Have you gotten a COVID vaccine?

[Pea-n-Me]

(Sorry, I know this has been addressed but started it before.)

As for the IT people, yes, surprised to see that scoffed at here. Look, hospitals are making a concerted effort to keep Covid at bay by vaccinating as many staff as possible, especially those whose jobs involve being around patients and patient care areas, both continually or intermittently/as needed. Hospitals are very high-tech now - more than one can even imagine! And as pp’s mentioned, techs are necessary to keep everything running smoothly so nursing staff can concentrate on actually taking care of patients rather than fighting with equipment. It can be a constant battle trying to get things to work, and it‘s incredibly frustrating when they don’t. Especially when each and every time you go in a room you have to put on PPE (gloves, gown, N95 and shield with covid or rule out covid pts, which, in many cases, is every patient when they are first admitted), and take it off extremely carefully upon exiting, wiping everything down as well as cleaning yourself off, etc. The simple act of going in and out of patient rooms has become tremendously labor-intensive. So if you have a computer or other piece of equipment that needs to be fixed or updated or any number of things, it takes you away from patient care, and we all know how hard that is on everyone.

Outside of rooms there are also risks. Covid has spread in some hospitals like wildfire. You come in and find out the person you were working next to the week before has tested positive for Covid. You start to think about all the equipment you both touched for days. And the air space you shared, bathrooms, kitchenettes, break rooms, etc. Voluntary testing in hospitals yields a good amount of asymptomatic cases that are positive. It takes many types of job categories to run a hospital. Bottom line it is safer for all concerned in hospitals the more staff are vaccinated.

 

[mousefan73]

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.

Yes, that is actually part of the issue communication.. She is unable to get any clear information. Her parents have her as their health advocate/coordinator. She found out after the fact. Dealing with this from IL down to FL has been a nightmare. She tried to get answers/confirmation to the above and the last I chatted with her, could not.

She understands these are not normal times,, still frustrating though.

 

[Sarah'sMomfrom PA]

Actually our Materials Management (Purchasing Department) is operating on a skeleton staff as 2 of their employees actually have covid and about 8 other employees have to quarantine due to the exposure to the other 2 employees who have Covid. There are 3 people left in the department (the manager; assistant manager and one storeroom personnel) so in an indirect way, we are all essential because all it takes is one employee to bring it back to the department and the entire department could be out of commission. I do agree that the front line employees (Emergency Department; floor nurses and ICU; Respiratory Therapy; Lab, etc.) are definitely at more risk than the rest of the hospital staff but unfortunately, at some point, everyone is at risk due to the trickle down effect at any organization. My arm is a little more tender than when I receive a regular shot but it is tender the same way when I received the shingles shot.

My daughter is a pharmacist at a major chain and she will be going into the nursing homes and assisted living unit to administer the shots to our elderly and frail. She actually received the Pfizer vaccine yesterday and she said that she felt fine and just has a sore arm.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

that is actually part of the issue.. She is unable to get any clear information. Her parents have her as their health advocate/coordinator. She found out after the fact. Dealing with this from IL down to FL has been a nightmare. She tried to get answers/confirmation to the above and the last I chatted with her, could not.

Are her parents able to make decisions for themselves? If so, then, I imagine they discussed it with the patients themselves, outlined their rationale, and got their permission to administer it as part of their plan of care. It would have to be documented the same way vaccines are documented in the community, with a lot number recorded and attestation to wanting to receive the vaccine, etc.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

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.

What great experiences for your son! And glad he got his vaccine! Is he in pharmacy school and employed there as a Co-Op student? Just asking because in “Codes”, we would only have a Registered Pharmacist on hand (who, these days, mostly are doctorate-prepared), as well as ICU RNs specifically allotted for codes, in addition to regular staff, as the potential for error is very high under such critical circumstances, and even with talking about medications to patients, where I am that would only be done by licensed personnel.

