COVID-19 vaccine discussion

We sure will continue to wear masks, sanitize, & social distance after we get both shots. All year long if necessary.

11 hours ago, InkaUtexas said:

Why we have not figured out a way to do drive through vaccinations amazes me. Apply online, they send you a confirmation, go to the nearest place and get the damn vaccine while listening to your favorite music. My father and MiL (who has stage 4 cancer) are very hesitant about going anywhere to get the vaccine.   

Got the first dose of the Moderna vaccine today. Live in The Woodlands but was able to make an appt New Years Eve for today down in Pasadena at the Harris County Public Health site. They had it set up in the parking lot of the football stadium. Drove up and showed the QR code to the person checking cars in. Drove to the next station for a temperature check. Drove to the next station where they scanned the QR code from the confirmation email and confirmed my information matched what was in the system attached to the QR confirmation code. Drove to the next station which was the actual shot site. 4 drive through lines. Someone directing you to the appropriate line. Two nurses in each line. Scanned QR code again. Gave me the CDC vaccination card with the second shot date. Stuck a needle in my arm through the window. Had me drive to the next part of the parking lot where they asked you to park until the 15 minute reaction window had passed. They never once asked for any identification or confirmation of eligibility for Phase 1B. Must have been told thank you profusely by a dozen different people. They just wanted to get needles in arms and were thrilled I was there. Whole process took about 20 minutes including the 15 minute waiting period after. Told a buddy about it and he said it sounded like I got Chick-Fil-A’d. That’s a pretty apt description. So at least one site is doing what you suggested above and it worked like clockwork. Shortly after I left I received the system generated email with the confirmation QR code for my second dose on 2/1. 

Edited January 5, 2021 by lonestarsooner

1 hour ago, Anastasis said:

Well that's an underwhelming list. 

It's like a statewide Easter egg hunt where the prize is you live...

11 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Another flaw in giving the vaccine and creating better delivery methods is that there is no central “they” that should have figured this out.  The fed and state officials seem to end their responsibility when they hand off the vaccine to the healthcare providers.  The next step is 1000s of groups or individuals, in Texas alone, that have been left to their own to figure out processes.  

Whoa whoa whoa.

you mean the country is handling the vaccination process like we have the rest of the pandemic?!

[insert insanity definition here]

2 hours ago, Texas Jeff said:

Texas week 4 sites are out:

https://dshs.texas.gov/news/updates/COVIDVaccineAllocation-Week4.pdf

So when does Week 4 start officially?

Does the announcement of the weekly allotment include all of the doses received or only the ones meant for people getting the 1st shot? This week people are now getting their 2nd Pfizer shot so we are at the point that a reported dose doesn’t mean a new person.

I thought I just read that you can still transmit it to others even though you’re protected. 

That’s unknown. Just not enough far to say. Initial data is promising towards the “protective against asymptomatic infection/transmission” side, but not definitive.

10 hours ago, Liquor and Poker said:

So when does Week 4 start officially?

I think "Week 4" is Mon Jan 4th -> Sun Jan 10th.  I think here is how "weeks" work:

• Tuesday before the week, the feds issue an allocation for the states
• Friday or so before the week, the states tell the feds where to send the stuff
• Either on that day or on the following Monday, the state publishes the "Week X" PDF
• Monday of the week, stuff starts to arrive.  Deliveries continue throughout the week.
• Either three weeks (Pfizer) or four weeks (Moderna) later, the feds ship the same quantities to the same location for second shots

I could be off by a week, but I think we are now in week 4.

On 1/4/2021 at 9:33 AM, midtown said:

Talk about a super spreader event

Seriously. WTF is that? These are supposedly the most vulnerable of our populace, and we can't even manage to space people out better than a grocery store does?

4 minutes ago, SquishMitten said:

Seriously. WTF is that? These are supposedly the most vulnerable of our populace, and we can't even manage to space people out better than a grocery store does?

The technology just isn't there.

