I've Been Vaccinated (No Politics Please)

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I rarely post but read the boards every day so I thought I would report in. DH and I both received the AstraZeneca vaccine yesterday at our local Zehrs pharmacy. Easy peasy.
I'm so glad that we were able to get our shots already. 🙂

Hi Nancy
Thanks for taking the time to post.
It really helps those thinking about vaccination to hear from others that have already done it.
Thanks again

Hugs
Mel
 
Anyone else get the feeling that 55-64 yr olds are not going to be offered the Pfizer/Moderna, but only the Astro zenica?
Well, that's not exactly the way they're doing it in Alberta, but close. As of Monday, anyone between the ages of 55-64 can be vaccinated with Astra Zeneca on a walk-in basis at any of the 100 or so participating pharmacies in the province. If you are in that age group and want to wait for Pfizer or Moderna, the estimate on eligibility/availability is currently the end of May. And of course, government and health authorities are highly encouraging people not to wait.
That is what NS is giving out for 55-64. I am in the 40-44 age bracket and not too keen on the Astra due to the blood clots. Our CMO says it's "fine", but I don't want to find out!
After quite a bit of reading, I'm personally OK with that aspect. The instance of blood clots is extremely rare. In the EU there have been 169 identified out of the 34 MILLION doses of AZ administered. I am however, concerned about efficacy against variants. It's apparently reasonably effective against the UK and Brazil variants but very ineffective against the South African variant.

:scratchin It's a tough decision. Alberta's variant problems are almost entirely the Brazil with a little UK and currently no active cases of South Africa. But if one of my main goals for vaccination is being free to travel at some point, it might be much less safe elsewhere. I'm just not sure but I want to decide before the weekend. DH has his first appointment on Sunday (pending availability of Pfizer or Moderna) and I want us to be vaccinated on as close to the same schedule as possible.
...I have not seen AstraZenica as an Option. Pfizer, Moderna (I got mine in February and husband gets his first dose next week), and Johnson & Johnson are available in my area.
It is not currently approved for use in the US. That turned out to be a blessing for us here, after more than our share of supply issues. Your government gave/sold it's 1.5 million dose stockpile to us to keep it from going past it's expiry date and going to waste. :thanks:
Hi everyone, I haven't posted here for a few years but have been following along with this thread. It's so good to see so many finally getting vaccinated. My wife and I were eligible for the AZ vaccine at the drive thru clinic in Regina for 55+ age group, so this past weekend we went and got our first shot. After getting the typical symptoms that others have described, we are back to normal and so glad to have that done. Regina, in particular, has been hit hard with the B117 variant the last few weeks so we did not hesitate to get our shot when we became eligible.
What exactly were your symptoms? I recently had shingrix vaccine and was absolutely shocked at how bad the side effects were. It won't stop me from getting the Covid vaccine though. I just want to brace myself. :scared:
 
Well, that's not exactly the way they're doing it in Alberta, but close. As of Monday, anyone between the ages of 55-64 can be vaccinated with Astra Zeneca on a walk-in basis at any of the 100 or so participating pharmacies in the province. If you are in that age group and want to wait for Pfizer or Moderna, the estimate on eligibility/availability is currently the end of May. And of course, government and health authorities are highly encouraging people not to wait.

After quite a bit of reading, I'm personally OK with that aspect. The instance of blood clots is extremely rare. In the EU there have been 169 identified out of the 34 MILLION doses of AZ administered. I am however, concerned about efficacy against variants. It's apparently reasonably effective against the UK and Brazil variants but very ineffective against the South African variant.

:scratchin It's a tough decision. Alberta's variant problems are almost entirely the Brazil with a little UK and currently no active cases of South Africa. But if one of my main goals for vaccination is being free to travel at some point, it might be much less safe elsewhere. I'm just not sure but I want to decide before the weekend. DH has his first appointment on Sunday (pending availability of Pfizer or Moderna) and I want us to be vaccinated on as close to the same schedule as possible.

It is not currently approved for use in the US. That turned out to be a blessing for us here, after more than our share of supply issues. Your government gave/sold it's 1.5 million dose stockpile to us to keep it from going past it's expiry date and going to waste. :thanks:

What exactly were your symptoms? I recently had shingrix vaccine and was absolutely shocked at how bad the side effects were. It won't stop me from getting the Covid vaccine though. I just want to brace myself. :scared:

Hey Ronandannette
I got my first case of Shingles at 40 yrs ,,,,,and I have since had 2 more outbreaks ,,,yes you can get Shingles more than once.
I work in a field where the brother * Chickenpox * is fairly active especially in the Spring months. (schools).
Third time around I was fortunate to recognize what was happening and flew into the Dr. office for an anti viral medication.
I have permanent scaring along the line of nerves that were effected (mostly up left arm to tip of left thumb..... kind of like connect the dots.
I have re occurring neuropathic pain ,,,not fun.
When the Shingles Vaccine became available you can bet I was first in line.
I am so sorry you had side effects but believe me when I say child birth comes second to an attack of Shingles.

