Covid Vaccine Distribution

[harllee]

It's great that some States are moving along. My 95 year old mother is in Missouri, and Missouri does seem not to be up to speed. She lives independently in a rural Ozark county, and my brother just checked on her vaccine status. Here was the reply (1/14/21):

"YES, SHE WILL MEET THE CRITERIA FOR THE COVID VACCINATION. RIGHT NOW WE ARE NOT TAKING ANY APPOINTMENTS. WE ARE CURRENTLY WAITING ON VACCINE TO DO THE HEALTHCARE WORKERS IN OUR AREA. ONCE WE ARE PREPARED TO MOVE TO THE PHASE YOU ARE IN WE WILL PUT IT IN THE NEWSPAPER, ON THE RADIO STATIONS, AND ON THE ST. FRANCOIS COUNTY HEALTH CENTER WEBSITE, AS WELL AS, FACEBOOK . AT THAT TIME, WE WILL BEGIN TAKING APPOINTMENTS. "

The fact that they have not even started their health care workers is alarming, when compared to most other States. Also, I'm wondering if, like others have mentioned, 95 year olds will be at a disadvantage in their planned scheduling free-for-all. Obviously my brother will do it for her, but he's over 70 himself and not the most tech savvy person.

Could your mother/brother travel to an adjacent state where she could get an appointment for a vaccine appointment?

 

[Gumby]

Here in CT, we have moved on to 75+ people. About 5% of the state has been vaccinated. The limiting factor currently is the number of doses we receive weekly from the federal government. We are giving vaccinations as fast as we can get the vaccine.

 

[MuirWannabe]

CT is doing well. Texas, Florida, West Virginia and the dakotas are doing great.

It might be time to call out California. They are the lowest percentage of doses administered versus doses received of any state. According to the Bloomberg tracker.

 

[Cobra9777]

We all got the first Moderna shot today. We = myself, DW, DMIL, DS, and DD. We are all scheduled for the 2nd shot on Feb 11.

DD qualified under 1A as a home health care worker. She's a special-needs teacher by day, but she works weekends as a care provider for people with physical and mental impairment. The rest of us qualified under various criteria of 1B. Only DMIL is over 65. She's 86.

Last week, our county health dept installed some software that allows people to sign up online and answer several questions to see if they qualify. For those who qualify, the system uses answers to prioritize and schedule. It also sends email and text reminders.

We all signed up on Day 1 of the new system, and our county just happened to get a fairly large allocation of the vaccine this week, right after we signed up.

This was a large, drive-through operation. We never got out of the car. All workers had masks and face shields. There were several checkpoints to validate identity, fill-out paperwork, etc. Then the actual shot in a drive-through tent, followed by a 15 minute wait for adverse reactions. It was very efficient... maybe 30-35 minutes total, including the 15 minute wait at the end.

 

[explanade]

CT is doing well. Texas, Florida, West Virginia and the dakotas are doing great.

It might be time to call out California. They are the lowest percentage of doses administered versus doses received of any state. According to the Bloomberg tracker.

Yeah I'm looking around the state and county public health websites.

They have a LOT of documentation on their guidelines and policies.

Seems like they spent all this time writing up documentation rather than trying to roll out to as many people as possible.

 

[timo2]

CT is doing well. Texas, Florida, West Virginia and the dakotas are doing great.

It might be time to call out California. They are the lowest percentage of doses administered versus doses received of any state. According to the Bloomberg tracker.

The bloomberg tracker must have some lag. NM is about 67% of doses distributed but bloomberg shows NM as 49%. [edit: I noticed the issue. Bloomberg has NM getting about 200K of doses, NM in today's presentation said they have received 150K..}

 

[Chuckanut]

Here in Washington the online system is still not up and running. I guess we don't have enough computer brains here. Yea. Right.

Nobody is sure when they will open it up to older people (70+). We are still in the stage of vaccinating medical workers and people in various types of nursing homes.

 

[jollystomper]

Brother & SIL (doctors) received their 2nd covid shots this week. So far no issues.

 

[Calico]

Today NC expanded the pool of those eligible to receive the vaccine to anyone 65 years or older. They stressed over and over, both in the press briefing and on the website, that that does not mean there will be a shot for anyone who wants one - supply is still very limited. You can go to any vaccine location; you are not limited to your own county, if you are willing to drive.

I clicked through the online form a handful of times, trying to schedule an appointment, but each time I did the response was "we're sorry; no appointments available; please check back, etc"

A friend emailed me tonight that there will be a "mass vaccination" event this Sat and Sun (7 am - 7 pm) and anyone 65 or older can sign up online. She lives an hour from me, in an area I have never been to in my life. Bless her heart, she was looking out for me, but I have no intention of going to a "mass" gathering of any kind, including a vaccination event. If it goes like all the other ones I'm hearing about, they will run out of vaccine within an hour or two at most anyway, and then they will have a very irate crowd on their hands. Not my idea of a fun weekend excursion!