 

[Southernmiss]

What great experiences for your son! And glad he got his vaccine! Is he in pharmacy school and employed there as a Co-Op student? Just asking because in “Codes”, we would only have a Registered Pharmacist on hand (who, these days, mostly are doctorate-prepared), as well as ICU RNs specifically allotted for codes, in addition to regular staff, as the potential for error is very high under such critical circumstances, and even with talking about medications to patients, where I am that would only be done by licensed personnel.

It is truly a great experience for him! Yes, he is in his 6th year of pharmacy school. The hospital he works in is not affiliated with the medical school. This is a part time job for him. But the hospital hires students in pharmacy school for these positions.

He loves it. It has been so good for him to get a 'taste' of his profession while finishing school.

Next year he will do rotations in a variety of settings around our state. And will graduate with a doctorate in pharmacy. He is hoping to get a pharmacy residency after graduation.

He has so enjoyed working in the hospital that he would love to be a hospital pharmacist after he graduates.

 

[Praying Colonel]

Meanwhile, in my fair city:

https://www.wlky.com/article/at-ris...s-covid-19-vaccine-to-general-public/35084999
Maybe we should all start loitering in drug stores on the off chance they have a few spare doses laying around.

 

[mom2rtk]

Meanwhile, in my fair city:

https://www.wlky.com/article/at-ris...s-covid-19-vaccine-to-general-public/35084999
Maybe we should all start loitering in drug stores on the off chance they have a few spare doses laying around.

I'm not above that. I've heard that's how a number of people are getting them in other settings.

 

[disneychick0412]

Got mine yesterday at around 4:30pm. It is the Moderna one. I work in a healthcare office.
I feel fine, except for the sore arm! I'm so ready for many more to get it so hopefully the numbers start to go down and we can get back to some type of "normal".
I'm nervous that enough people won't get it to really make the impact that could be made.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

My hospital has really upped the procedures and it’s moving much quicker. Two coworkers went and said it’s fast.

My hospital sent an email out and said anyone can stop in today and get the vaccine with no appointment. Today only.

 

[mom2rtk]

My hospital has really upped the procedures and it’s moving much quicker. Two coworkers went and said it’s fast.

My hospital sent an email out and said anyone can stop in today and get the vaccine with no appointment. Today only.

Give me a few hours. I'm on my way!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Meanwhile, in my fair city:

https://www.wlky.com/article/at-ris...s-covid-19-vaccine-to-general-public/35084999
Maybe we should all start loitering in drug stores on the off chance they have a few spare doses laying around.

Yes I posted about this a few pages back. I'd call that one a big oops because of who the vaccine was allocated for to begin with.

 

[Sarah'sMomfrom PA]

Ours actually sent out an email before Christmas to all employees at the hospital and all of our off sites and then we each had to register if we wanted to receive the vaccine. Right before Christmas eve, Human Resources sent out an Excel spreadsheet with all who registered and the times that they were allotted for their shots. They have 5 stations set up in a conference room and they are doing 5 employees every 15 minutes. After receiving your shot, you need to go into another segregated part of the same conference room where there were chairs set up socially distanced to wait for 15 minutes to see if you have a reaction to the shot. It was a pretty seamless operation but they asked all employees to please show up at the allotted times to keep the process running smoothly. They vaccinated 220 people the 1st day (over 3 shifts) and yesterday, they gave shots to 198 people...not sure what today's numbers were but everyone was put in the mix who worked for the health care system (nurses; doctors; housekeepers, etc.) so everyone has the chance to receive the vaccine. They hope to have everyone at our hospital vaccinated by next week.

My daughter got the vaccine because they had one more dose of the Pfizer vaccine and didn't want to waste it and they called her store and asked her if they could come over and give her the shot since she will start next week going into the nursing homes. She actually gave herself the shot since she is petrified of needles (go figure...she can stick someone else but cringes when someone else wants to give her a shot!). Guess you could say that she was actually at the right place at the right time. She would have gotten it eventually when she started to go to the nursing homes but I felt better knowing that she had it ahead of time to build up some immunity.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

It is truly a great experience for him! Yes, he is in his 6th year of pharmacy school. The hospital he works in is not affiliated with the medical school. This is a part time job for him. But the hospital hires students in pharmacy school for these positions.

