Covid Vaccine Distribution

[Major Tom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by explanade A couple of them drove off in Teslas -- I went outside a couple of times while waiting.

Even people who drive Teslas are deserving of good healthcare

I got the J&J one-shot vaccine here in Oakland (SF East Bay), on Saturday. Developed a mild fever 12 hours later, which lasted for about 24 hours. As of this morning, I feel back to normal. My whole experience has been very positive. The Berkeley clinic of which I am a member, does a very good job of reaching out to, and communicating with it's patients. They texted me with the number to call, to set up an appointment with a local pop-up vaccination site. I called, and was able to set up an appointment for 2 days later. In contrast, I have a neighbor who is a senior with health issues. He is insured with Kaiser. They seem to have done nothing to help him get the vaccine. Over a month after he became eligible, he is still not quite sure how he is going to get his shot. He is not the savviest when it comes to using the internet. I know several seniors like this, who are not being helped by the health insurers they are signed up with, to get their COVID shots. Some folk really need help, and not all are getting it.

[tulak]

It’s interesting how appointment availability varies throughout the US. I would think that in my state (WA) it might be more difficult, but I’ve looked at appointment availability over the last few weeks and there are always appointments available. Sometimes you might have to drive a bit further or wait a few days, but I don’t see any scarcity of vaccines/appointments.

I have noticed that there appears to be more Moderna vs Pfizer over the last couple of weeks. And I don’t think J&J is readily available, even though I overheard they’ll have J&J tomorrow at the clinic I went to this morning.

[Leo1277]

I had earlier reported some problems scheduling our Pfizer second dose at Walgreens, and had to resort to a trick to get the right date:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leo1277 ... A word of caution: we asked for a round 2 Pfizer appointment exactly 3 weeks after the first Pfizer shot, and it claimed we can't get an appointment and will be eligible only one week later; so it seems it is programmed to wait 4 weeks also for Pfizer. Since I (like everyone else here) know this is incorrect, we tricked the system by claiming that we got the first shot 1 week earlier, and it could book us. It's strange and I don't like it, but I think under the circumstances what I did was appropriate. ...

Apparently I was not the only one with this trouble, as reported now in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/05/b...ree-weeks.html

Quote:

Walgreens Not Following U.S. Guidance on Pfizer Vaccine Spacing After complaints from customers and the C.D.C., the pharmacy chain will start scheduling doses three weeks apart. ... Walgreens has inoculated hundreds of thousands of Americans against Covid-19 this year using the vaccine developed by Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech. But the pharmacy chain has not been following guidance from federal health officials about the timing of second doses. People are supposed to get two doses, three weeks apart. Walgreens, however, separated them by four weeks because that made it faster and simpler for the company to schedule appointments. ... The company’s vaccine-scheduling system by default schedules all second doses four weeks after the first. Doses of Moderna’s vaccine, which Walgreens is also administering, are supposed to be spaced four weeks apart. Using the same gap for both vaccines was “the easiest way to stand up the process based on our capabilities at the time,” Dr. Kevin Ban, Walgreens’ chief medical officer, said in an interview. Now Walgreens is changing its system. Starting as soon as the end of the week, the pharmacy will automatically schedule people for Pfizer doses three weeks apart, Dr. Ban said. ... Experts said they were troubled. “It is not the role of a private, for-profit company to make public health decisions that should be determined by guidelines issued by a public health authority,” said Lawrence Gostin, a global health law professor at Georgetown University. Dima Qato, a pharmacist and associate professor at the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy, said she was concerned about how the public perceived inconsistent messages about spacing doses of the same vaccine. “As we’re trying to build trust in this pandemic, I think this may push us back,” Dr. Qato said.

So until this fix is implemented, you can use the same trick we used on the Walgreens site. I think this is overall quite disappointing and reflects poorly on Walgreens. Scheduling appointments properly is one of the most basic things a healthcare provider should be able to do.

