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Post by Celestial on Mar 18, 2021 12:51:42 GMT -5
It has been a year since this all begun. Back then, we had the quarantine support thread, which can still be used to request support or share gloats. This is more a place to discuss in-depth any COVID-19, vaccine or other related topics so we an consolidate all the talk into one, neat board. Quick reminder: standard rules apply. Be courteous to each other, do not post any inflammatory content, stay on-topic, and have any disagreements in a civil manner. *** Guess I'll start. Had my first dose of the vaccine today, so that was cool. I strongly suspect I had gotten it in error, since I take medication normally used to treat diabetes (thanks PCOS), but even after they sussed it out, they were not going to turn me away. I do have a little guilt about "skipping the queue", but I also did everything right and did not deliberately set out to get this. And if goverment stresses getting the jab when you are offered it, well, fair enough. I did have AstraZeneca, which lately has been a bit...controversial. No hesitation on my part though. I firmly believe it is safe, and the risks outweight the benefits. My opinion has also been mirrored by the experts here in the UK, and with the majority of the country getting this one with few problems, I see no reason to be hesitant. Having some side effects, such as a sore arm, tiredness, aches and pains, all the good symptoms of an immune system at work. We'll see in the next few days if I get worse. Watching the case numbers here either hovering steady, falling slowly, or rising in some areas, but hospitalisations and deaths are plummeting, which is good. Very sick of this. April 26th (date for full lockdown easing) cannot come fast enough.
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Post by Rasaiu on Mar 18, 2021 13:14:11 GMT -5
Recently my mom also had the first dose of the vaccine - AstraZeneca. As I've heard then you're supposed to get two doses of AstraZeneca. Well, this week our government decided that they won't use AstraZeneca anymore, so they discarded all vaccines. Now it's quite an interesting question - what will happen to those who are supposed to get their second dose.
At my work place managers asked who wants to receive a vaccine. I applied but considering the queue I'll probably receive it around June or July. I am fine as long as the weather is nice enough that I can ride with bicycle and avoid public transport. Also I took a vacation, so I am staying home and being creative. Somehow I enjoy this period.
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Post by Geo 🇺🇦 🌻 on Mar 18, 2021 14:11:59 GMT -5
Really unfortunate with the AstraZeneca issue. I wonder if those that got a first dose will have to restart with something else.
I got my first dose of Pfizer yesterday and my arm is very sore. The rollout here has been like the Wild West though. To complicate things, the metro area I live in spans across a state line which makes it very hard to enforce state residency requirements since each state has different eligibility requirements. It’s to the point where CVS in Missouri here has just not enforced any residency requirements and that most places are ok with vaccinating anyone in the metro area regardless of which side of the border you are on. There’s a decent reason behind it too, because the virus does not care about the border and every vaccinated person in the area reduces the spread.
Looking forward to my second dose and then by April 21, I will have attained the immunity that the studies have shown to exist. My parents will be immunized and be good to go around that time too. The light at the end of the tunnel is growing brighter, but I just hope we don’t lose ground with states relaxing restrictions too early :/.
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Post by Ian Wolf-Park on Mar 18, 2021 20:13:26 GMT -5
After being shutdown back in December/January due to rising cases, that order was lifted a couple of weeks ago, but the city is at the highest stage, which is a lockdown, so most places are still shut and I'm working from home for the time being. Still, what's concerning is the variant cases, so it's quite possible that there may be another shutdown on the horizon.
Here in Canada, the vaccine rollout has been slow, but is starting to pick up. I don't expect to be vaccinated until the summer at the earliest, so I just have to be patient.
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Post by Gelquie on Mar 18, 2021 20:23:35 GMT -5
So I'm actually qualified to get the vaccine (my state was efficient enough that after getting most of the ! groups already, they decided to just open it up to every adult), and I've been waiting for vaccine appointments to open up so I can take a slot, which is a long time because I'm in a community that's not as commonly served for these sort of things. I've been a little antsy about it because scheduling things with few appointment opportunities and no transport till later... doesn't add well to current mental health things.
So, good news, slots opened up today. Except part of the trouble is... every vaccination site is a good walk from where I am. (And I don't have a car. And I'm not the only one. And it's winter, and winter and masks do not like glasses.)
(I also worried about scheduling conflicts on the day of the appointment and did indeed see a conflict... Until I looked into the thing and realized nah, I don't need to go to that. And the other thing I was worried about isn't happening anymore, so. *Shrug.*)
Slots are still open, but now I'm sitting here debating between signing up anyway, and cancelling if I need to, or preparing for a long walk and hoping I can get back before any potential side effects kick in... or waiting again until after my car is back, during which it'll probably still be winter because I did not accurately estimate when snow would melt, and hope there are more appointment slots then and I can get it before my personal first vaccine cut-off date (that would make it safest to move back in with family) and I didn't catch anything during the whole car scenario. I can't think of any driving volunteers, and I don't particularly want to take a bus or taxi when I'm not vaccinated.
Wondering what's best in these situations.
(Also mildly debating which of the mRNA vaccines I want, but I'm trying not to stake too much on that when options are already limited.)
