Have you gotten a COVID vaccine?

[tippity]

I know everyone who wants to be vaccinated, wants it now. but this is a mammoth endeavor. Pfizer received EUA approval as of Dec 11th and the trucks were delivering vaccines the following day. Isn't that amazing?

Now it's up to the states to distribute the vaccines. The problem is figuring out the logistics. We are less than 3 weeks into this effort, in the middle of the holiday season! On top of that we are in 2020, where each day seems to be a week long.

I believe the roll out and distribution will improve over the next month, as this process is streamlined. There are so many people who have been working around the clock since the pandemic started to get these vaccines distributed.

I am incredibly proud of Operation Warp Speed. It will be regarded as one of our greatest moments history.

 

[tippity]

I received my first Pfizer vaccine yesterday. I have minor arm pain, but nothing else.

 

[EACarlson]

That's interesting she is in IT and got it. I would assume that's not as customer facing? Or maybe it is for her? Is her hospital system just giving the choice to all those who work there?

She does not have patient interaction, but is in the clinics to help the providers use the EHR system correctly. Her organization is allowing all employees to get vaccinated at this time, even those cubical workers who have been home since March.

There has been no guidance from the state as to who should be getting it when they move from Phase IA to IB.

 

[BadPinkTink]

I'm so glad to see some people recognize how important IT staff are to keeping hospitals functioning. I work in tech, not with a hospital but to a different essential industry and like everyone in tech / IT I have been working right the way through since March without a break. We are the invisible workers, who are keeping everything such as websites / Aps / social media /databases/ call centers/ and all the hospital equipment from the computers at nurses stations to tablets , to respirators and so much more working. And yes many in the tech industry are in their 20's and 30's but without them the nurses and doctors can not care for the 70 year high risk person.

So before you say the 20 year old hospital tech person should not get a vaccine before an elderly person, just think what would happen if that 20 year old tech person gets ill with Covid and a 70 year old patient dies due to the delay in finding someone else to fix the monitor that went offline.

 

[maxaroni]

I’m going to say no, but I suppose it doesn’t hurt to ask. In my state, they are two different groups, regardless of living together.

Oh, it really didn’t even occur to me. I figured I’d be lumped into the group of everyone else. It was more that a healthcare worker mentioned it to me. She didn’t say it as an absolute, just that her thinking was that if there is a high risk person in your household, all in the household should also be vaccinated at the same time. I am not going to pursue it, just thought it was worth a question here to see what others thought.

Yes, it is all up to the states and what they deem the best protocol is for their state.

We are pretty strict with the rules, so will wait my turn. At the end of the day, in my opinion, 2021 will still be a long slog in getting through this. However, we should be seeing more bright spots as we go.

 

[Mango7100]

Oh I dont fault anyone who gets the vaccines if it is offered to them...I would do the same thing! As another poster mentioned, it is just frustrating waiting for those who are at higher risk for complication. The Pfizer vaccine is a whole different animal due to its storage requirements, and absolutely get it in peoples arms if it’s a use it or lose it situation. Its also interesting to hear how whole hospitals get enough vaccine to vaccinate every employee while here there are whole hospitals not receiving any or very little (not talking about rural ones that could not handle the Pfizer storage capabilities). Our state was scheduled to receive 56000 doses initially and then 100000 of Moderna—but they have estimated 600000 healthcare workers statewide. It’s going to take awhile...

 

[wenrob]

My niece (a nurse in CA) got hers yesterday!

 

[sk!mom]

I received my first Pfizer vaccine yesterday. I have minor arm pain, but nothing else.

I have a very sore arm 24 hours after getting the Pfizer. Also, mildly headachy.

 

[Grabnar]

I have a very sore arm 24 hours after getting the Pfizer. Also, mildly headachy.

Means it's working!

 

[dez1978]

Is the slow vaccination due to social distancing requirements and having people wait 15 minutes?

My hospital is doing them in our largest conference room but it’s slow moving. Much much slower than the flu vaccines. They pop those out quickly. It’s like an assembly line for those.

I think once pharmacies and doctors offices start giving them out it’ll be faster moving.

Mine was super fast. Like I was done in less than 5 min. Then sent to a diff large room to wait the 15 min.

 

[Southernmiss]

We really don't know if anyone has underlying conditions. If someone can get the vaccine and wants it, they should be able to get it.

Our 23 year old son is a hospital pharmacy tech. He was #29 at his hospital to get an appointment for his vaccine.

To many here, he probably should have been further back in line. However, in his hospital he does see patients in their room to explain medications and side effects. He does deliver extra meds and is present in the room for cardiac episodes ( he has been in the room with the med cart as 2 cardiac patients died).

From the outside, he looks very healthy. But he does have asthma, lung fibrosing from an odd fungal infection 3 years ago, and a congenital heart issue, that to date has been a non issue.

I am grateful that through lucky circumstances for him, he was in the front of the line.

Kid had so many recent years of bad luck, that it was time for some good luck.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

As another poster mentioned, it is just frustrating waiting for those who are at higher risk for complication.

I think that's the tricky thing here. Different strategies being used. As another poster said either way someone is going to be upset.

There's spread strategies, infrastructure strategies (meaning getting people who keep the cogs running), increased risk of death, strain on hospital systems, occupations where you have that repeated exposure to the community at large, etc. Some strategies take priority over another at certain times.