Is there a wait period between having the Shingles shot and getting a Covid 19 vaccine?

Be well Hon
Hugs
Mel

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/shingles/hcp/shingrix/faqs.html
 
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Hey Ronandannette
I got my first case of Shingles at 40 yrs ,,,,,and I have since had 2 more outbreaks ,,,yes you can get Shingles more than once.
I work in a field where the brother *Chicken Pox* is fairly active especially in the Spring months. (schools).
Third time around I was fortunate to recognize what was happening and flew into the Dr. office for an anti viral medication.
I have permanent scaring along the line of nerves that were effected (mostly up left arm to tip of left thumb..... kind of like connect the dots.
I have re occurring neuropathic pain ,,,not fun.
When the Shingles Vaccine became available you can bet I was first in line.
I am so sorry you had side effects but believe me when I say child birth comes second to an attack of Shingles.

Is there a wait period between having the Shingles shot and getting a Covid 19 vaccine?


Be well Hon
Hugs
Mel
Oh my - I'm cringing just thinking about your troubles. For some reason I've always had a serious fear of shingles. No way was I not getting the vaccine. I had to wait a little due to issues with my insurance; it took two years for my company to have it included in our coverage. OOP the price here is very high without coverage.

Good question about having to wait between vaccinations. I have not yet asked but I surely will; I've got a telehealth call scheduled tomorrow.
 
Oh my - I'm cringing just thinking about your troubles. For some reason I've always had a serious fear of shingles. No way was I not getting the vaccine. I had to wait a little due to issues with my insurance; it took two years for my company to have it included in our coverage. OOP the price here is very high without coverage.

Good question about having to wait between vaccinations. I have not yet asked but I surely will; I've got a telehealth call scheduled tomorrow.

Hi
I added a link to what the CDC says about Shingles & Covid vaccine but I would definitely ask you health care professional.
Best wishes
Hugs
Mel
 
My husband and I both got our vaccine today and I was so overwhelmed with gratitude, hope and excitement at the thought of being closer to family hugs and travel.

We received the Astrazeneca vaccine. Neither of us felt the needle and neither of us have felt unwell or had a sore arm. Maybe tomorrow we will but for now, we are fine.

I had a long chat with my own family physician as well as my cardiologist, pharmacist and gastroenterologist. All of them said there is nothing wrong with the vaccine and that while there may be a small risk of clotting, it is extremely rare. They all encouraged us to get it if it was the first one available. One of the doctors said people should worry as much about how much sugar and fat they eat and how overweight and out of shape they are as that will have more serious health consequences than the vaccine will. I thought that was a good perspective....and one I need to really think about myself.

The cardiologist said that while the clotting issue is serious when it happens and has to be noted, he didn’t think it would be of concern and reminded me that Pfizer had issues with allergic reactions early on and that all vaccines and medications have risks associated with them. He thought that it was better to get anything we could earlier than to wait.

So....we did. I am happy we did. Obviously, we worried about the issues with clotting also but we will not take any chances and if we think there is an issue, will head straight to the ER.

At any rate, we are thankful. Please get vaccinated as soon as you are able. I know it brought me some peace of mind even though we aren’t fully vaccinated.
 
Hey Ronandannette
I got my first case of Shingles at 40 yrs ,,,,,and I have since had 2 more outbreaks ,,,yes you can get Shingles more than once.
I work in a field where the brother * Chickenpox * is fairly active especially in the Spring months. (schools).
Third time around I was fortunate to recognize what was happening and flew into the Dr. office for an anti viral medication.
I have permanent scaring along the line of nerves that were effected (mostly up left arm to tip of left thumb..... kind of like connect the dots.
I have re occurring neuropathic pain ,,,not fun.
When the Shingles Vaccine became available you can bet I was first in line.
I am so sorry you had side effects but believe me when I say child birth comes second to an attack of Shingles.

Is there a wait period between having the Shingles shot and getting a Covid 19 vaccine?

Be well Hon
Hugs
Mel

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/shingles/hcp/shingrix/faqs.html
Mel, that is so awful for you to have had to suffer with that. I know a man who was in long term care and he got it. It was across his abdomen, arms and across his face into his eye. He lost his vision and lost so much weight that he was unable to fight it off once he was so weak and passed away.

I know that is a severe case but seeing him suffer was unbearable and boy did he suffer. Thank goodness for vaccines!
 
My husband and I both got our vaccine today and I was so overwhelmed with gratitude, hope and excitement at the thought of being closer to family hugs and travel.

We received the Astrazeneca vaccine. Neither of us felt the needle and neither of us have felt unwell or had a sore arm. Maybe tomorrow we will but for now, we are fine.