[Calico]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leo1277 <snip>So until this fix is implemented, you can use the same trick we used on the Walgreens site. I think this is overall quite disappointing and reflects poorly on Walgreens. Scheduling appointments properly is one of the most basic things a healthcare provider should be able to do.

From the article:

"Walgreens has been administering the second dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine a week after federal guidelines say it is ideally delivered, but the chain will change its policy to come into line with the government's recommendations."

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/w...192951125.html

Problem solved.

[Leo1277]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calico From the article: "Walgreens has been administering the second dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine a week after federal guidelines say it is ideally delivered, but the chain will change its policy to come into line with the government's recommendations." https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/w...192951125.html Problem solved.

From the New York Times article, in the text I pasted:

Quote:

Starting as soon as the end of the week, the pharmacy will automatically schedule people for Pfizer doses three weeks apart, Dr. Ban said.

So not before the end of the week, and possibly later, and there are all those who got dose 1 in the last 4 weeks and are already incorrectly scheduled. Until it really works you can try the workaround.

[RobbieB]

Kaiser here has been top notch. As soon as your tier is available they email you that you can schedule your appointment. Fast and orderly when you arrive. Certificate when you leave.

I'm sure they will be spot on for boosters too.

[Major Tom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobbieB Kaiser here has been top notch. As soon as your tier is available they email you that you can schedule your appointment. Fast and orderly when you arrive. Certificate when you leave. I'm sure they will be spot on for boosters too.

That's good to know.

[RobbieB]

Maybe you should talk to your neighbor about checking email, setting texting up?

If he's not getting a stream of mail or texts from Kaiser something is wrong.

They are on me constantly;
You need a shingles shot
You need a pneumonia shot
You need a tetnus shot
Did you get your flu shot
You are now able to schedule your covid shot

If he's not getting this stream something is amiss.

[ivinsfan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leo1277 From the New York Times article, in the text I pasted: So not before the end of the week, and possibly later, and there are all those who got dose 1 in the last 4 weeks and are already incorrectly scheduled. Until it really works you can try the workaround.

You are trying to get people worked up over nothing here.

[Major Tom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobbieB Maybe you should talk to your neighbor about checking email, setting texting up? If he's not getting a stream of mail or texts from Kaiser something is wrong. They are on me constantly; You need a shingles shot You need a pneumonia shot You need a tetnus shot Did you get your flu shot You are now able to schedule your covid shot If he's not getting this stream something is amiss.

Will do. Thanks Robbie.

[GoBears]

Received my second Pfizer vaccine this morning at the John Muir Hospital in Concord. I completed my registration early on-line so my check in was only about 3 minutes. I was vaccinated, waited the allotted 15 minutes, and was out the door within 35 minutes after arriving. John Muir emailed my 24 year old son last week and told him he could book his appointment, which is now set for Wednesday. DW will get her second Moderna shot at a Contra Costa County drive through site in Brentwood on the 24th. Once everyone is fully vaccinated, I suspect we will celebrate with our first dine-in restaurant meal in over a year.

[Dtail]

My DGF and I received our 2nd shots, but can't find any openings for my brother yet.

[Amethyst]

Two local anecdotes (southeast Florida):

1) At the gym, overheard two men telling each other they'd gotten their vaccine. Second man said "And my kid got an appointment for the day after he called!" Judging by the dad, I assume the "kid" would be between 18 and 30.

2) An infectious-disease doctor, whom we saw for vaccines when we were traveling, sent an email to all patients saying to call for a Pfizer vaccine at her office. And here I thought, Pfizer storage requirements were too tough for regular doctor's offices?

[Amethyst]

Great! I was relieved to see that the sushi place, where we normally go for celebrations, is still in business. That's where we are headed, once I've had my 2 shots + 2 weeks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoBears Once everyone is fully vaccinated, I suspect we will celebrate with our first dine-in restaurant meal in over a year.

