Coronavirus in Massachusetts (convert, insurance, home)

[wolfgang239]

Phase 2 slated to begin next week. They've modified the criteria from what I see. I never agreed with the 65+ folks being behind essential workers but they've revised it to prioritize older folks.

[yesmaybe]

Hospitalizations have dipped under 2000 for the first time in a month.

[cb2008]

Have you or someone related to you had the vaccine? How did it go? Did they have to register on line? Was the place close by? How long a wait? Anyone ready for the second shot?
What were the side efects? How long did they last?
We are slotted for the second group, seniors. The details of where, when, how are all not available.

[Dadschum]

I am actually scheduled for the first shot this Wednesday. I have 2+ comorbidities and received a call on Saturday from the Boston hospital I deal with to schedule for this week. I was not expecting this for another few weeks due to the various phases so I was caught off guard. Not sure why it was being scheduled so soon but I am not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. The vaccine clinic is being held at an off site location near the hospital in the Longwood area. They must be renting space. Will report back after the fact.

[rach5]

This is Germany's "Fauci" - read the entire interview https://www.spiegel.de/international...c-c6082d6434d5
"Drosten: Once the elderly and maybe part of the risk groups have been vaccinated, there will be immense economic, social, political and perhaps also legal pressure to end the corona measures. And then, huge numbers of people will become infected within just a short amount of time, more than we can even imagine at the moment. We won't have 20,000 or 30,000 new cases a day, but up to 100,000 in a worst-case scenario. It will, of course, be primarily younger people who are less likely than older people to have severe symptoms, but when a huge number of younger people get infected, then the intensive care units will fill up anyway and a lot of people will die. Just that it will be younger people. We can cushion this terrible scenario somewhat by pushing the numbers way down now."
I am afraid he is right.

[cb2008]

Originally Posted by Dadschum

I am actually scheduled for the first shot this Wednesday. I have 2+ comorbidities and received a call on Saturday from the Boston hospital I deal with to schedule for this week. I was not expecting this for another few weeks due to the various phases so I was caught off guard. Not sure why it was being scheduled so soon but I am not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. The vaccine clinic is being held at an off site location near the hospital in the Longwood area. They must be renting space. Will report back after the fact.

Thank you for sharing that. Yes, i think someone with your condition is also scheduled in phase 2, so it is interesting that you got called. I hope it goes well for you, no side effects! I also hope you get the second dose in a timely manner.
I am personally not that anxious about getting our turn, but my adult children are very frustrated that it is taking so long. They dont live in MA. Inthink this is happening with other parents as well, their children getting online to get them appointments in FL, driving them across the country to another state etc.
I am worried about side effects, they sound scary to me. I dont like shots. I also worry about the second dose if it is not given in a timely manner.

[msRB311]

Well by the time the elderly and risk groups are vaccinated it will likely be summer. Cases were pretty low last summer but we did have restrictions in place. I dunno... so much gloom and doom in the news.

[GeoffD]

Assuming the Johnson & Johnson clinical trial data is released this week and is favorable, Pfizer got their emergency use authorization in 3 weeks and Moderna in a bit more than two weeks. It's entirely possible that we will have three vaccines online by President's Day. The botched Oxford-AstraZeneca trial re-run should be completed not long after that. A jillion Brits have been vaccinated with it so there's plenty of data. It would be a real screw up if we didn't have more than half the country vaccinated by June assuming all goes well. The problem now is that the vaccines are rationed so distribution is very inefficient. If every pharmacy and doctor's office has J&J vaccine that can be easily stored, the scaling problem goes away.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by cb2008

Thank you for sharing that. Yes, i think someone with your condition is also scheduled in phase 2, so it is interesting that you got called. I hope it goes well for you, no side effects! I also hope you get the second dose in a timely manner.
I am personally not that anxious about getting our turn, but my adult children are very frustrated that it is taking so long. They dont live in MA. Inthink this is happening with other parents as well, their children getting online to get them appointments in FL, driving them across the country to another state etc.
I am worried about side effects, they sound scary to me. I dont like shots. I also worry about the second dose if it is not given in a timely manner.

I know several people who have received the shot. The first, my brother, got it 2 weeks after the first shot was administered in MA. He's 29 and a frontline worker at a hospital. He also has several comorbidities. He had a sore arm for 2 days. He said it was worse than the flu shot, but not that bad. My 97 year old grandfather had it in Florida. He also said it was uncomfortable, but not bad. No side effects beyond soreness. My brother had the Moderna shot, I'm not sure what my grandfather had.

I'm scheduled to get the Moderna shot on Friday. I'm not in one of the eligible groups for the vaccination (I'm in my mid-30s, no comorbidities), but my employer is large and employs many frontline staff, so we have been administering the vaccine for weeks. We have a program designed to ensure that vaccine doses don't go unused/wasted. I'm on a list of non-frontline staff to pull from if they are unable assign each dose from a vial to a frontline worker. So I'll post my experience here. I was forwarded some materials with a general overview of possible side effects (with a real emphasis on the allergic reactions). An excerpt (I read it in the voice/tone of any pharmaceutical ad voiceover that has ever existed):

There is a remote chance that the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine could cause a severe allergic reaction. A severe allergic reaction would usually occur within a few minutes to one hour after getting a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine. For this reason, your vaccination provider may ask you to stay at the place where you received your vaccine for monitoring after vaccination. Signs of a severe allergic reaction can include:

• Difficulty breathing
• Swelling of your face and throat
• A fast heartbeat
• A bad rash all over your body
• Dizziness and weakness

These may not be all the possible side effects of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine. Serious and unexpected side effects may occur. The Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine is still being studied in clinical trials.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by lrfox

I know several people who have received the shot. The first, my brother, got it 2 weeks after the first shot was administered in MA. He's 29 and a frontline worker at a hospital. He also has several comorbidities. He had a sore arm for 2 days. He said it was worse than the flu shot, but not that bad. My 97 year old grandfather had it in Florida. He also said it was uncomfortable, but not bad. No side effects beyond soreness. My brother had the Moderna shot, I'm not sure what my grandfather had.

I got the Moderna last week and that's pretty much what I experienced, although I've never had the flu shot to compare it to. One friend of mine also just had it and did get super sick for maybe 24-36 hours afterwards, although he had Covid a month or two ago so not sure whether that had an effect or not. Everyone else I know/heard of had minor to no side effects similar to myself. It's the 2nd shot I hear can be a little rough on some, but more so on the Pfizer. I'll report back in 3 weeks.