It's honestly in my opinion that we should be employing a variety of strategies over the course of the vaccination route.

 

[Cheburashka]

Suggestion: you may want to watch this, and contact the retail pharmacy directly

https://www.dshs.state.tx.us/news/up...tion-Week3.pdf

I looked at that but don't understand how it could help. There are no pharmacies in any of the counties in or around my city on the list (Texas is big). They're all medical centers. What exactly am I supposed to call and say? I'm not supposed to be vaccinated anytime soon despite being an essential, front line worker, per the state's mandates, because I'm 46 with no qualifying health conditions, not 65 or above.

 

[Mango7100]

We really don't know if anyone has underlying conditions. If someone can get the vaccine and wants it, they should be able to get it.

Our 23 year old son is a hospital pharmacy tech. He was #29 at his hospital to get an appointment for his vaccine.

To many here, he probably should have been further back in line. However, in his hospital he does see patients in their room to explain medications and side effects. He does deliver extra meds and is present in the room for cardiac episodes ( he has been in the room with the med cart as 2 cardiac patients died).

From the outside, he looks very healthy. But he does have asthma, lung fibrosing from an odd fungal infection 3 years ago, and a congenital heart issue, that to date has been a non issue.

I am grateful that through lucky circumstances for him, he was in the front of the line.

Kid had so many recent years of bad luck, that it was time for some good luck.

That’s great he was able to get vaccinated! His job is a risk as well as his other conditions. Fungal infections are no joke

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I can’t remember if I posted this already but a good friend of mine’s parents had Covid in December ( got it from a family member at Thanksgiving- just 2 couples celebrating) and are still in a rehab facility down in Florida.

My friend who is in Chicago is dealing with medical staff over the phones and it’s just frustrated and the lack of communication and basically how things are being run down there. Her overall feeling is that staff are just simply overwhelmed.

Long story short her parents are in some elder care/rehabilitation center where they have moved covet patients. She assumes once you are no longer in ICU threat they’re moving patients out to this facility. She assumes both parents have now tested negative but are still recovering but the strange thing is last week they both got the vaccine!!!! Which really threw her for a loop seeing that both parents are still recovering from Covid. Her mom is on oxygen, but has been for over a year due to other illnesses, and her dad is so weak he cannot longer even drive at the moment.

so she’s thinking that somehow the facility messed up and gave her parents the vaccine when they shouldn’t have gotten it. We understand that yes if you’ve had Covid you should still get the shot but are questioning if her parents got it way too soon. Both are doing well considering the situation they are in. She’s just trying to figure out home care ( cleaning, laundry, shopping help) and long term if her dad is still able to drive back home in April. Her parents are snowbirds but at the moment it’s looking like her dad will not be able to make the drive back home up north. Severe exhaustion is his issue right now. Both her parents were nowhere near the age or situation to be in any type of nursing care, but now they need help with day-to-day living.

They shouldn’t jump to assume this was a mistake. At least three people were involved in that administration (for each patient) and probably questioned it themselves (and even ran it by their superiors): the physician who ordered it, the pharmacist who approved it, and the nurse who administered it. All may have said, “Hey, should he or she be getting this since they just had Covid?”, and the response from superiors was that yes, they decided it’s better for them to have it, then not, so that’s what their policy has become, etc. If there are questions about it, your friend can either talk to the staff (I know you said there were communication problems) or have her parents obtain the medical record. It sounds like their cases were complicated and I am not surprised they would give them the vaccine vs. potentially getting Covid again.

 

[Sarah'sMomfrom PA]

Got my shot yesterday...received the Moderna vaccine. Work in healthcare with no direct patient contact however, should our department be exposed, there would be no maintenance work done at the hospital (i.e. a pipe breaks; nurse call not working, etc.). The guys that I work with all have some patient contact as they have to enter rooms to do repairs. Then they come back to the shop and can give it to the rest of our staff. No major problems with the Moderna shot but my arm is really tender and sore. Will be well worth it to put up with a little discomfort to prevent this virus.

 

[dez1978]

Just wanted to update for those who are following this thread because they are curious about others experiences/reactions, vs reading everyone's opinions on who should and should not be allowed to get it and when... I got mine at 130 yesterday afternoon. So about 20 hrs ago. Hurt less than a flu shot. No immediate reactions or arm pain. Felt fine all night last night. Today I have a lump on my arm at the injection site and it's sore, just like it would be for any other vaccine I've ever gotten. So far no headaches or anything else. I got the moderna one.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Got my shot yesterday...received the Moderna vaccine. Work in healthcare with no direct patient contact however, should our department be exposed, there would be no maintenance work done at the hospital (i.e. a pipe breaks; nurse call not working, etc.). The guys that I work with all have some patient contact as they have to enter rooms to do repairs. Then they come back to the shop and can give it to the rest of our staff. No major problems with the Moderna shot but my arm is really tender and sore. Will be well worth it to put up with a little discomfort to prevent this virus.

I was thinking of more departments that would fall apart if an outbreak happened. Maintenance, purchasing department who spends so much time making sure we have adequate PPE, warehouse employees that get the hospital their goods, insurance specialists who get studies and procedures precertified.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Today I have a lump on my arm at the injection site

Do they recommend you take something for that? Like an anti-inflammatory or something?

 

[dez1978]

Do they recommend you take something for that? Like an anti-inflammatory or something?

Our program nurse said we could take tylenol or whatever.