3 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Does the announcement of the weekly allotment include all of the doses received or only the ones meant for people getting the 1st shot? This week people are now getting their 2nd Pfizer shot so we are at the point that a reported dose doesn’t mean a new person.

I am not sure about that...  You would have to total up all of the amounts in the PDF to figure that out.  You also have to know if they are taking the Pfizer vaccine quantities diverted to nursing homes out of the state total, or if that is included.

The federal HHS has data showing allocations per state by first and second shot.  That's probably your best resource to know how many "new people" are getting allocations each week.  Texas is getting allocated about 160k-200k "first shot" Pfizer and about 160k "first shot" Moderna doses per week.

27 minutes ago, Texas Jeff said:

I think "Week 4" is Mon Jan 4th -> Sun Jan 10th.  I think here is how "weeks" work:

• Tuesday before the week, the feds issue an allocation for the states
• Friday or so before the week, the states tell the feds where to send the stuff
• Either on that day or on the following Monday, the state publishes the "Week X" PDF
• Monday of the week, stuff starts to arrive.  Deliveries continue throughout the week.
• Either three weeks (Pfizer) or four weeks (Moderna) later, the feds ship the same quantities to the same location for second shots

I could be off by a week, but I think we are now in week 4.

Huh.  So I called 4 places on the "Week 4" list this morning and talked to admins - in three cases I got to somebody relatively high up the chain.  None have received any vaccine this week, and all believed what they were getting this week (if anything) was the 2nd shot for the folks from the first week.  None were aware they were on that list and all were skeptical it was correct.  

I will note these were smaller shops, not Ben Taub or Methodist or anything like that.  Places like dermatologists (???) and urgent care clinics where I thought I'd have a better time getting through to someone who knew what was going on.  

5 minutes ago, Liquor and Poker said:

Huh.  So I called 4 places on the "Week 4" list this morning and talked to admins - in three cases I got to somebody relatively high up the chain.  None have received any vaccine this week, and all believed what they were getting this week (if anything) was the 2nd shot for the folks from the first week.  None were aware they were on that list and all were skeptical it was correct.  

I will note these were smaller shops, not Ben Taub or Methodist or anything like that.  Places like dermatologists (???) and urgent care clinics where I thought I'd have a better time getting through to someone who knew what was going on.  

Only Pfizer pfolks should be getting second shots this week.  The Moderna vax has not been out long enough.

You can tell who has received Pfizer vs Moderna because the Moderna folks have all received quantities that are multiples of 100.  The Pfizer pfolks have all received quantities that are NOT multiples of 100.  Most of the smaller clinics have received Moderna because of the cold storage requirements for Pfizer.

Edited January 5, 2021 by Texas Jeff

The hospital I went to ran out of doses last night so cancelled today's clinic. Apparently some associates put off getting the vaccine early because they wanted to see how it affected people. They started trickling in this week to get it but I guess the ones who missed out will just have to wait until they get a fresh supply of round 1 doses. They will start giving round 2  out on Thursday.

 

meanwhile

Over 70 Percent of U.S. COVID Vaccine Doses Remain Unused Across the Country (msn.com)

13 hours ago, UTexasFight said:

Whoa whoa whoa.

you mean the country is handling the vaccination process like we have the rest of the pandemic?!

[insert insanity definition here]

It’s infuriating. We are paralyzed, as a nation, by fuck poor leadership from the top down 

10 minutes ago, rpspeed said:

The hospital I went to ran out of doses last night so cancelled today's clinic. Apparently some associates put off getting the vaccine early because they wanted to see how it affected people. They started trickling in this week to get it but I guess the ones who missed out will just have to wait until they get a fresh supply of round 1 doses. They will start giving round 2  out on Thursday.

 

meanwhile

Over 70 Percent of U.S. COVID Vaccine Doses Remain Unused Across the Country (msn.com)

Does this ally include the 2nd shot being held back?

 

*tally

Apparently that Week 4 list has gotten some play.  Everyone I've called this afternoon has a message for their phone tree that starts with "if you're calling about the COVID-19 vaccine, don't bother..."

