Covid Vaccine Distribution

[PatrickA5]

They way it's shipped for the fizer one, is 570 doses per tray, my doc certainly cannot do that many in a week.
I doubt my doc office wants to dedicate some nurse assistant to giving shots, as they already limit the number of people in the waiting area for regular paying medical appts.

We need a drive though option, just drive up to the window, no paperwork (congress can pass a law) and get it like picking up a coffee, then park for 15 minutes.

I agree on the drive through option. It's the only way you can do a bunch of people quick. One of the TV doctors felt the only way to get it done in large metro areas was to find the biggest parking lots in an area and do tens of thousands a day.

My PCP is part of a large hospital chain and they've already said they won't be giving shots in the office. They wouldn't have time to see patients for other reasons if they had to spend their time giving shots.

 

[Freedom56]

They way it's shipped for the fizer one, is 570 doses per tray, my doc certainly cannot do that many in a week.
I doubt my doc office wants to dedicate some nurse assistant to giving shots, as they already limit the number of people in the waiting area for regular paying medical appts.

We need a drive though option, just drive up to the window, no paperwork (congress can pass a law) and get it like picking up a coffee, then park for 15 minutes.

There is no need to set up a special appointment. Unless you are a healthcare professional or essential worker, you should just get your vaccine with your annual physical or next doctor visit. Even with the vaccine you still have to wear masks and regular PCR testing if you are a front line healthcare worker.

 

[Midpack]

I agree on the drive through option. It's the only way you can do a bunch of people quick. One of the TV doctors felt the only way to get it done in large metro areas was to find the biggest parking lots in an area and do tens of thousands a day.

My PCP is part of a large hospital chain and they've already said they won't be giving shots in the office. They wouldn't have time to see patients for other reasons if they had to spend their time giving shots.

Who pays for it, and where do all the shot givers come from?

 

[BarbWire]

Yes, not everyone can be first, nor should be. The people in group 1 deserve to be and should be first. What I have a problem with is ...... college students being in front of us. .... For college students, they had to identify this group because the idiots won't stop having parties and going to bars without masks.

I wear a mask everywhere, wash my hands, don't eat in restaurants, don't go to bars, did not travel during the holidays, did not have a big family get-together during the holidays, and did everything I was asked to do for the good of society....

I have already figured out how to bump us up one group, and will think hard for how to get us up another. I'll not consider committing a crime, though.

At age 63, I agree: putting people 18-29 ahead of the 30-64 group seems to be rewarding them for poor behaviour -- they're not all in classrooms and dorms. Yet with this system they're ahead of the middle-aged person who rides public transportation to work every day.

My logistical question is how the claim of "pre-existing condition" is verified. Is the pharmacist at CVS supposed to verify the claim of a 57 year old who says s/he has asthma? Are people required to have an Rx from their physician to verify this (and what happens to folks who don't have a regular physician)?

There was a suggestion upthread of first do the priority group (health care workers, etc), and then open up vaccination by age group in two week increments: 80+, 70+, 60+ ... Pharmacies can certainly verify age. Keep it simple for the jabbers.

Sort of like boarding a plane used to be: "rows 25 and higher... rows 20 and higher ...."

@camfused: how are you going to bump up one group? Enquiring minds want to know ...

 

[Gumby]

It's not perfect, but I think we're just going to have to operate on the honor system as far as pre-existing conditions. I don't care if people cut the line, so long as the most people are vaccinated in the shortest time.

 

[harllee]

The CVS in my area has been advertising for a month or so to hire medical people who can give the vaccines. CVS is already going to the nursing homes and giving shots there. From what I am hearing the shots will not be administered in doctors offices --it will be at pharmacies, health departments or mass vaccination sites.

 

[Midpack]

It's not perfect, but I think we're just going to have to operate on the honor system as far as pre-existing conditions. I don't care if people cut the line, so long as the most people are vaccinated in the shortest time.

+1. I can't think of a practical system that would be better than CVS & Walgreens doing most of the vaccinations, with hospitals, clinics and other established health care facilities and systems also pitching in where practical. Though imperfect, an honor system will get more people vaccinated faster than some cumbersome admin system. The way my state has laid out who's eligible in 5 groups would be relatively easy for pharmacies to administer, though I am not kidding myself in thinking they'd get in the middle of enforcing those who will inevitably "cut in line" with any practical system. It's (too) easy to throw out there - but starting up another system from scratch, with so far no funding from Congress, seems unlikely.

