Covid Vaccine Distribution

[iloveyoga]

I made an appointment for my DH today (65) for his first Moderna vaccine. So excited!! It is at a drive through clinic here in our city.

 

[Gearhead Jim]

Taking Second Pfizer Shot "Too" Soon?

DW and I got our first dose of Pfizer last week. They scheduled us for the second dose even before the needle went in for the first one.

That would be great, except that they scheduled our second dose 17 days after the first one, instead of 21 days. They said it provided some leeway in case the second dose is delayed. I've tried to change it but no luck so far, they don't return my calls.

After spending hours on the 'net researching, it appears that no one really knows the effect of taking that second shot 4 days early. The CDC says that up to 4 days early is still "valid", but doesn't even explain that word, and says people should not deliberately schedule in that early grace period. Various doctors say that a day or two early is fine, but more than that and it may start acting like you had one big dose instead of two spaced-apart doses.

There seem to be more doctors saying it's ok to be X days late rather than X days early.

I'll keep trying to reschedule the second dose, but does anyone have other advice?
Thanks.

 

[Alan]

Threads merged

 

[Nick12]

I have read about some savvy people called "vaccine hunters". They travel around going to vaccine centers to look for places that may have leftover shots at the end of the day. Some have been successful to get a shot / leftover vaccines don't go to waste.

 

[ivinsfan]

DW and I got our first dose of Pfizer last week. They scheduled us for the second dose even before the needle went in for the first one.

That would be great, except that they scheduled our second dose 17 days after the first one, instead of 21 days. They said it provided some leeway in case the second dose is delayed. I've tried to change it but no luck so far, they don't return my calls.

After spending hours on the 'net researching, it appears that no one really knows the effect of taking that second shot 4 days early. The CDC says that up to 4 days early is still "valid", but doesn't even explain that word, and says people should not deliberately schedule in that early grace period. Various doctors say that a day or two early is fine, but more than that and it may start acting like you had one big dose instead of two spaced-apart doses.

There seem to be more doctors saying it's ok to be X days late rather than X days early.

I'll keep trying to reschedule the second dose, but does anyone have other advice?
Thanks.

I think you are making something out of nothing and that you should quit tying up the phone lines. To me this is a sure sign of Covid overload which we are all suffering from. I'm 65 with a 72 yo DH and we have no sign of getting even our first dose. If you and your spouse both got done, count your blessings.

 

[ivinsfan]

I have read about some savvy people called "vaccine hunters". They travel around going to vaccine centers to look for places that may have leftover shots at the end of the day. Some have been successful to get a shot / leftover vaccines don't go to waste.

Savvy? I'm not going to wander around getting more Covid exposure on a random off chance.

 

[Chuckanut]

DW and I got our first dose of Pfizer last week. They scheduled us for the second dose even before the needle went in for the first one.

That would be great, except that they scheduled our second dose 17 days after the first one, instead of 21 days. They said it provided some leeway in case the second dose is delayed. I've tried to change it but no luck so far, they don't return my calls.

After spending hours on the 'net researching, it appears that no one really knows the effect of taking that second shot 4 days early. The CDC says that up to 4 days early is still "valid", but doesn't even explain that word, and says people should not deliberately schedule in that early grace period. Various doctors say that a day or two early is fine, but more than that and it may start acting like you had one big dose instead of two spaced-apart doses.

There seem to be more doctors saying it's ok to be X days late rather than X days early.

I'll keep trying to reschedule the second dose, but does anyone have other advice?
Thanks.

IMHO, you are doing fine. I think our own ongoing safety precautions are more significant that a few days early or late. I am reminded of a cartoon I saw years ago. An overweight couch potato is fretting over small amounts of pesticide on his apples, while gorging himself on large amounts of ice cream, candy, chips, etc.

It might be more important to not take any NSAID drugs for a day or two before the injection. There seems to be some evidence that they suppress the reaction that builds the immunity. After the injection they are fine. As one Dr. pointed out, when they did the tests (Pfizer and Moderna) the participants were allowed OTC pain relievers and nobody bothered to about it. Maybe it's a tempest in a teapot created by 'experts' trying to justify their existence.

https://www.healthline.com/health-n...e-data-on-pain-relievers-and-COVID-19-vaccine

The protocols for the late-stage clinical trials of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna-NIAID coronavirus vaccines didn’t prevent people from taking pain-relieving medications if they felt they needed it.
Even with that, those studies still showed that both vaccines have a high efficacy rate: 95 percentTrusted Source for Pfizer-BioNTech and 94.1 percentTrusted Source for Moderna-NIAID.

 

[sengsational]

That John Campbell guy who does those reviews of science journal articles said taking a fever reducer after your vaccination would likely reduce your body's immune response, making the vaccine slightly less effective (in theory). But since the trials didn't prevent people from taking these OTC pain remedies, and the trials showed such great efficacy, taking the remedies is probably not a big deal.

 

[audreyh1]

Same with moderate alcohol consumption. They didn’t tell patients not to consume any alcohol before and after, did they?

 

[braumeister]

Same with moderate alcohol consumption. They didn’t tell patients not to consume any alcohol before and after, did they?

IIRC the "abstain from alcohol" warning came from the Russian vaccine operation, and I suspect it related to the notoriously heavy Russian alcohol consumption. Most likely not an issue for moderate drinkers.

