ivinsfan
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2007
- Messages
- 9,969
Great news,anethum...
"too pointed" ? What does that mean?Anethum,
Perhaps there are docs on this thread who can comment.
While I am not a statistician, nor mathematician, your conclusion may be a bit, well, too pointed.
However, it’s your choice!
We got our second shots this week. Shortages must be local, but we had to call and drive around to find our first shots in Jan, and again this past week. We didn't have to drive too far, but it took 3-6 pharmacies to find each time.Just got my second shot this morning at a Meijer store in the Midwest. Chatted with the pharmacist a bit--he said they've had the vaccine all along and couldn't understand all of the reports of shortages.
Didn't have much of a reaction after receiving the first shot in December--guess I'll see how things go with this one.
Went to the pharmacy to pick up a med and saw a sign saying they had the Shingrx vaccine in stock. I already have had both shots, but I asked about it anyway and they said they had "plenty." This was yesterday (Wednesday). So, if anyone is interested, try: Pavilions (Von's) in West Hollywood.
I am in Woodland Hills, so a little far. I asked few CVS, Costco, Ride Aid around here. None has available and no one has waiting list either. Just said keep calling once a week.
You might want to consider (if you already haven't) calling the grocery stores (with pharmacies) in your area to see if they have the vaccine.
If you decide to drive to West Hollywood, it would be a good idea to call first and make sure they have "plenty" of the vaccine in stock.
Anyhow, your post could be an inspiration for a poll: HOW FAR (EITHER IN TIME OR MILES) WOULD YOU DRIVE TO GET A SHINGRX SHOT?
Finally, a Walgreens pharmacy has one in stock. 4 miles away. Not bad. I quickly went there and got the shot. I will now wait 2 months for the 2nd dose.
"too pointed" ? What does that mean?
I realized after my previous post that although the Shingrix vaccine was approved in October, 2017, it didn't become available for several months. As far as I could determine, it became available in early 2018. Therefore, my search in the VAERS database shouldn't have included the final months of 2017. I did a new search for the period of 1/2018 - 3/2019 for deafness-related "Adverse Events" reported for all vaccines administered in the US. There were 50 reported deafness events, of which 19 were reported to have occurred after the Shingrix shot. That's 38% of all reported cases.
I also viewed and read the report from ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) when they were discussing and debating the Shingrix vaccine recommendations in October, 2017. There, I finally found some information regarding a single dosage of the Shingrix vaccine. For reasons which were never explained, Shingrix was not tested with a single dose. However, the ACIP meeting notes had a table for VE (Vaccine Effectiveness) for Shingrix, by age brackets. The table states that a single dose of Shingrix has a VE of 85%-95% in the 1st year for people between 50-69. For those people 70+, the VE is 64%-74% in the 1st year. The source for these values is listed in the table as "Unpublished post hoc analysis by GSK from ZOE 50/70". (GSK is GlaxoSmithKline)
It was stated at the ACIP meeting that both the high Shingrix VE as well as the high percentage (17%) of "grade 3" reactions (serious side effects) to the vaccine are believed to be attributed to the new adjuvant used in the Shingrix vaccine.
The vast majority of people won't have severe reactions to the Shingrix vaccine. However, given my personal experience with the 1st Shingrix shot, I would be a damn fool to risk getting the 2nd.