 

[PatrickA5]

Who pays for it, and where do all the shot givers come from?

This is one time that I think the Federal Government (taxes) should be involved. I think the Feds "might" have done a decent job of helping get the vaccine developed, produced and distributed, but leaving it up to 50 states and thousands of jurisdictions to come up with plans of actually giving the shots was a major shortcoming. To answer your question, my taxes should be used to pay for it and pay the shot givers.

Obviously, many will disagree with me.

 

[mpeirce]

Frankly I'm rather impressed at how well the vaccine rollout is going. Remember this is a government effort we're talking about. The same people who run the BMV and the post office. Not model's off efficiency.

They'll eventually get it done, but it'll take some time.

I'm thankful they are subcontracting so much of it out to organizations like the pharmacy companies to get this done. They already have experience doing this (it's where may of us get our flu shots each year) and have working systems and facilities already in place.

 

[Rustic23]

Local grocery store pharmacy has the vaccine. We have an appointment of the 11th to get ours. Hoping for the best.

 

[PatrickA5]

Local grocery store pharmacy has the vaccine. We have an appointment of the 11th to get ours. Hoping for the best.

That's amazing!

 

[gerntz]

That may be a bit aggressive. DW and I get our flu shots at the CVS and it takes 10 minutes for us to both get out of there. There's paperwork. Then the pharmacist has to check that we have the correct type, so the syringe prep takes time. Then there is the change of gloves.

With COVID, you can be sure the paperwork won't be trivial. Perhaps part of the money from the newly signed relief bill will be used to hire paper pushers to help out. But who is going to want that job?

There's also the 15 minute stand down to wait for reactions. Is there enough room to socially distance the receivers, while they can be monitored? Who monitors?

Finally, there is mental and physical strain. We can't expect people to be machines.

It all seems so simple, but it gets so damn complicated.

The 2 minutes I'm speaking of is from the time the receiver of the shot is approved & presents self to injector, gets shot, & injector briefly checks for bleeding. That's all the injector needs to do while the shotees separately fill out the paperwork, the paperwork is reviewed & approved, and someone watches them for 15 minutes. So maybe 3 additional non-injectors for each injector, but they don't add to the injector's work effort even though elapsed time receiver is there might be 25-30 minutes. .

 

[Midpack]

This is one time that I think the Federal Government (taxes) should be involved. I think the Feds "might" have done a decent job of helping get the vaccine developed, produced and distributed, but leaving it up to 50 states and thousands of jurisdictions to come up with plans of actually giving the shots was a major shortcoming. To answer your question, my taxes should be used to pay for it and pay the shot givers.

Obviously, many will disagree with me.

Agree or disagree, the Fed gov't hasn't been quick about much lately, and we need to get vaccinations going NOW/ASAP. Just think we're better off using the resources that are in place under the circumstances.

 

[gerntz]

This is one time that I think the Federal Government (taxes) should be involved. I think the Feds "might" have done a decent job of helping get the vaccine developed, produced and distributed, but leaving it up to 50 states and thousands of jurisdictions to come up with plans of actually giving the shots was a major shortcoming. To answer your question, my taxes should be used to pay for it and pay the shot givers.

Obviously, many will disagree with me.

Yes, I'm one of those many.

Regardless of who pays, I don't see how the Fed Gov is close enough to the actual shot-giving to procure shooters & set up locations to do so unless you're going to send everyone to a handful of arenas/etc. per million population. And that does nothing for more rural settings. IMO, if the Feds were doing this we'd be lucky to have even started shots. Look how long it takes them to set for disaster relief in one city.

 

[gerntz]

The CVS in my area has been advertising for a month or so to hire medical people who can give the vaccines. CVS is already going to the nursing homes and giving shots there. From what I am hearing the shots will not be administered in doctors offices --it will be at pharmacies, health departments or mass vaccination sites.

Makes total sense since lots of shots are hundreds of doses & doctors have patients to attend to.

 

[gerntz]

Frankly I'm rather impressed at how well the vaccine rollout is going. Remember this is a government effort we're talking about. The same people who run the BMV and the post office. Not model's off efficiency.

Last Oct. I stood in line for an hour to get my auto license sticker renewed. Yes, I could have been smarter & done it by mail. But I thought, just how bad could it be?

