Coronavirus in Massachusetts (Boston, Attleboro: Pakistan, how much, homes)

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Has anyone here gotten the vaccine or know someone who did?

Yes, I know 4 people who have gotten it. No issues. I’ll get it when the time comes, although will probably be early summer for me.

[bohemka]

We have a bunch of friends who work at hospitals, so we know many who have already received the vaccine. No issues. But they're all liberal hippies, so they were already comfortable trying experimental drugs the rest of us don't have access to.

[OutdoorLover]

Originally Posted by msRB311

No but typically it takes years to create vaccines. Not months

That's true. But, we didn't do things the usual way this time. Normally, it's not a race, and there was a general emphasis on speed with Covid-19 being such a great threat. Two big factors specifically that were different were:

• Phases of development, clinical trials, manufacturing and distribution were worked on in parallel, rather than strictly sequentially. Normally, you never do that as there is huge financial risk associated with funding downstream activities before you actually know they'll be needed - many projects fail along the way, so you normally wait until you can see the current phase will succeed before you engage in the next phase. The federal govt essentially underwrote that risk. This makes a big difference!
• mRNA vaccines (e.g. the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and the Moderna vaccine) are a novel approach that's been worked on for decades now. And it was just good fortunate that all of this effort was just paying off in practical projects for mRNA vaccines and mRNA therapeutics, when this Covid-19 challenge appeared. mRNA vaccines (and mRNA therapeutics, which are in R&D pipelines) are a streamlined, intrinsically faster approach to vaccine development and therapeutic development. The biotechnology/bioengineering that's needed for vaccine development is greatly simplified. This too makes a big difference!

I wouldn't say that either of the above changes to the conventional process have created any undue risk for patients.

I also know that clinical trial processes have also been revised during the pandemic, accelerating the use of new technologies that make the trial more time and money efficient. I don't know specifically what's been done along those lines for the Covid-19 vaccine trials, but these changes have been going on industry-wide in order to reduce the need for trial participants to travel and to come into clinics - difficult and risky endeavors during the pandemic. Again, there was already research into using internet-based doctor/patient interactions, remote monitoring of patients physiological responses and compliance, etc before the pandemic, but the pandemic has forced the adoption of these methods more quickly and broadly.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by bohemka

We have a bunch of friends who work at hospitals, so we know many who have already received the vaccine. No issues. But they're all liberal hippies, so they were already comfortable trying experimental drugs the rest of us don't have access to.

I’m Leary of this statement.

The low number of allergic reactions to the two mRNA vaccines has been surprisingly good news. My fiancée gets a daily email from the CDC where she reports vaccine symptoms. A couple of days with a sore arm. I’m not sure how many people are getting the daily status check to collect the data. My concern some months ago was that the vaccine approval would be politicized and we’d unleash an unsafe vaccine on the public. The deep state and many decades of public health process prevailed.

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by msRB311

A lot of Hispanic people and black men voted for trump.

If by ‘a lot’, you mean more than many pollsters anticipated.

These demographics still split heavily D and I would never consider a non-plurality equal to ‘a lot’.

[rach5]

I know one 88 year old in the UK who got their second shot (not sure how they managed to get a second shot given their new policy of waiting to give as many people as possible a first shot).

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by rach5

I know one 88 year old in the UK who got their second shot (not sure how they managed to get a second shot given their new policy of waiting to give as many people as possible a first shot).

I think you answered your own question. At 88, weeks count, my friend!

[cb2008]

I hope it is ok to start a new thread on vaccination apart from the general thread.
Are people getting the vaccines already? How do you feel?
How do we know when we are eligible and where to get them?
Are they divided by towns? Counties?

[mdovell]

My girlfriend is a teacher in CT and it sounds like she'll be offered it in the next few weeks. I also know someone I think that works in the medical field and he's already had it. Now when I say this I'm only saying the first dose it has to be 2x in a three week period.

I have no issues with it and will take it...but I'm not looking to skip in line. I take zinc, vitamin d and iron daily. I wear the mask, wash the hands and aren't going out nearly as much as so much is closed anyway. If taking it also means I get the ability to travel all the better. I recently received a quote for legal services to get Irish citizenship which would open up quite a bit more with a EU passport and help with employment options. Getting it now would be pointless but in another 12-18 months....

[redplum33]

Mass. Firefighters Union frustrated with COVID-19 vaccine process


"The Massachusetts’ Firefighters Union is slamming the state’s vaccination efforts, as more than 800 of them are battling COVID-19.

Attleboro Firefighters Local 848 President Paul Jacques said the members are wondering why they haven’t been vaccinated when firefighters respond 365 days a year to all different types of medical emergencies and more."



"Jacques said even though firefighters are in Phase 1, some are frustrated they haven’t received the vaccine yet, especially when they see it being offered to firefighters in neighboring states like Rhode Island and Maine.

“Our members are frustrated not being able to get the vaccine,” he said, “especially when we are seeing other states around New England getting the vaccine.”

The union said Wednesday, 802 firefighters in the state currently have COVID-19, with 650 more in quarantine from exposure."