Covid Vaccine Distribution

[Time2]

Yesterday my wife got notice that a local Healthcare Organization would start giving out appointments for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. She registered yesterday and and got her shot at 9am this morning.
On the shot card is the Manufacturer and lot number, hers said Janssen, I thought oh great, someone doesn't know how to spell Johnson. And I'm wondering if this is going to cause a problem getting on an International flight. It turns out that is the name of the Manufacturer.

 

[jollystomper]

Our age group just became eligible in our state today. While I was out golfing DW called the local county number to pre-register and was told "we have openings today if you want" . So we are both off to get vaccinated in a couple of hours.

 

[ivinsfan]

Yesterday my wife got notice that a local Healthcare Organization would start giving out appointments for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. She registered yesterday and and got her shot at 9am this morning.
On the shot card is the Manufacturer and lot number, hers said Janssen, I thought oh great, someone doesn't know how to spell Johnson. And I'm wondering if this is going to cause a problem getting on an International flight. It turns out that is the name of the Manufacturer.

Goggle this and then you might want to delete that last paragraph..

 

[audreyh1]

Texas opening COVID-19 vaccine appointments to all adults starting March 29.

Oh man, not enough time to get my appointment!

 

[audreyh1]

Looks like Dr. Scott is going to be pretty close to being correct in his prediction a few months ago that by April the authorities will be begging for people to get vaccinated.

For sure, some areas will still have waits. But the logjam is starting to clear in many places.

It won't be long before we'll be hearing a lot on the news about begging the reluctant to get vaccinated.

Our governor will be speaking today on an update. I'm wondering if he doesn't move up the group availability timeline which is still pretty restrictive, although some counties are rebelling and opening to everyone.

Not in my part of Texas. Online demand for vaccine appointments is huge.

 

[simple girl]

Has anybody here decided to take the second shot at a different place from the first, which is where it is by default scheduled? My first shot was far away because I just wanted to get it over with, but I wouldn't mind if I don't have make that same trip again. Of course I'd cancel the now scheduled second shot with ample notice.

Yes, my friend was able to do this. Walgreens offers an option for second shot only, and CVS does as well.

 

[Involuntary Retiree]

This morning, our state health department (Oklahoma) announced that, beginning 3/29, eligibility for the covid vaccination will be opened up to everyone in Phase 4, which is comprised of pretty much everyone left over after the first 3 phases are completed.

 

[JoeWras]

Demand is still huge here in my county. Hard to get an appointment. The available trend starts somewhere. It has started in some local areas. The open wave isn't here yet, but it is coming.

 

[travelover]

DW got her first shot yesterday. She didn't watch them do it, but when she got home she had a bloody little round bandage and what appeared to be a circle of holes in her skin under the bandage. Did she get a microchip?

 

[Time2]

Goggle this and then you might want to delete that last paragraph..

Do you mean this;
On the shot card is the Manufacturer and lot number, hers said Janssen, I thought oh great, someone doesn't know how to spell Johnson. And I'm wondering if this is going to cause a problem getting on an International flight. It turns out that is the name of the Manufacturer.

I bolded the part you probably missed.
So stopdancing.

 

[SecondCor521]

Thanks to the people on this thread who suggested vaccinespotter.org, and realizing that slots open up about six days ahead of time in my area, and having to get up early this morning for something else, I was able to schedule my first Pfizer shot for Monday morning at 8am about five miles from my house. And there were probably a dozen appointments still available. Sort of anticlimactic, actually, but that's fine with me.

The only glitch is that officially I don't become eligible until Monday - our state is opening up to new groups every Monday - so I had to say I was over 55. I'm mulling over just keeping the slot, or stopping by the location and explaining the situation and seeing if what I did was OK. My state announced the schedule of eligibility weeks ago and has been following it, so it *should* be OK. But it might not. Hmm.

ETA: Stopped by and they said it was fine.

 

[ivinsfan]

Do you mean this;
On the shot card is the Manufacturer and lot number, hers said Janssen, I thought oh great, someone doesn't know how to spell Johnson. And I'm wondering if this is going to cause a problem getting on an International flight. It turns out that is the name of the Manufacturer.

I bolded the part you probably missed.
So stopdancing.

Your not the first one to be confused and you won't be the last

 

[iloveyoga]

Thanks to the people on this thread who suggested vaccinespotter.org, and realizing that slots open up about six days ahead of time in my area, and having to get up early this morning for something else, I was able to schedule my first Pfizer shot for Monday morning at 8am about five miles from my house. And there were probably a dozen appointments still available. Sort of anticlimactic, actually, but that's fine with me.