He loves it. It has been so good for him to get a 'taste' of his profession while finishing school.

Next year he will do rotations in a variety of settings around our state. And will graduate with a doctorate in pharmacy. He is hoping to get a pharmacy residency after graduation.

He has so enjoyed working in the hospital that he would love to be a hospital pharmacist after he graduates.

Awesome! Good luck to him!

 

[Sarah'sMomfrom PA]

I know that there is a time limit (especially the Pfizer vaccine....from what our Pharmacy told us (we did not get this vaccine because we did not have the freezers to keep it this cold...we got Moderna) and that once the vaccine is thawed out to be used, you only have 2 hours to use up that vaccine. So I really can see their logic to give the vaccine to whoever might be in the store at the time (as long as their staff was vaccinated) and if there is no one in there who is elderly or with pre-existing conditions, if you don't give the vaccine to someone, it would be discarded which would really be a waste since this vaccine (and any Covid vaccines) are so valuable.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...-staffers-COVID-vaccine-critical-workers.html

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I know that there is a time limit (especially the Pfizer vaccine....from what our Pharmacy told us (we did not get this vaccine because we did not have the freezers to keep it this cold...we got Moderna) and that once the vaccine is thawed out to be used, you only have 2 hours to use up that vaccine. So I really can see their logic to give the vaccine to whoever might be in the store at the time (as long as their staff was vaccinated) and if there is no one in there who is elderly or with pre-existing conditions, if you don't give the vaccine to someone, it would be discarded which would really be a waste since this vaccine (and any Covid vaccines) are so valuable.

At least in KY's case it was that they were should have given it to the next long-term care facility. Those doses for Walgreens and CVS are specifically for long-term care settings as part of an agreement with the Federal government. It's not so much that they had these doses they needed to use it was that their first thought (innocent I'm sure) was to use it right then and there in that exact location. Another long-term care facility at that time should have been contacted instead.

 

[Sarah'sMomfrom PA]

Southernmiss....congrats on the future pharmacist. My daughter graduated in 2014 with her doctorate from MCPHS in Boston and she works in retail pharmacy. She manages a store for a major chain in Virginia. She would work summers and school breaks at a small family pharmacy in Pennsylvania and really got hands on training from the owner who oversaw everything that she was doing and offered suggestions. She actually was offered a job at the pharmacy at the port in St. Thomas while we were on a Disney cruise...we happened to be in there buying something else and there was a woman there who was having difficulty deciding which cold medicine to buy with her high blood pressure. My DD gave her advice and the owner came over and asked her how she knew this information and they got in a conversation and he offered her a job at graduation. Would have been nice to have someone living on St. Thomas to vacation but Virginia is just as good (LOL!). I will admit that retail pharmacy is tough...I can't believe some of the stories that she tells me!

 

[Keetchino]

Update: received shot #1 yesterday around 1130.... arm started getting sore last night, along with a red raised welt at the injection site. Today arm is quite sore, like I ran into the edge of a door, and the raised welt is about the length of my finger. Also have that slight (very slight) tingly feeling you get when you are on the verge of coming down with a cold at the back of my throat and in my sinuses. Seems like this is the worst it’s gonna get for me, so not bad.

 

[Sarah'sMomfrom PA]

My bad...I didn't read the article..I thought it was just one dose that they had left over. I do agree that with the surplus vaccine, it should have been given to the next long term care facility on the list. The only way that it would have been wasted was if they couldn't get it to the LTC facility in a timely manner (or didn't have a pharmacist available to administer it immediately) but I am sure that every city and especially a major city would have lots of LTC facilities in its city limits. I am sure that they could have gotten a pharmacist or pharmacy tech (who was certified to give shots) to get the vaccine and shots out to the elderly. I am assuming that these large pharmacy chains are getting reimbursed for these costs through Medicare.