Has anyone followed or have links to the process in Dallas?  I know health care worker have received or are receiving.  I know my grandmother in an assisted living facility is supposed to receive this week.  And I know you can "register" with Dallas county but haven't heard any registrations are actually being processed  Outside of that I've seen very little info and certainly no reports regarding what lonestarsooner reported above.  Have there been plans for any kind of immunization facilities outside of what hospitals, etc. are doing or is it just a total clusterfuck (I'm assuming the latter).

Has anyone in 1b been able to get a shot yet?

18 minutes ago, Nonbryan said:

Has anyone in 1b been able to get a shot yet?

My parents, aunt and my inlaws have gotten them and they are all 1b located in Tyler/Smith County.

My mom and dad are both 1b. Mom got her first shot Saturday at Brookshire Bros.  Dad gets his there on Thursday.

I received two calls telling me that they had openings at the end of this week at HEBs up north. My people have all been vaccinated. 512-249-9012, 512-715-0101 - One is in Cedar Park and the other is Burnet. I don't know if you need to be a medical professional.

1 hour ago, pearlandhorn said:

My parents, aunt and my inlaws have gotten them and they are all 1b located in Tyler/Smith County.

My wife is 1b (cancer survivor).  Also Tyler/Smith County.  I'm some sort of misfit/alternate 1a (I guess; not really) and got the opportunity to get it through my job because a not insignificant number of healthcare workers at Christus in Tyler declined the Phizer vaccine, and they needed to get into arms while it still was viable (and we somehow got the call).  Didn't expect I'd get it for months, but put me in the not looking a gift horse in the mouth camp.  She and I are up for our second shots on 1/20 and 1/19 respectively.

Edited January 5, 2021 by dcbc

My wife is a healthcare professional and will be getting her first dose on Thursday.

I'm way way down the list.

 

2 hours ago, Skipper said:

Has anyone followed or have links to the process in Dallas?  I know health care worker have received or are receiving.  I know my grandmother in an assisted living facility is supposed to receive this week.  And I know you can "register" with Dallas county but haven't heard any registrations are actually being processed  Outside of that I've seen very little info and certainly no reports regarding what lonestarsooner reported above.  Have there been plans for any kind of immunization facilities outside of what hospitals, etc. are doing or is it just a total clusterfuck (I'm assuming the latter).

Dear selected Healthcare Worker,

 

 

Based on the guidelines from the Texas Department of State Health Services, you are now eligible to get vaccinated.

The vaccination drive-thru at Ellis Davis Field House and Eastfield Community College are open: Monday - Saturday; 7:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Ellis Davis Field House - 9191 S Polk St. Dallas, TX 75232

Eastfield Community College - 3737 Motley Dr. Mesquite, TX 75150

21 hours ago, Armybrat said:

Friend of mine lives near Orlando, Florida just posted this:

”I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, yeah!  Patti and I both got our first China Virus vaccine shots this afternoon.  The procedure was very well organized.  We arrived twenty minutes before our scheduled appointment.  We're in a line from hell with other cars.  You MUST have a bar code in-order to get into the line....they were turning cars away that did not have appointments.  So the line creeps along and we never left our car.  Was forty minutes to get to the station where you get the shot.  The long line split into twenty injection stations.  Car license was scanned, reservation bar code scanned, asked a couple medical questions and an EMT gave me the shot thru the window, Neither me or Patti felt the jab.  Was handed a CDC vaccination record card with everything filled in and our next shot is February 2nd.  Word on the street is you'll need this shot card one of these days to get your new passport showing you have been vaccinated.  We sent out to the parking lot where we were again scanned and told we needed to wait twenty minutes for any side effects.  End of story!  

I'd recommend the shot to anyone, even those in upper Michigan By the middle of February, we should be protected from the virus?  My kids told us that we could still give them the virus even if we can't get it.  We will behave for now and wear a mask in consideration of others but at least I'll be protected from the a-holes that don't wear masks.“

Same fellow posted a followup today:

“Went to bed with no side effects from the vaccine shot.  Woke up with my shoulder hurting, really hurting!  It's right up there with the second shingles shot or a tetanus shot.  Still, well worth the pain.”