The only glitch is that officially I don't become eligible until Monday - our state is opening up to new groups every Monday - so I had to say I was over 55. I'm mulling over just keeping the slot, or stopping by the location and explaining the situation and seeing if what I did was OK. My state announced the schedule of eligibility weeks ago and has been following it, so it *should* be OK. But it might not. Hmm.

In Iowa this is an acceptable way to schedule....

 

[simple girl]

Thanks to the people on this thread who suggested vaccinespotter.org, and realizing that slots open up about six days ahead of time in my area, and having to get up early this morning for something else, I was able to schedule my first Pfizer shot for Monday morning at 8am about five miles from my house. And there were probably a dozen appointments still available. Sort of anticlimactic, actually, but that's fine with me.

The only glitch is that officially I don't become eligible until Monday - our state is opening up to new groups every Monday - so I had to say I was over 55. I'm mulling over just keeping the slot, or stopping by the location and explaining the situation and seeing if what I did was OK. My state announced the schedule of eligibility weeks ago and has been following it, so it *should* be OK. But it might not. Hmm.

So glad the vaccinespotter.org helped you!

Several people I know have said they are the proper age eligibility when scheduling, knowing they aren't yet, but will actually be the correct age by the time of their appointment. This is actually an excellent back-door approach to getting an appointment before the floodgates of a new slew of people eligible for the vaccine start trying to book. Good job! You don't have to explain anything, in my experience - my friends have not had any problems. You will be legally eligible.

If by some chance the age eligibility doesn't change as expected, just cancel the appointment.

 

[Amethyst]

I agree. I found out, quite by accident (nothing written anywhere) that because I turn 65 the end of this year, I could have gotten away with checking the "over 65" block, and gotten my shots when my husband did I'm way too honest, and not nearly cunning enough, sometimes.

So glad the vaccinespotter.org helped you!

Several people I know have said they are the proper age eligibility when scheduling, knowing they aren't yet, but will actually be the correct age by the time of their appointment. This is actually an excellent back-door approach to getting an appointment before the floodgates of a new slew of people eligible for the vaccine start trying to book. Good job! You don't have to explain anything, in my experience - my friends have not had any problems. You will be legally eligible.

If by some chance the age eligibility doesn't change as expected, just cancel the appointment.

 

[athena53]

You watch. We'll all find out that those who waited, will be rewarded with cash.

I would have paid gladly to get vaccinated earlier if there had been a legitimate way to do it. Payments from those of us wanting to get in early might have balanced out cash payments to the reluctant!

Well, maybe the offer of a free Krispy Kreme every day through the rest of the year to the vaccinated will be an incentive.

 

[chicamuxen]

Today in Maryland, we just opened up for 60 and over. I was able to get a appointment for Friday morning! Crazy, i never thought i would have my first shot in March!

 

[Chuckanut]

Here in Washington state we have gone to Phase 3. Among other things restaurants are open to 50% capacity indoors, large venue spectator sports events at 25% capacity, high contact sports are now OK given precautions, and gyms and movie theaters can also open at 50% with up to a max of 400 people in an indoor space.

We seem to be administering about 60,000 shots per day, which currently works out to about 25,000 per day being fully vaccinated. As more people get shot #2 or the now very limited JnJ vaccine, the fully vaccinated number is expected to climb.

 

[Leo1277]

DW got her first shot yesterday. She didn't watch them do it, but when she got home she had a bloody little round bandage and what appeared to be a circle of holes in her skin under the bandage. Did she get a microchip?

Haha, microchip... she will be remote controlled by Beijing from now on, watch out! No, seriously speaking, I noticed this and asked the pharmacist giving the injection. This unusual round bandage that looks like it's made of concentric circles, and almost looks like the logo of the Target chain, serves two purposes.

The first is that it actually IS a target. The Covid vaccine needs to be given deep into the muscle instead of subcutaneously like other vaccines, from what I was told this is because the active ingredient is weaker than in other vaccines, and from within the muscle it is more readily transferred to the blood stream and hence can reach everywhere. For this they actually insert the entire length of the needle (looked like two inches, yuck), and they do it perpendicular to the skin surface as opposed to at a 45 degree angle like with other vaccines. But in this case, one has to make sure that it's really in an area of abundant muscle, and doesn't hit bone or the shoulder joint. This is a serious complication from vaccination, I never knew about it until DW who has a very slender build got a frozen shoulder, three months of pain, and the need for physical therapy from it a few years back. To do this reliably, the nurse first touches around to clearly identify the muscle, and then puts this little sticker where it's safest to inject so she doesn't forget in between.