I had a long chat with my own family physician as well as my cardiologist, pharmacist and gastroenterologist. All of them said there is nothing wrong with the vaccine and that while there may be a small risk of clotting, it is extremely rare. They all encouraged us to get it if it was the first one available. One of the doctors said people should worry as much about how much sugar and fat they eat and how overweight and out of shape they are as that will have more serious health consequences than the vaccine will. I thought that was a good perspective....and one I need to really think about myself.

The cardiologist said that while the clotting issue is serious when it happens and has to be noted, he didn’t think it would be of concern and reminded me that Pfizer had issues with allergic reactions early on and that all vaccines and medications have risks associated with them. He thought that it was better to get anything we could earlier than to wait.

So....we did. I am happy we did. Obviously, we worried about the issues with clotting also but we will not take any chances and if we think there is an issue, will head straight to the ER.

At any rate, we are thankful. Please get vaccinated as soon as you are able. I know it brought me some peace of mind even though we aren’t fully vaccinated.
Do you mind if I ask how old you both are?
 
I took advantage of one of my rare bouts of energy start some yogurt in the instant pot (one of my 12-ish safe foods is dairy so i eat a TON!) and then to tackle the kitchen, gather the garbage, clean up 2 days worth of dishes that can't go in the dishwasher, grind hubby's coffee for tomorrow and gather my thoughts for posting here. Other than the yogurt those are things hubby does so that I can deal with my # 1 priority right now, staying out of in-patient treatment for my bi-polar disorder. He's been having his butt kicked by the vaccine so i picked up the slack (he'll be surprised in the morning!) He's been fever-ish, achy, tired, mild headache, typical flu-like symptoms since about midnight last night, so 12-ish hours post AZ jab. I've had wickedly tender/sore/oddly numbish arm and the lymph node under that arm is swollen. He took some heavy-duty arthritis Tylenol and went to bed around 9.

For reference sake - hubby is 59.5 and I'm 58.5, got our shots at a Rexall and it was easy-peasy, in and out in under 30 minutes, including some old-lady shopping. I did get lightheaded about 15 minutes post-shot but that's not uncommon for me and the pharmacist was ready with a bottle of water & some candy (can't have that, but nice thought :) )

For those who are wondering what types of symptoms you need to watch for with the AZ shot regarding potential blood clots this is the information i found on the Canada Health website
567353
That last weird word means


567355
 
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I didn't want to clutter my above post with my thoughts & opinions surrounding vaccines starting with a few facts. I loath sharing information that i can't back up so I will provide links, screenshots and whatever else anyone wants tomorrow, I don't have energy to do both tonight. I WILL update this, promise :D For reference sake, I live in Ontario so the information about rise in cases caused by the variants are regarding B1.1.7

Facts:

  • all viruses mutate & variants arise, just the nature of how they replicate
  • The VOC (variants of concern) transmit easier than the "wild" or "original" strain and now accounts for close to 70% of cases in Ontario
  • The VOC is putting more people in the hospital & ICU units than at any other point in the pandemic
  • The VOC kills more people and is causing a spike in cases in those who are considerably younger than the plain-jane Covid ever did
  • We have vaccines available that are our best defence and ALL of them prevent hospitalization and death in every single person who gets vaccinated -- read that again, all of them will keep you out of the ICU even if you do get COVID-19
My thoughts & opinions, take them as you will.
Now is not the time to discuss the whys of how we got here and what could have been done to prevent the 3rd wave, that will need to happen once we get to the other side and have been able to take a breath, gather our thoughts and move out of the fight-or-flight mode we've been living in for over a year now. Yes, we are behind in what we all wish was happening regarding vaccines but that can't be fixed right now and trying to figure out who to blame, how to fix it (gawd, we are all so smart standing in the background without all the information, me included!) and how angry we are about this serves no purpose other than an increase in ulcers, lack of sleep, arguments with family & friends .. you get the picture, you're all living it with me! We need to look at the fact that we hold the disgusting 1st place in the world for deaths in LTC facilities, that is just wrong and we need to fix this issue (nope, i don't know how, I'm just ashamed it took this to have me see how bad things truly are). We need to deal with the glaring inequities in our health care across our country - why is there one single postal code in my city that's declared a hot spot? because they're not adequately serviced by our medical community and they live in large households because our housing costs are outrageous! Why do our Indigenous People struggle to have access to clean water, STILL? Why did my 97 year old F-I-L get vaccinated 2 weeks ago but my 22 year old neighbour got her shot a full month ago? (no idea what's up with out pre-registration system, serious issues there!)

