.

[wtnhighlander]

It seems like area with higher population density seem to have more difficulty managing vaccine distribution. We are fortunate to live in a county with < 100k residents, but is the headquarters for the largest health care system between Memphis and Nashville. Still, we were not alerted to Cody's eligibility by the authorities. We heard by way of a special needs athletics organization that he participates in. Even then, my wife and I did not expect to be eligible, but were told we were on the spot, as his 'care givers'. 

With the Phizer vaccine, it might pay to show up for vaccination events, even if your eligibility is uncertain, as they would prefer to administer doses that might otherwise be spoiled. Of course, the high population areas don't seem to have a surplus of doses, most of the time.

[TerryMcK]

We've grimly exceeded 100,000 deaths in the UK now. Fifth worse country in the world not that anybody is competing.

However nearly 8 million people have had their first jab of either the Pfizer/Biontek, Oxford/Astra-Zenica or Moderna vaccines. My mother and step father have had theirs, my wife will be having hers soon and I will have to wait being the spring chicken I am.

We are still stuck indoors going out once a day for a walk and getting everything delivered. We are on our third national lockdown and most people are sticking to it. There are the odd melons or "bears of little brain" who are not but in general it is ok.

[rodger.]

Here in Canada we have started the Vaccine rollout, but have hit a few delivery snags. We are scheduled to receive 500K less vaccines than were originally scheduled. Most long term care homes in my regions are completed, but the "general" public is quite a ways off from getting the jab. Our Federal Government ordered enough vaccines to inoculate the entire country 5 times over. Not sure of the delay logistics, but it's a hot topic here.

[Mark J]

Sad to hear we've lost Sir Thomas Moore to Covid-19.

[Coop]

And, he had cancer and was 100 yo. Another Covid tragedy.

[Mark J]

After a lot of hunting and clicking my wife and I were both able to get appointments and vaccinated.  And now I am finally set up (with vaccination and liability insurance) to be a volunteer vaccinator with the Chicago Medial Reserve Corp.  My first stint is Wed March 3.  I am strangely excited about this opportunity to work for free.  It's like I've been stuck on this sinking ship and now I've finally gotten hold of a bucket and I can take some positive action.  

[Coop]

Heck of a deal Mark! Like so many other volunteer and professional hero’s, it will take patience of steel. Thank you and others for your support! 

[Mark J]

30 vaccinations today .  Doesn't seem like much, but it comes out to 6 per hour and there's a certain amount of bureaucracy that is part of the process.

[pkinneb]

That's awesome Mark!! I'm sure those 30 people think it was great  

[Mark J]

Hey @JohnG , your wife is an ED physician, how's she been doing?  Hopefully the intensity has been dialed down since the begining of the year.

[JohnG]

@Mark J thanks for asking! It has calmed down, though it never got too crazy in the ED, the ICU got the worst of it. Their patient volumes still haven’t gotten back up to pre-covid levels. Their covid numbers are going down, which is good.

She has had some crazy stories, though that is not specific to the covid era. One patient tried to hit her, then removed their mask and started forcefully blowing around in the air. Of course they later came back positive. Another time had to intubate a patient without full PPE, but that was not due to lack of supply and was surely against policy, but there was simply no time to suit up. Otherwise she has felt reasonably safe in her work. 

She has seen the negative effects that the extended isolation has had on people’s mental health, especially in the older populations.