One of the vaccine locations in my area is a 20 minute drive from my house, and the other one is a 9 minute drive, and both are run by the UNC hospital system. That is where I have had all my medical care over the past 20 years, and I would feel more comfortable going to one of those locations. I don't have any reason to think I will have an adverse reaction, but if I did, I would prefer to be in the UNC system when it happens. I have been surprised by health issues in the past, so I'm not interested in being an hour away from home in an unfamiliar place if (god forbid) something went wrong. Also, I'm pretty lazy, and have no interest in scouting locations far and wide.

Everything I'm reading indicates that when the UNC sites have the vaccine available, it is run like a well-oiled machine. A few people at a time are allowed inside; you get your jab; and you wait 15 minutes afterwards to monitor for reactions. Sounds far preferable to a chaotic mass vaccination event to me. YMMV

I am astonished that my "turn" has arrived so quickly; I wasn't anticipating even having a chance to get the vaccine for several more months. I'm not going to make 200 phone calls, or sit and refresh the screen 500 times to try to get an appointment. I'm retired; I have more fun things to do!

I have bookmarked the website, and every couple of hours I click on it once to see if a miracle has occurred and appointments are once again available. One of these attempts will eventually be successful - I'm just not sure if it will be this week, or next week, or the week after that. I am patient.

 

[Montecfo]

Saddened that some states are so mismanaging the process that vaccines are having to get thrown out.

 

[JoeWras]

We need J&J and A-Z vaccines to be approved to open up this jam. There just isn't enough supply.

 

[Go-NoGo]

We need J&J and A-Z vaccines to be approved to open up this jam. There just isn't enough supply.

J&J and AZ need to complete the trials and submit the data to the FDA before they can be approved. They have not done that yet.

 

[MuirWannabe]

J&J and AZ need to complete the trials and submit the data to the FDA before they can be approved. They have not done that yet.

And I wonder what their efficacy will be. Hard to beat the 95% of Moderna and Phizer. If they are much less, I wonder if people will be resistant to getting them?

 

[JoeWras]

J&J and AZ need to complete the trials and submit the data to the FDA before they can be approved. They have not done that yet.

Not denying that. I know they are working the fastest they can. I wasn't saying some blanket approval should be given.

Indeed, they have to allow nature to take its course. You need a certain number of infections to pass phase III criteria. J&J are waiting to hit that number, which is why they haven't given a firm date as to when they ask for approval. Right now, they are saying "Probably late January 2021"

Poorly worded. Maybe I should have said: "Let's hope J&J and A-Z get to approval as fast as possible." The irony in that is the surge of infections should help.

 

[JoeWras]

And I wonder what their efficacy will be. Hard to beat the 95% of Moderna and Phizer. If they are much less, I wonder if people will be resistant to getting them?

Of course some people will only want top shelf liquor.

J&J's latest communication says: "Data demonstrated that, after a single vaccination, neutralizing antibodies against COVID-19 were detected in over 90 percent of study participants at Day 29 and 100 percent of participants aged 18-55 years at Day 57." This is not the same as the efficacy number that will come out of phase III data. Let's hope for the best.

https://www.jnj.com/johnson-johnson...-published-in-new-england-journal-of-medicine

 

[Go-NoGo]

And I wonder what their efficacy will be. Hard to beat the 95% of Moderna and Phizer. If they are much less, I wonder if people will be resistant to getting them?

J&J's vaccine is expected to come in at 90% for the single shot version. They are also investigating if 2 shots results in a higher efficacy.

AZ: from all the publicly available _published_ data, it appears to be around 70%

 

[MuirWannabe]

J&J's vaccine is expected to come in at 90% for the single shot version. They are also investigating if 2 shots results in a higher efficacy.



AZ: from all the publicly available _published_ data, it appears to be around 70%

Well, if that’s how it goes, then J&J sounds very close to the ones already out, which is great news. AZ not so much, and I’d guess people would try hard to avoid it.

 

[JoeWras]

Well, if that’s how it goes, then J&J sounds very close to the ones already out, which is great news. AZ not so much, and I’d guess people would try hard to avoid it.

I'm hoping J&J's numbers do come out good. There are so many advantages to it: one shot and refrigeration temperatures only.

Oh, and turns out I own quite a bit of their shares through Wellesley's #1 stock holding.

 

[REWahoo]

Frustrating phone call to our dr's office this morning.

Me: "My wife was in your office for an appointment a couple of weeks ago and was told you would put both she and I on your list to receive the Covid-19 vaccine. I'd like to confirm we are on the list"

Office: "Let me check...no sir, your names are not on the list. I can put you on it now."

