Covid Vaccine Distribution

[audreyh1]

I'm in SW FL.

A few weeks ago, someone on Nextdoor posted that he and his wife drove 1100 miles to TX to get their shots.

And my neighbor and her hubby drove to Richmond VA (934 miles one way) for their shots.

omni

I assume they are residents of those states and have to get their shot there?

 

[omni550]

I assume they are residents of those states and have to get their shot there?

Florida is giving shots to anyone over 65...even Canadians!

Over in Miami, early-on they had visitors from Argentina and other S. American countries fly in for "vaccine tourism". I think they're now cracking down on some of the flagrant abuse.

In fact, around here they are now requiring 2 pieces of proof of a minimum of 31-days residency (lease, utility bills, etc) to eliminate folks merely coming for the vaccine.

Because it's "season" and tons of seniors are here, it's really a mad scramble around here to get an appointment. I've heard of people driving up to Tallahassee (400 miles one way) once they were able to get an appointment.

My neighbor and her husband (both in their 80s) live in Richmond, VA and rent here in SW FL in season. So when they heard there was an opportunity for their vaccines in Richmond, they drove up to get their shots.

The guy on Nextdoor made it sound like his daughter lives in TX and somehow was able to get appointments for him and his wife.

omni

 

[ABQ2015]

The Civic Center in Amarillo/Potter County is providing vaccines regardless of state or county residency:

https://www.texasstandard.org/stori...llo-vaccine-rollout-reaches-beyond-panhandle/

There was an article a couple of weeks ago in the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper that estimated more than 400 New Mexicans had obtained vaccinations in Amarillo. I don't consider it appropriate but most of those interviewed were in their late 70's, had close ties to Texas, and were frustrated at the slow pace of vaccination in NM. The 1B 75+ became eligible on Jan 10 in NM and less than 50% currently have their first shot. There is a state vaccine registration system with eligible persons selected at random for appointments - nothing you can do to be selected earlier. Now 1B age 16 to 74 with chronic conditions are also eligible (about 30-40% of the state population) and the Governor seems to be adding in even more groups. Healthy baby boomers are way down the list after many essential workers, including teachers who are lobbying heavily to be re-prioritized.

The Amarillo mass clinics are first come first serve and have been delayed or cancelled a couple of times so you are taking some risk to drive that far (4 hours or more) for nothing. If there were appointments available, it would be tempting to try to get one. I would be okay with the drive and just stay in a motel overnight.

 

[Sunset]

The Civic Center in Amarillo/Potter County is providing vaccines regardless of state or county residency:

https://www.texasstandard.org/stori...llo-vaccine-rollout-reaches-beyond-panhandle/

There was an article a couple of weeks ago in the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper that estimated more than 400 New Mexicans had obtained vaccinations in Amarillo. I don't consider it appropriate but most of those interviewed were in their late 70's, had close ties to Texas, and were frustrated at the slow pace of vaccination in NM. The 1B 75+ became eligible on Jan 10 in NM and less than 50% currently have their first shot. There is a state vaccine registration system with eligible persons selected at random for appointments - nothing you can do to be selected earlier. Now 1B age 16 to 74 with chronic conditions are also also eligible (about 30-40% of the state population) and the Governor seems to be adding in even more groups. Healthy baby boomers are way down the list after many essential workers, including teachers who are heavily lobbying to be re-prioritized.

The Amarillo mass clinics are first come first serve and have been delayed or cancelled a couple of times so you are taking some risk to drive that far (4 hours or more). If there were appointments available, it would be tempting to try to get one. I would be okay with the drive and just stay in a motel overnight.

If Texas was having warmer weather, it could be worth a holiday car trip

 

[RetireBy90]

In Fairfax County VA. I registered 18 Jan. There were 42,000 people registered on 18th and they are getting about 13K doses a week or 3 1/2 weeks to do one day of registration. Been couple weeks they are scheduling appointments for people registered on 18th so I'm hoping sometime next week to get an appointment, worse case next 10 days ? No idea where in the 42,000 my name is. DW is on list with Kaiser waiting on her call. We are both optimistic we will get first shot in a couple weeks but sure is difficult to just sit and wait.

 

[harllee]

In Fairfax County VA. I registered 18 Jan. There were 42,000 people registered on 18th and they are getting about 13K doses a week or 3 1/2 weeks to do one day of registration. Been couple weeks they are scheduling appointments for people registered on 18th so I'm hoping sometime next week to get an appointment, worse case next 10 days ? No idea where in the 42,000 my name is. DW is on list with Kaiser waiting on her call. We are both optimistic we will get first shot in a couple weeks but sure is difficult to just sit and wait.

A friend who lives in Fairfax County VA went Winchester VA for his vaccine about a month ago (he was able to get an appt in Winchester and has already had his second shot) so you might want to look around at other less populated areas if you don't get an appt in Fairfax soon.

 

[ransil]

Biden was at Pfizer in Michigan yesterday looks like they are ramping up production.