 

[JoeWras]

The 2 minutes I'm speaking of is from the time the receiver of the shot is approved & presents self to injector, gets shot, & injector briefly checks for bleeding. That's all the injector needs to do while the shotees separately fill out the paperwork, the paperwork is reviewed & approved, and someone watches them for 15 minutes. So maybe 3 additional non-injectors for each injector, but they don't add to the injector's work effort even though elapsed time receiver is there might be 25-30 minutes. .

Sounds like a sh!t job. Just a machine. Carpel tunnel anyone? Mental fatigue, more chances for accidental needle sticks. This injector better get serious combat pay.

 

[camfused]

@camfused: how are you going to bump up one group? Enquiring minds want to know ...

In my state, NC, we are in group 4. Group 3 are "College and university students". I cannot currently find further definition of what that means, so I figure easy...just sign up for a class, and get an id and .edu email.

DD is probably soon about to attend an online, full-time, masters degree program, so I am hoping this too will allow her to get in group 3.

 

[Midpack]

In my state, NC, we are in group 4. Group 3 are "College and university students". I cannot currently find further definition of what that means, so I figure easy...just sign up for a class, and get an id and .edu email.

DD is probably soon about to attend an online, full-time, masters degree program, so I am hoping this too will allow her to get in group 3.

I think the states are going to have to go with an honor system, how would "we" actually put an ironclad system in place in a reasonable period of time with the resources already mostly in place? The state has further defined 1a, 1b and 2, they still have time to further define 3 and 4. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good?

Phase 3: Students

• College and university students
• K-12 students age 16 and over. Younger children will only be vaccinated when the vaccine is approved for them.

 

[Chuckanut]

At age 63, I agree: putting people 18-29 ahead of the 30-64 group seems to be rewarding them for poor behaviour --

I have heard similar arguments. The 20-39 year olds are the super spreaders so vaccinate them first. The problem with this is that the most vulnerable people become dependent on the least vulnerable for their protection. And the least vulnerable are those who are least likely to get the vaccine. So, unless we are going to force vaccine into these young folks (which I certainly do not advocate), it is very risky.

And..... as the experts continue to tell us, there is no guarantee that the vaccine will keep vaccinated people from spreading the disease. How did they forget this gem of information?

 

[youbet]

To answer your question, my taxes should be used to pay for it and pay the shot givers.

Obviously, many will disagree with me.

My disagreement is only that I think this is already happening. I expect to receive my shot at no charge for either the vaccine or the injection process and I don't think the providers will be doing it for free. Our taxes are paying.

 

[timo2]

15 minutes seems reasonable to me, especially for a vaccine that will in time allow us to resume many activities that were lost in 2020. How long should it take?
[/U]

I'm pondering on the breadth of activities that can be resumed until the question of "can vaccinated people spread the virus" is answered definitely. We all want the vaccine to avoid getting sick ourselves and staying out the hospital. I would love to eat in a restaurant again, but I don't want to make other people sick just because I have a 90% chance of not getting sick after being vaccinated.

 

[youbet]

, there is no guarantee that the vaccine will keep vaccinated people from spreading the disease.

There ya go.......

 

[youbet]

I'm pondering on the breadth of activities that can be resumed until the question of "can vaccinated people spread the virus" is answered definitely. We all want the vaccine to avoid getting sick ourselves and staying out the hospital. I would love to eat in a restaurant again, but I don't want to make other people sick just because I have a 90% chance of not getting sick after being vaccinated.

Yep. "Opening things up" should depend on infection rates, not on percent of people vaccinated.

 

[PatrickA5]

Yes, I'm one of those many.

Regardless of who pays, I don't see how the Fed Gov is close enough to the actual shot-giving to procure shooters & set up locations to do so unless you're going to send everyone to a handful of arenas/etc. per million population. And that does nothing for more rural settings. IMO, if the Feds were doing this we'd be lucky to have even started shots. Look how long it takes them to set for disaster relief in one city.

You're probably right about the Fed government not being able to actually set up the shots. But, during this world-wide pandemic, I think the Federal Government should have helped plan and already funneled money to the states to help get shots in arms. My state is already whining about not having the resources and money necessary to actually give the shots.

I like the arena idea for large metro areas. Or, better yet forget the Arena and use the parking lot for a drive thru. How about we pay Mcdonalds to stop making burgers and use the drive thru for "happy shots".