Me: "That's really disappointing since being two weeks late getting our names on the list will reduce our chances of getting vaccinated the next time you get in some vaccine."

Office: "No sir, it won't. Dr. XXXX makes the determination of who we will call when we get in some vaccine, not when you get placed on the list."

Me: "OK, please put us on the list"

After getting DOB information and confirming phone # info, I asked if
she could give me a rough idea of how many people were on the list.

Office: "No sir, we don't give out that information."

Me: "Do you have any any idea when you will get more vaccine?"

Office: "No, but we hope it will be within the next 2-3 weeks."

Me: "One last thing - will you please reconfirm that both my wife and I are now on the list."

Office: "Yes sir, you are."

Me, thinking to myself: Sure we are...

Tomorrow at 8 am, phone lines open to take appointments for a mass vaccination next week in an adjoining county where they will give out 9,000 doses of Moderna vaccine. This is the same number of doses that were available this past week when they received 5.9 Million phone calls from folks trying to make an appointment.

What are the odds I'll get through...

 

[Boho]

I wonder if there's ANY vaccine that wouldn't work better with more than one shot. I bet not. And the intervals between shots are probably a little arbitrary.

 

[MichaelB]

Frustrating phone call to our dr's office this morning.
./.
What are the odds I'll get through...

Good luck. Late last year I assumed we’d have a fair chance at getting vaccinated by Feb, but now am hopeful to get it by mid year. The public authorities in my area haven’t given any sign they are prepared for high volume / large scale rollout.

A quote in the morning paper reflects my view

I’m willing to wait my turn, but I would like to have some feeling that I have a turn.

 

[ivinsfan]

My state MN makes me want to bang my head..they have literally endless priority groups, with sub groups in them. The result as anyone with a brain would expect..the doses used is at a robust 33%.

Of course the governor in his infinite wisdom blames the Feds "for not sending enough doses"..he must think we are stupid..big announment yesterday opened to over 65 if vaccine has been opened might be wasted. Thanks for that news flash...

 

[ivinsfan]

Frustrating phone call to our dr's office this morning.

Me: "My wife was in your office for an appointment a couple of weeks ago and was told you would put both she and I on your list to receive the Covid-19 vaccine. I'd like to confirm we are on the list"

Office: "Let me check...no sir, your names are not on the list. I can put you on it now."

Me: "That's really disappointing since being two weeks late getting our names on the list will reduce our chances of getting vaccinated the next time you get in some vaccine."

Office: "No sir, it won't. Dr. XXXX makes the determination of who we will call when we get in some vaccine, not when you get placed on the list."

Me: "OK, please put us on the list"

After getting DOB information and confirming phone # info, I asked if
she could give me a rough idea of how many people were on the list.

Office: "No sir, we don't give out that information."

Me: "Do you have any any idea when you will get more vaccine?"

Office: "No, but we hope it will be within the next 2-3 weeks."

Me: "One last thing - will you please reconfirm that both my wife and I are now on the list."

Office: "Yes sir, you are."

Me, thinking to myself: Sure we are...

Tomorrow at 8 am, phone lines open to take appointments for a mass vaccination next week in an adjoining county where they will give out 9,000 doses of Moderna vaccine. This is the same number of doses that were available this past week when they received 5.9 Million phone calls from folks trying to make an appointment.

What are the odds I'll get through...

Sounds like a monty phthon skit..too bad it's real. most of it isn't your doctor's fault either..my state MN prides itself on being so public health aware and efficient , so far they get an F from me...

We literally have one medical clinic for our town of 20K, no way people can funnel through that to get the vaccine.

 

[braumeister]

Success!!!
They just opened it up to the over 70 crowd here and I was able to snag appointments for both of us on Jan 26.

What a feeling of relief!

 

[Chuckanut]

Good luck. Late last year I assumed we’d have a fair chance at getting vaccinated by Feb, but now am hopeful to get it by mid year. The public authorities in my area haven’t given any sign they are prepared for high volume / large scale rollout.

A quote in the morning paper reflects my view

My Congressional representative and two doctors form a big regional med center (all already vaccinated) had a zoom info meeting. Lots of feel good stuff about how we should get the vaccine, it's safe, it's effective. Meanwhile, I watched the comment/question bar roll on and on with complaints that where and when to get the vaccine is still a mystery to the citizens. Alas, neither the rep or the docs had anything to say other than they will be providing the vaccine 'at some time in the future'.

Apparently, we we all must be mushrooms because we are kept in the dark and fed manure.

This is so very similar to life after the "Three weeks to crush the curve". Testing was a mess, nobody knew when businesses could reopen, wear a mask, masks are useless, etc. etc. etc.