 

[audreyh1]

I think some argument was made in England and the US that alcohol consumption probably suppresses the immune system somewhat, so a few were floating recommendations to abstain say 3 days before and after the shot. But I realized that unless the US trial participants were instructed to do so, it didn’t matter.

 

[braumeister]

I think it's such a very slight effect that it's not worth worrying about. Even so, I abstained for three days after shot #1 and will do so again after #2. Since I generally only have a couple of beers a day, it's no big deal.

 

[Nick12]

Savvy? I'm not going to wander around getting more Covid exposure on a random off chance.

I give these go getters a lot of credit. Doses are not going to waste and more people are getting vaccinated.

 

[Gumby]

Connecticut is currently giving out vaccines at the rate of almost 17k per day. I have been thinking that we should have a system set up to auction off 100 of those shots per day to the highest bidder. We can use the proceeds to help deliver the vaccine to underserved communities in our state.

 

[MichaelB]

Connecticut is currently giving out vaccines at the rate of almost 17k per day. I have been thinking that we should have a system set up to auction off 100 of those shots per day to the highest bidder. We can use the proceeds to help deliver the vaccine to underserved communities in our state.

That’s creative, and a good idea.

 

[ivinsfan]

I give these go getters a lot of credit. Doses are not going to waste and more people are getting vaccinated.

I'm not hearing anything about overflow vaccines in this state..MN

 

[REWahoo]

DD#2 and SIL (both in their 40's) aren't hanging out at vaccine sites hoping for leftovers but they did get on a standby list at a clinic that gets a hundred doses of vaccine every few weeks. They will be called only if there are doses left at the end of the day and no qualified (1a or 1b) candidates can be contacted and get to the clinic prior to closing.

They don't think their odds are very good but live and work only a few minutes from the clinic, so decided it was worth a try.

 

[mpeirce]

Both of my parents got their shots. My DM made an appointment last month in south Florida and has had both doses. DF heard from a friend that there were probably extra doses today in his central FL county. He and his DGF hurried over and they got two of the four extra doses. And an appointment for the second dose (Pfizer).

Both of my parents are in their 80's.

 

[Nick12]

Both of my parents got their shots. My DM made an appointment last month in south Florida and has had both doses. DF heard from a friend that there were probably extra doses today in his central FL county. He and his DGF hurried over and they got two of the four extra doses. And an appointment for the second dose (Pfizer).

Both of my parents are in their 80's.

Great job!

 

[Gearhead Jim]

I think you are making something out of nothing and that you should quit tying up the phone lines. To me this is a sure sign of Covid overload which we are all suffering from. I'm 65 with a 72 yo DH and we have no sign of getting even our first dose. If you and your spouse both got done, count your blessings.

Several friends of mine had similar attitudes about other hazards. I attended too many funerals when I was younger. I've done lots of dangerous things in my life and was rather surprised when I passed 50 and was still alive. But part of my success in these adventures was being very careful about the details.

The problem with Covid right now is that we don't know nearly enough about the details of prevention and treatment. In a year or two we'll have a better idea about what's important and what isn't.

Today I stopped by the clinic, the receptionist was quite happy to reschedule us at the appropriate interval. In & out in less than 5 minutes. Since I've done all I can about that, now I relax and use my energy on other things.

 

[ABQ2015]

My brother and SIL in west Texas got their first vaccinations a week ago. They were eligible being age 69 and had tried for weeks to get an online appointment and had signed up for all the Public Health Department and pharmacy waiting lists. Then a friend who worked at a medical center called them out of the blue to say that 2/3 of their healthcare workers had declined the vaccine so there were extras and could they get there that afternoon and who else did they know that might be available. They also have an appointment for their second shot.

And so glad I did not spend Christmas with my brother and SIL. Half of their children and grandchildren and several of my SIL's relatives who visited them have had the COVID although it is not clear if they got it from their visit.

 

[gayl]

OMG thats a lot of people who came down with it. GS1 roommate tested positive but was asymptotic. GS1 got his 1st dose, I passed on it for now as I don't know anyone who has gotten sick. I hear about it on the news so I know it's real, I just don't know of anyone (other than GS1's roommate)

 

[stepford]

My brother and SIL in west Texas got their first vaccinations a week ago. They were eligible being age 69 and had tried for weeks to get an online appointment and had signed up for all the Public Health Department and pharmacy waiting lists. Then a friend who worked at a medical center called them out of the blue to say that 2/3 of their healthcare workers had declined the vaccine so there were extras and could they get there that afternoon and who else did they know that might be available. They also have an appointment for their second shot.

I'm glad for your brother, buy hate hearing this kind of thing. Another case where someone with "connections" got the shot while the ordinary channels available to the rest of us were fruitless. Sounds like a lot of us are going to be SOL for a while.

 

[ABQ2015]

I'm glad for your brother, buy hate hearing this kind of thing. Another case where someone with "connections" got the shot while the ordinary channels available to the rest of us were fruitless. Sounds like a lot of us are going to be SOL for a while.

I agree although I am pleased that the extra vaccines did not go to waste. It seems that medical facilities, knowing they can never estimate how many employees will decline, should have a standby list. It may have been understandable in December but not now.

 

[Koolau]

Just watching our governor on local news. He indicated we need 2 to 3 times as much vaccine as we are receiving. I won't be eligible for the vaccine until at least March 1 but I'm not holding my breath - well, when I go to the grocery, maybe I am. YMMV