 

[JoeWras]

North Carolina pushing back on vaccine tourists.
https://www.wavy.com/covid-19-vacci...aimed-at-preventing-covid-19-vaccine-tourism/

It isn't exactly a hard push back, just permission from the State for local authorities to deny out of state people.

As I sit here in NC and look at the mountain of folks ahead of me, you can be sure this is good news for me.

I'm going to take a risk today and give platelets. Blood products are in short supply all over due to the storms. I want to do my part with my God given gift of a huge vein and clean blood. I wish I were vaccinated, but it isn't going to happen soon if sit-on-their-butts "tourists" keep line jumping ahead of me. Yes, I am cranky.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

Our rural county of 85,000 people in NW PA seems to be making progress on our Group 1A population. The local hospital system has reduced their waiting list from 6000 to 3000 people, BUT they temporarily closed down being added to the list on February 1 until they could get caught up some. They also worked with our local Active Aging Agency to open a call center (that probably means 1 or 2 people answer the phones) so that on Monday, February 22 you will again be able to call and get added to the waiting list AND find out what position you are on the waiting list if you're already on it. This will help people understand the waiting list process better. The hospital had to cancel vaccinations on Thursday, Saturday, and Monday because the weather postponed deliveries of the Pfizer vaccine. But hopefully, they can get restarted early next week.

Additionally, a local pharmacy chain has been running clinics around the region and that is helping. In the initial clinics, like the one I went to on February 15th, they were letting anyone register on their website. The result was that the slots were filled very quickly by people driving 2 hours or more from Pittsburgh area. Very few locals actually got shots. They are now restricting the clinic to people in the 2 counties directly where the clinic is being held that day. They say it is to reduce the chance of community spread of the virus. This means more local people are getting the vaccine. Instead of clinics filling up on 7 minutes, the one being held today appears to still have had a few open slots open this morning. My brother was able to register for his first shot last night for today's clinic.

The pharmacy had to cancel second-shot clinics yesterday and today because the supply of Moderna vaccine has been temporarily interrupted, but they had enough Pfizer to continue with a first-shot clinic today.

 

[ncbill]

North Carolina pushing back on vaccine tourists.
https://www.wavy.com/covid-19-vacci...aimed-at-preventing-covid-19-vaccine-tourism/

It isn't exactly a hard push back, just permission from the State for local authorities to deny out of state people.

As I sit here in NC and look at the mountain of folks ahead of me, you can be sure this is good news for me.

I'm going to take a risk today and give platelets. Blood products are in short supply all over due to the storms. I want to do my part with my God given gift of a huge vein and clean blood. I wish I were vaccinated, but it isn't going to happen soon if sit-on-their-butts "tourists" keep line jumping ahead of me. Yes, I am cranky.

NC is supposed to open vaccination up to teachers this week, but my teacher spouse has been trying to register online for an appointment & so far no one's updated their systems yet to allow teachers to register.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

NC is supposed to open vaccination up to teachers this week, but my teacher spouse has been trying to register online for an appointment & so far no one's updated their systems yet to allow teachers to register.

I'm not sure who made the decision, but teachers in our rural PA county were offered vaccine back in late January. I have family members who got them due to this. This is not what the official PA system says should have been done as teachers are not in our state's Group 1A. They are in Group 1B, which theoretically has not been started yet. It was done rather quietly and without any news stories about it. We also have a small liberal arts college in town and they arranged to have all their staff vaccinated in early February. That one made the local paper and some people questioned why it happened and guessed some "donation" took place somewhere. I'm not saying either of these is a bad thing. It just seems someone in the county made a decision to deviate from state guidelines a bit to get our education workers covered.

 

[JoeWras]

I'm not sure who made the decision, but teachers in our rural PA county were offered vaccine back in late January. I have family members who got them due to this. This is not what the official PA system says should have been done as teachers are not in our state's Group 1A. They are in Group 1B, which theoretically has not been started yet. It was done rather quietly and without any news stories about it. We also have a small liberal arts college in town and they arranged to have all their staff vaccinated in early February. That one made the local paper and some people questioned why it happened and guessed some "donation" took place somewhere. I'm not saying either of these is a bad thing. It just seems someone in the county made a decision to deviate from state guidelines a bit to get our education workers covered.

In my state, NC, the governor recently directed the health services to move teachers up in priority over first responders such as police. This is a change in policy. The sudden change is likely why ncbill's spouse can't get an appointment since this was done on the fly and the systems need change to accept it.

There's a lot of chatter occurring over this decision. I'll leave it at that.

 

[harllee]

NC is supposed to open vaccination up to teachers this week, but my teacher spouse has been trying to register online for an appointment & so far no one's updated their systems yet to allow teachers to register.

In my county the School District and the Health Dept are working together with a plan for the health dept to come to the schools and vaccinate the teachers and staff next week. Any chance your spouse's school district is lining up vaccines?