The second reason is that the target-shaped sticker has the band aid part already in it, as the center of the target patch has some neat self-sealing material through which the needle is inserted. When blood seeps out after the shot, there's no need to clean it off and then place a band aid, the blood is automatically caught under the "target".

So it's all somewhat high tech and pretty cool.

 

[Leo1277]

Thanks to the people on this thread who suggested vaccinespotter.org, and realizing that slots open up about six days ahead of time in my area, and having to get up early this morning for something else, I was able to schedule my first Pfizer shot for Monday morning at 8am about five miles from my house. And there were probably a dozen appointments still available. Sort of anticlimactic, actually, but that's fine with me.

The only glitch is that officially I don't become eligible until Monday - our state is opening up to new groups every Monday - so I had to say I was over 55. I'm mulling over just keeping the slot, or stopping by the location and explaining the situation and seeing if what I did was OK. My state announced the schedule of eligibility weeks ago and has been following it, so it *should* be OK. But it might not. Hmm.

Isn't vaccinespotter.org great? - thanks "simple girl" for introducing it here! I think what you did is quite OK, when you get to the appointment they will have you fill out paperwork, and that is when the actual verification is done. They look at the birthday carefully, and when my pharmacist read it, she stumbled for several seconds. Then she smiled and said "Oh! Happy Birthday!", and I smiled at her and said: "Thanks, this is one of my presents! "

 

[Leo1277]

...The only glitch is that officially I don't become eligible until Monday - our state is opening up to new groups every Monday...

Some providers, including CVS, take your full information on the website before they even schedule you, and I had the opposite problem. I was clearly eligible, but they apparently hadn't updated their criteria yet and kept denying me a slot. I tried it about three times at different CVS stores, but same result each time (What do they say about trying the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result...) Oh well.

 

[SecondCor521]

If by some chance the age eligibility doesn't change as expected, just cancel the appointment.

Yeah, I thought of that, but I didn't want to take a slot that I wasn't going to use. I have sympathy for the system that is trying to be efficient, and would rather minimize any contribution I might have to it being less efficient - however small that contribution may be.

Like I mentioned, our state has preannounced the eligibility dates for weeks now, and they haven't changed them yet, and we're only six days out, so I think it will be fine.

 

[SecondCor521]

Some providers, including CVS, take your full information on the website before they even schedule you, and I had the opposite problem. I was clearly eligible, but they apparently hadn't updated their criteria yet and kept denying me a slot. I tried it about three times at different CVS stores, but same result each time (What do they say about trying the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result...) Oh well.

Yeah, that's why I lied to the website and said I am 55. If I were 55, I'd be eligible today.

It does seem that most websites are not addressing the complexity of this kind of case - where someone will be eligible then but isn't now. I can also imagine that there is someone who gets to decide when to modify the code to enable the next eligibility subgroup. Do they do it on Monday? Sunday evening? Friday the week before? I dunno.

I can empathize, having done programming myself in the past. Which is why I also am familiar with workarounds

 

[Aerides]

Yeah, I thought of that, but I didn't want to take a slot that I wasn't going to use. I have sympathy for the system that is trying to be efficient, and would rather minimize any contribution I might have to it being less efficient - however small that contribution may be.

I was in your position last weekend - the Gov announced 50+ on friday afternoon, and there were tons of green dots on the app, but the providers were still asking me to attest to being 60+ to book. I didn't want to fudge it, and risk getting turned away (you have to put in your birthdate to fully sign up so it's more than just one age entry before you get confirmed).

By early Sunday morning, Walgreens was updated, and I snagged our appointments. They are mostly back to fully booked since later sunday, but still a few green dots pop up throughout the day in driving distance.

 

[Leo1277]

I agree. I found out, quite by accident (nothing written anywhere) that because I turn 65 the end of this year, I could have gotten away with checking the "over 65" block, and gotten my shots when my husband did I'm way too honest, and not nearly cunning enough, sometimes.

My mom used to explain to me that being cunning can lead to short term superficial gain, while being honest is the path to long term and meaningful gain. This little principle has always helped me with small speed bumps such as this, no need trying to become more cunning.