[Amethyst]

There seems to be some latitude, at least with Pfizer.
When we got our first Pfizer shots, the county health department told us they will schedule the 2nd one three weeks out.
But, that we are free to get our 2nd shot anywhere we wish, as long as it is no more than 7 weeks from the first shot.
I was surprised to learn we could wait that long (not that we'd want to! Gitter done!)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leo1277 From the New York Times article, in the text I pasted: So not before the end of the week, and possibly later, and there are all those who got dose 1 in the last 4 weeks and are already incorrectly scheduled. Until it really works you can try the workaround.

[disneysteve]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amethyst Two local anecdotes (southeast Florida): 1) At the gym, overheard two men telling each other they'd gotten their vaccine. Second man said "And my kid got an appointment for the day after he called!" Judging by the dad, I assume the "kid" would be between 18 and 30. 2) An infectious-disease doctor, whom we saw for vaccines when we were traveling, sent an email to all patients saying to call for a Pfizer vaccine at her office. And here I thought, Pfizer storage requirements were too tough for regular doctor's offices?

Regarding #1, I'm glad people are getting in. I have many friends and relatives in Florida and they really struggled to get appointments. I hope that's eased up.


Regarding #2, there are offices that have the low temp freezers needed to store the Pfizer vaccine. Being an ID practice, they may have decided it was worth getting one if they didn't already have it. I do think it's more likely that the J&J vaccine will be the one that finds its way into many doctors' offices.

[audreyh1]

I believe Pfizer has lifted some of the more onerous freezer conditions. For example, the vaccine is good up to one week under less stringent freezer conditions. CVS told me someone brings them dry ice every day.

Plenty of pharmacies are carrying Pfizer, so they clearly figured this particular puzzle out.

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by disneysteve Regarding #2, there are offices that have the low temp freezers needed to store the Pfizer vaccine. Being an ID practice, they may have decided it was worth getting one if they didn't already have it. I do think it's more likely that the J&J vaccine will be the one that finds its way into many doctors' offices.

I suspect the capability is more widespread than we thought. One of our local ice cream makers not only ships their product all over the country but will even sell you small quantities of dry ice, so they obviously have a good internal source of it.

[explanade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Major Tom Even people who drive Teslas are deserving of good healthcare I got the J&J one-shot vaccine here in Oakland (SF East Bay), on Saturday. Developed a mild fever 12 hours later, which lasted for about 24 hours. As of this morning, I feel back to normal. My whole experience has been very positive. The Berkeley clinic of which I am a member, does a very good job of reaching out to, and communicating with it's patients. They texted me with the number to call, to set up an appointment with a local pop-up vaccination site. I called, and was able to set up an appointment for 2 days later. In contrast, I have a neighbor who is a senior with health issues. He is insured with Kaiser. They seem to have done nothing to help him get the vaccine. Over a month after he became eligible, he is still not quite sure how he is going to get his shot. He is not the savviest when it comes to using the internet. I know several seniors like this, who are not being helped by the health insurers they are signed up with, to get their COVID shots. Some folk really need help, and not all are getting it.

Who said they didn't deserve it?

But do they deserve to jump the line?


I'm about 25 hours after my Pfizer first shot. Sore at the injection site. But it was worse last night.

No fever though maybe feeling a bit groggy at night.

Compared to Shingrix, maybe about the same arm pain at the worst point but it's gone down more quickly.

[Aerides]

Quote:

Originally Posted by explanade Who said they didn't deserve it? But do they deserve to jump the line?

I decided a while back I can either drive myself nuts sizing up "line-skippers", or just assume that many of them might have very real reasons that aren't obvious to me.

HC workers, Teachers, cancer patients, immuno-suppressed, any one of a dozen legit reasons to be ahead of me according to state guidelines. Might not agree with the order, but not my job to decide. My only job was to find my spot and slide right in and go when it was my turn. So I did.

At this point, for anyone under 65 at least, the priority order has meant a difference of only a matter of weeks.