CHASING COVID-19 VACCINE

[Big Magilla]

Are the Chinese and Russian vaccines available in the United States?

No. Presently there are only three available, the two-dose Pfizer and Moderna and the one-dose Johnson and Johnson. Other U.S. vaccines are in development. Distribution should extend to other countries in the near future. Booster shots may be required in a year, by which time getting the vaccine may be as easy as it is to get a flu shot at your doctor's or local pharmacy without all the rigmarole we have to go through now.

[Reza]

Are the Chinese and Russian vaccines available in the United States?

[OscarGuy]

Missouri supposed to go into Phase 2 on March 29. That includes the financial services sector, of which I'm a part. But I don't think the clinics happen except on Saturday, so the first Saturday in April would be my first eligible day. That said, I've been made aware of some local pharmacies that have wastelists. Some younger folks I know signed up on them and managed to get the vaccine early because they don't care whose arm they stick it in, they just don't want them to go to waste. Monday, I'll call around to the local ones and sign myself up, so I may have access to one of them slightly early since there's no guarantee I'll be able to get signed up for that first Phase 2 roll-out since it will be a large cross-section of people suddenly eligible.

[gunnar]

Cool. I hope that it goes well.

I got a text from Meijer a couple of hours ago inviting me to a vaccine clinic next week to get the Moderna vaccine. I decided to stick with the appointment that I already have with my hospital system. I won't find out whether it is Moderna or Pfizer until I get there, though.

[Big Magilla]

I beat you by one day, Gunnar.

I'm pretty sure it's the Johnson and Johnson one-shot so if it goes according to plan, I could achieve immunity by 4/7.

[gunnar]

Have you had your first appointment yet, Magilla? Or is still a few days away?

I just scheduled my first dose for next Thursday. The hospital system I use had me register on Thursday and then sent me the notification this morning of available appointments. Good to hear. The date of my first dose also happens to coincide with what would have been my dad's 84th birthday.

[danfrank]

Congrats!

[Big Magilla]

I've finally gotten an appointment, but not through the anticipated method.

The various sites are still suffering from chronic constipation. Walmart, for the last four days, has been the only site that allowed me to actually get to their booking page. It wanted to send me to another state, Valley Stream on Long Island. They claim it was the closest to me at 45 miles away - trouble is it's more like 145 miles away by car. Maybe they thought I had a helicopter on my roof that I could just fly there.

Anyway, early this afternoon I received an e-mail from the mayor's office. He had arranged with Walmart, the police department, and the Police Athletic League to vaccinate 500 seniors over 65 one day next week. I get these e-mails because I am the editor of our community newspaper and the administrator of our website and can get the information out to our residents quickly. The only problem is the e-mail was very vague. It said to call one of three numbers without identifying who they were, after which we would be told where to go to get the shot. All very 1940s film noir, so of course I called one of the numbers before sharing the information with the residents.

Turned out the numbers were for Walmart which is setting up the appointments outside of their website and administering the shots but not at their store. They're doing it at the PAL building. So, while I was there doing my investigation, I booked an appointment for myself for 10:10 in the morning of the day they're doing it.

After sharing the e-mail, I got responses from a number of residents who were able to make appointments as well, no small feat in this town.

[gunnar]

Hopefully they call you soon and you get your shot, Magilla.

Michigan just announced that every resident 16 and older will be eligible for the vaccine as of April 5th. Supplies are supposed to continue increasing, but I suspect that there will continue to be problems getting appointments with all of these people added to the eligibility lists.

[Big Magilla]

I was finally able to pre-register with Hackensack-Meridian which runs my local hospital. People I know who've gotten that far have been called rather quickly. In the meantime, I still checking the other sites, still running into the same problems. Biden and his team have great ideas about getting everyone vaccinated but so far none of them have been put into action here.

[Heksagon]

I'm glad to hear that a lot of people here have already gotten their vaccinations, congratulations. Vaccinations seem to be the one thing that the U.S. is managing relatively well with the pandemic.

[Big Magilla]

Thanks, Dan. Moderna is the one they're administering in my area when they have it. I'd really like the Johnson and Johnson to be one and done but I'll take whatever I can get.

[danfrank]

I’m sorry to hear about your frustrating experience, Magilla. Problems with supply, distribution, and technology are inconsistent from state to state, and of course throughout the world. Fortunately supply is really ramping up, so those eligible and waiting (at least in US) shouldn’t have to wait much longer.

Anecdotally side effects with Moderna are a bit worse than with Pfizer. I had Moderna and felt pretty useless (body ache, fatigue) the day after shot 2, but felt completely normal the day after that. My husband, who had Pfizer, had virtually no side effects after either shot.

The best part is life just feels safer, and I feel more upbeat and optimistic. I hope everyone on here is able to get vaccinated soon.

[Big Magilla]

What they've been saying lately is it doesn't matter how distant the second dose is as long as it isn't less than (if I've got the timing right), 21 days for the Pfizer and 28 for the Moderna.

I read on one of those Facebook or Twitter help sites that they had accidentally booked a woman a day short for her second dose and wouldn't give it to her when she came in, making her come back the next day.

[OscarGuy]

I believe it was the Moderna, but the last I heard standard for both was 2 to 3 weeks with 4 weeks being only an extreme case. Maybe I'm wrong, though. They keep changing the information on me.