ANYWHO, yes, we need to deal with all of those heavy topics but now? Now, we need to do our part to stop this bugger in it's tracks! Get out and get that jab, doesn't matter which one, just get it! We do not have the luxury of picking which vaccine we want that's part of a larger problem that we can't fix right now. If you're in Ontario and eligible for the AZ (55 +) but choose to wait for the others because you think they're better, you might end up waiting a looooong time. The details regarding the new rollout haven't been settled yet but if they pivot to put education and essential workers in front of the age criteria (NOPE, we're not arguing that people, we just need to deal with what we get told will happen) you might get pushed until the back of phase 2, closer to June. Every person who gets vaccinated brings us closer to herd-immunity and lessens the chance of the virus mutating even more. I thought about waiting for the call from my health unit for maybe 2 seconds once they opened up spots at the pharmacy, you know just a small beat, before i signed us up for all 4 waitlists. Mental illness diagnosis is considered an at risk category and I've been signed up there for over 5 weeks now, who knows when that will come thru?!

If you're still concerned about the potential side-effects, the difference in efficacy rates between the vaccines we have access to or any other issues surrounding the vaccines look for solid, fact based information. Make sure you look at reputable sources, doctors, scientists, epidemiologists, the people who went to school to learn this stuff, not the media, friend, family, random social media sites (you know, like this one :P ) Try not to get caught up in the "doom scrolling" and circle the mental drain, instead find facts to make an informed decision. Consult your own medical team if that allows you to feel more comfortable, they would LOVE to help you make this decision and they know your circumstances better than anyone else.

There is a light at the end of this tunnel folks and we are nearing the end but it will require some hard work for the next 4 -6 weeks. Stay home, wash your hands, wear a mask if you do go out and get jabbed! If you're struggling with mental health issues, please reach out for help, it's a sign of incredible strength to admit that you need help, not a sign of weakness.
 
For those wondering about the a time requirement between vaccinations.. ie; Shingrex and covid.
One of the first questions asked when I sat down for my covid vaccination was .. “Have you received any other immunizations or vaccinations in the last 14 days”. In my case I had received both a Pneumonia and Shingrex vaccination back in early February so i was able to answer no... had I answered yes, I’m guessing that my covid shot would have been postponed until l was outside the 14 days in question.
 
For those wondering about the a time requirement between vaccinations.. ie; Shingrex and covid.
One of the first questions asked when I sat down for my covid vaccination was .. “Have you received any other immunizations or vaccinations in the last 14 days”. In my case I had received both a Pneumonia and Shingrex vaccination back in early February so i was able to answer no... had I answered yes, I’m guessing that my covid shot would have been postponed until l was outside the 14 days in question.
In fairness, when I went for my shingrex in the fall, I was told to wait until 14 days after my flu shot. Something about my immune system was already working hard enough and I needed to space them for that reason. Not sure if that’s just general good advice or if that’s because it was shingrex.

edit - I hate autocorrect!
 
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In fairness, when I went for my shin rib in the fall, I was told to wait until 14 days after my flu shot. Something about my immune system was already working hard enough and I needed to space them for that reason. Not sure if that’s just general good advice or if that’s because it was so rid.

Yes.. I assumed that it was due to the immune response overload. That said.. I had both Shingrex (shingles) and Prevnar or Pneumovax (pneumonia) on the same day in February, one in each arm. My Dr & I discussed the safety and the brand names on a prior visit.. she said it would be no problem to do both at once.
I had no real reaction, other then an incredibly sore arm and shoulder on the Shingrex side that lasted almost a week.
 
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DH and I are in our mid to late 40s and were pleasantly surprised when they opened up vaccine appointments for us (then again, we only were allowed to sign up due to living in a "hot spot" so guess that's not so good). It'll be the Pfizer or Moderna, which tbh, I feel better about. Having said that, I would happily take the AstraZeneca if that was the one given to just get "a" vaccine.

Appointments were really hard to grab and went quickly but somehow we managed one for the weekend. Feeling guilty, but we actually are keeping our kids home from school today and tomorrow. There seems to be a new covid case popping up at either school very often and if any case in either class, then we are all quarantined and the appointment will need to be cancelled. It's their "
March" break next week though so shouldn't be missing too much.
 
I appreciate all those who have responded with their AstraZeneca vaccine injection information. Your responses have helped to put my concerns to rest.

Regarding the coverage in the media. I think we all need to put the 3 vaccines on the same playing field. By refering to one or two vaccines as being "preferred or superior choices" does little to help solve our collective Covid issue. Many parts of this country will not have access to the MRNA vaccines due to storage difficulties.

It wasn't long ago many people were commenting that they would never consider that "new MRNA" vaccine product. Many of these people have now become vaccine snobs and the MRNA is the only choice they will consider. (thinking of my sister in law, and a good friend in particular). The media coverage isn't helping at all either.

Please, think about others, who due to age or physical location, may not have access to all 3 vaccines. To quote Jacqueline above "Get out and get that jab, doesn't matter which one, just get it!"
 
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