 

[gayl]

California Kaiser is reaching out to all 1A & 1B beginning next week to set appts for those who are unvaccinated. Just in case anyone needs to still know

The best news about this is that it will be LOCAL

 

[Souschef]

We got our first shots the first week of February. We are supposed to get a notice this coming week about our second shot.

 

[fh2000]

I received my second Pfizer shot last Sunday. In another week, I plan to start going back in Costco again.

I will wear 2 masks and try my best to keep social distance inside the warehouse, so I do not bring virus back home to DW who is not 65 yet.

 

[CardsFan]

So, we had 10:30 appointments for both of us. Left the house at 9:30 (only 15 miles a way, but wanted to be on time, got lost once, blame google maps, so good to have the extra time). National guard was running the outside, so very orderly. Showed where to park and asked to wait until 10 minutes before appointment to go in, so we waited 20 minutes.

In and out in less than 30 minutes, including the 15 minute wait time on the back end.

Sore arm right now, as expected.

Next shot on March 13.

I could not ask for a more orderly and organized "event" (as they call it).

 

[Chuckanut]

The 2nd shot is done. The entire effort including driving time both ways and the 15 minutes of waiting time after the shot was less than two hours.

It is a relief to not have to fuss with this anymore. All, I can say is that it was worth the 20+ hours of work it took to find a reliable source for the shots. Despite the weather delays and switching to the mega-site, the entire process was handled very efficiently with good communications.

 

[Koolau]

North Carolina pushing back on vaccine tourists.
https://www.wavy.com/covid-19-vacci...aimed-at-preventing-covid-19-vaccine-tourism/

It isn't exactly a hard push back, just permission from the State for local authorities to deny out of state people.

As I sit here in NC and look at the mountain of folks ahead of me, you can be sure this is good news for me.

I'm going to take a risk today and give platelets. Blood products are in short supply all over due to the storms. I want to do my part with my God given gift of a huge vein and clean blood. I wish I were vaccinated, but it isn't going to happen soon if sit-on-their-butts "tourists" keep line jumping ahead of me. Yes, I am cranky.

As far as I know, this has not even been an issue in HI. We have a fairly rigid "schedule" of when and under what circumstance one becomes eligible for the vaccine. We did have a whole group who "decided" they were more important than the rest of us and were able to "line cut" but it was done "officially." The real issue we're having is in getting enough doses but that seems to be fairly common throughout the nation and world.

Good on you for keeping up with your blood products donations. I'm calling tomorrow for my 56 day schedule for whole blood donation. They love my blood because I lack a factor which makes me eligible to donate even to babies during in vitro surgeries. Who knew an old guy like me would still have something to offer - something no one can buy or take. It's precious yet free. What a concept though YMMV.

 

[Katsmeow]

I am due for my second Moderna shot on Tuesday. But -- the vaccination sites were shut down for 6 days due to the storm (I'm in DFW area of Texas). My friend was supposed to have her 2nd shot on the 13th but it was cancelled. She was rescheduled of Friday the 19th the first day they reopened. They told her they didn't expect anyone who would be due this week to be pushed back. That said, if we were to get ours on Tuesday we would probably have heard by today and we haven't. If we get pushed back a couple of days that is fine, but I don't want to have a major push back. I am so eager to get that second shot....

Edit: So 40 minutes after posting this DH and I both got notice that we are scheduled for Tuesday afternoon!

 

[ncbill]

In my county the School District and the Health Dept are working together with a plan for the health dept to come to the schools and vaccinate the teachers and staff next week. Any chance your spouse's school district is lining up vaccines?

Private school teacher.

School has a nurse but health department won't let them administer the vaccine since they have not rec'd formal training on how to reconstitute, etc.

Right now the school is hoping to be able to book a block of appointments...wherever, probably county health department...to accommodate most of their teachers in one fell swoop.

 

[cbo111]

I received my second Pfizer shot last Sunday. In another week, I plan to start going back in Costco again.

I will wear 2 masks and try my best to keep social distance inside the warehouse, so I do not bring virus back home to DW who is not 65 yet.

If your Costco is like ours, seniors 60+ are allowed in an hour early at 9:00am. I try to arrive about 9:10 after the small line of folks have entered. I find myself all alone on many isles, which is very comforting. Also, nobody in line at the checkout. Very safe, relatively speaking.

 

[travelover]

Got Pfizer #2 today at a local Safeway. I was the only one there for a shot - I literally walked in and walked out.

 

[Puravida1]

Politico have a European tracker with live data that shows when each country will reach 70% if they keep vaccinating at the same rate that they have been doing in the last 7 days.

https://www.politico.eu/article/coronavirus-vaccination-live-data-tracker/

Germany is 2023 and Italy is 2024. This is just mathematics. However I do think that when the US is done, the American factories are likely to supply Europe. So I think it will probably look better next year.

 

[pacergal]

frustrating system, trying to snag appt for DH. After multiple tries, a slot came up and he clicked on it, got to registration and system crashed. Now no appts available again.