 

12 minutes ago, SachseTX said:

Dear selected Healthcare Worker,

 

 

Based on the guidelines from the Texas Department of State Health Services, you are now eligible to get vaccinated.

The vaccination drive-thru at Ellis Davis Field House and Eastfield Community College are open: Monday - Saturday; 7:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Ellis Davis Field House - 9191 S Polk St. Dallas, TX 75232

Eastfield Community College - 3737 Motley Dr. Mesquite, TX 75150

Thanks.  I'm not a huge fan of a lot of his takes but county commissioner J.J. Koch does a good job of getting out actual info (in addition to inserting his strong opinions) in his facebook videos.  I saw one he posted today where at least according to him, the news hasn't done a great job of telling the story and that just about all doses that have been allocated to Dallas County (~85K) has been or is being administered.  I also agreed 100% with his point that given the rampant spread at the moment, we should reallocate resources from contact tracing (virtually worthless given the current outbreak) to vaccination so that as capacity increases we are able to ramp up accordingly.  If Jenkins is actually arguing contact tracing should be prioritized when we've been averaging 2000 + cases for weeks he's an idiot.

I think we all expected this to be a bit of a clusterfuck at first, especially considering rollout started over the holidays..  I kind of targeted 1/18 as the date where most of the kinks can be worked out and there is more capacity to really start ramping this up.

https://www.codyenterprise.com/news/local/article_42631f90-4ec4-11eb-9c3d-4b654c3dd9a6.html

so my hospital is hoarding doses while they beg their employees to take it. 
still on 1A here and out 1B are over 70 and essential high contact workers like grocery store checkers and city employees. 
 

Sorry but a declination is a declination- move on to those who want it. Those hospital workers can get in line any time they please. 

Houston Methodist is paying their employees to get the vaccine: https://abc13.com/health/houston-methodist-to-give-its-workers-$500-hope-bonus/9354920/

On 1/3/2021 at 2:37 PM, Pato del Muerto said:

Someone tell me why it matters which strain is predominant at any given time.  My understanding was that the new strain is no more virulent than the other, just more contagious. 

Based on what is known now, that appears to be true. That's not necessarily a good thing. A good rundown was in the Atlantic from Adam Kucharski (UK infectious disease expert), quoted here : link. He compares what would happen with the death rate for a 50% increase in lethality versus a 50% increase in transmissibility (but no impact in lethality). 

Quote

Kucharski compares a 50 percent increase in virus lethality to a 50 percent increase in virus transmissibility. Take a virus reproduction rate of about 1.1 and an infection fatality risk of 0.8 percent and imagine 10,000 active infections—a plausible scenario for many European cities, as Kucharski notes. As things stand, with those numbers, we’d expect 129 deaths in a month. If the fatality rate increased by 50 percent, that would lead to 193 deaths. In contrast, a 50 percent increase in transmissibility would lead to a whopping 978 deaths in just one month—assuming, in both scenarios, a six-day infection-generation time.

 

3 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Houston Methodist is paying their employees to get the vaccine: https://abc13.com/health/houston-methodist-to-give-its-workers-$500-hope-bonus/9354920/

Fick that. Open it up to people who actually want it 

*Fuck

Fick that. Open it up to people who actually want it 

Este... There will be plenty of incentive in the coming year or years. Why waste time. Let's get as many shots as possible as quickly as possible

Seeing rumors that vaccine providers are being told not to waste, give them to anyone if they have left overs.  Girlfriend showed me a tweet that seemed legit.  San Antonio News Express seems to say the same thing. Lots of reports of unadministered vaccines. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.expressnews.com/news/politics/texas_legislature/amp/Texas-health-commissioner-Significant-15834832.php

could end up a bit of a free for all.  

8 minutes ago, troph said:

Seeing rumors that vaccine providers are being told not to waste, give them to anyone if they have left overs.  Girlfriend showed me a tweet that seemed legit.  San Antonio News Express seems to say the same thing. Lots of reports of unadministered vaccines. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.expressnews.com/news/politics/texas_legislature/amp/Texas-health-commissioner-Significant-15834832.php

could end up a bit of a free for all.  

When in doubt I whip it out

i got me a rock n roll band

its a free for all

6 hours ago, troph said:

Seeing rumors that vaccine providers are being told not to waste, give them to anyone if they have left overs.  Girlfriend showed me a tweet that seemed legit.  San Antonio News Express seems to say the same thing. Lots of reports of unadministered vaccines. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.expressnews.com/news/politics/texas_legislature/amp/Texas-health-commissioner-Significant-15834832.php

could end up a bit of a free for all.  

That makes sense.  If there's "drag" in takeup by the folks prioritized, open it up to EVERYONE on some kinda controlled, first-come, first-served basis.  Let's get to herd immunity (through vaccinations) as soon as we can.

Anyone have links to Houston vaccine appointments open for the super olds?

8 hours ago, troph said:

Seeing rumors that vaccine providers are being told not to waste, give them to anyone if they have left overs.  Girlfriend showed me a tweet that seemed legit.  San Antonio News Express seems to say the same thing. Lots of reports of unadministered vaccines. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.expressnews.com/news/politics/texas_legislature/amp/Texas-health-commissioner-Significant-15834832.php

could end up a bit of a free for all.  

Welcome to 3 weeks ago

12 hours ago, Armybrat said:

*Fuck

Fick he says.  
 

 

Well, 1 out of the 83 people in Loving Co, Texas now has a shot, and with that the vaccine has reached all 254 Texas counties.  Texas has made an effort to get it to both rural and urban areas.

We should be thanking our stars we don’t live in Illinois. A longtime member of a social forum I’ve belonged to for years posted this today:

“Asked Mom's DR about a vaccine for her and so far there is no plan for seniors in Illinois”

8 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

We should be thanking our stars we don’t live in Illinois. A longtime member of a social forum I’ve belonged to for years posted this today:

“Asked Mom's DR about a vaccine for her and so far there is no plan for seniors in Illinois”

Text not upside down. WTF. 

There is only one reason shots would be going to waste and needing to be distributed to anyone - the provider has done a shit job of allowing people in 1B to sign up, make an appointment, or notify them of what they need to do to get the shot. 1B’s all over are very frustrated right now. 

My dad just got called up from one of the waitlists.  The provider was on the week 2 allocation list...and not present on weeks 3 or 4.  He appt is next week, so I am assuming they are still working off that original allotment which was 1000 shots.  They are only accepting established patients to their waitlist.  This is not the type of urgency we need to have here. 

1 hour ago, Dbeasy said:

1B’s all over are very frustrated right now. 

The state has FUBAR’d this roll out. I’m beginning to think that if we were invaded by Cubans and Russians or the Chinese then we really would need to have a band of rag tag teenagers from a small town win a war on our soil left with little but their parents’ hunting rifles and ingenious booby traps for enemy tanks and armored vehicles.

10 minutes ago, Newdoc said:

The state has FUBAR’d this roll out. I’m beginning to think that if we were invaded by Cubans and Russians or the Chinese then we really would need to have a band of rag tag teenagers from a small town win a war on our soil left with little but their parents’ hunting rifles and ingenious booby traps for enemy tanks and armored vehicles.

I can attest Illinois is a shitshow. In running for worst governor in the nation. 

Even though seniors and LTC account for the majority of deaths they are accounting for something like 3% of vax. 

Meanwhile 30 year old hospital researcher working remotely is first in line. Go ahead and tell me that is all about public health. 

I see people claiming Texas has received 11 million doses of vaccine but has only distributed 2 million, while hoarding the rest.

Is that true?

Edited January 6, 2021 by Armybrat