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Post by Celestial on Mar 19, 2021 16:51:15 GMT -5
If you can get it ASAP, you should. It will take a good few hours before the more nasty side effects kick in, so as long as you can deal with a sore arm, you should be fine walking for a few hours. Best of luck. *** So it's been about 36 hours since I got my first dose of AstraZeneca. First few hours, I was not dealing with anything else apart from a sore arm. Then I began to notice my joints aching, which, cool, is the first sign of illness for me when I get infected with anything. I was also feeling headachey and tired, which is also a normal reaction for me when sick. Can deal with that. 8 hours since my vaccination, around 6 pm, I was feeling a bit colder than usual. I figured maybe because the windows were open. Soldiered on through it, right up until 9 pm, when I realised I could not feel my extremities. So that was scary. Thankfully, hopping into a warm shower and bundling up solved that problem, but this made me realise, oh, yeah, I had a fever. 1 degree C over normal body temp, to be exact. That was not normal. Took some paracetamol, called it an early night, and slept like a log for about 12 hours. I still had the fever in the morning, but by afternoon, it thankfully broke. The headache and tiredness is also mostly gone. Only the joint ache remains. Still, I am reasonably sure I am over the worst of it now. 2 days of discomfort is worth it for protection against the virus. Just as well, because while cases in the UK are falling overall, for some reason, they've risen in Scotland. Or at least, they have risen and then remained at a steady rate. I am not sure why this is. My only guess is that it is to do with the return of schools. However, it has been causing me some panic, because goshdangit, I have been fairly optimistic that eventually, we can get out of this. 26th April is the date when I consider lockdown over (there are prior dates, like April 5th for ending stay-at-home order) and argh, I want to hit that date. At least vaccination rate is coming along. 37.4% of the total population here, which I've seen some estimates say is 50% of the adult population. So that's nice.
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Post by Twillie on Mar 19, 2021 17:42:17 GMT -5
Today I also got to join the Health Juice club, or at least part one of it for me. My parents had been looking for vaccination openings nearby already, and thanks to my new diabetes diagnosis, I now qualified for the vaccine according to my state's current restrictions. Both my parents and sister also qualify due to the industries they work in, so when nearby vaccination slots opened up, we swooped in to fill them.
The catch, though, is that my state has been doing Not Great in terms of vaccine distribution, wherein small towns are getting more vaccines than there are people who live there, meanwhile city and metro areas aren't getting enough. So when I say "nearby," I mean a 1-3 hour drive one way to the vaccination sites. For my mom, she had to go to the state capital several hours away and wait past her appointment time thanks to delays. Because of that, my dad, sister, and I didn't know what to expect when getting ours today, but we were kinda anticipating similar. Thankfully ours was a much shorter drive to a city we were already familiar with, and getting the vaccine only took a matter of minutes for all of us. We were so ahead of schedule that my dad and I were practically walking out of the doors already done when my official appointment time hit, lol.
I got the Pfizer vaccine, and so far the only side effect I've noticed is mild soreness where they gave the shot. Will have to keep an eye out for any other issues, but so far so good. Meanwhile my second shot is already scheduled in the next couple weeks, so my family is halfway there to being fully vaccinated!
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Post by Geo 🇺🇦 🌻 on Mar 20, 2021 10:06:21 GMT -5
Posting an update that I was side-effect free yesterday so the sore arm lasted about 48-72 hours. I had a mild to moderate headache for about 48 hours with the Pfizer vaccine.
My next dose is the first week of April (the same for most of my immediate family except my brother) so I will report on my symptoms again around that time. By the time my brother qualifies, I think there will be a lot of J&J doses. It’s one shot, provides decent amounts of protection (although not as strong as the two dose vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna), but it’s 100 percent effective in preventing serious illness and hospitalization.
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Post by Geo 🇺🇦 🌻 on Mar 22, 2021 14:31:07 GMT -5
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Post by Allison on Mar 22, 2021 19:59:19 GMT -5
I work in state government, which means that in my state I'm one phase ahead of the general public, and my phase is supposed to be released March 29. They are going to have a vaccine event specifically for gov't workers, but I'd be shocked if they have one locally. That being said, if I can't get one locally, I will totally drive the 1.5 hours one way to the state capital to get my vaccine. I literally have months worth of sick leave I should be able to use for it.
Geo, I think we live in the same state, or maybe one away. But I'm not sure which of the two "metro areas that crosses a state line" you are. I'm on the east side of the state. And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, then... never mind. Ha!
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Post by Carolyn on Mar 22, 2021 20:10:48 GMT -5
New Jersey was doing well, but now... gosh. We're inundated with cases. About 25% of the population is inoculated but then there's 4000+ cases a day, which is crazy.
I should be able to get it starting March 29th and I want to get it so badly. D: Yes, I had the virus, but the alternative strains freak me out. I had Covid once and would not like it again. Also seeing friends. Want to do that again.
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Post by Geo 🇺🇦 🌻 on Mar 23, 2021 12:03:35 GMT -5
I work in state government, which means that in my state I'm one phase ahead of the general public, and my phase is supposed to be released March 29. They are going to have a vaccine event specifically for gov't workers, but I'd be shocked if they have one locally. That being said, if I can't get one locally, I will totally drive the 1.5 hours one way to the state capital to get my vaccine. I literally have months worth of sick leave I should be able to use for it. Geo, I think we live in the same state, or maybe one away. But I'm not sure which of the two "metro areas that crosses a state line" you are. I'm on the east side of the state. And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, then... never mind. Ha! I'm on the east side of my state but the main metro area is on the other side of the border on the west side of the neighboring state. This is the opposite of the other city where the main metro is in the eastern state. xD. (Or a better hint, my city confuses people because it's named after a state that it's mostly not located in xDDD) I did cross the state line to get my vaccine as I was eligible under that state's guidelines earlier than my state although now I'm eligible in both so I'm still seeing if I can get my second dose in my current state. If not, I still have an appointment at the CVS across the border that's 30 minutes away.
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Post by Geo 🇺🇦 🌻 on Mar 23, 2021 12:31:20 GMT -5
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Post by Breakingchains on Mar 23, 2021 21:08:41 GMT -5
I got my jab today--the Johnson & Johnson one, which is only one dose. Had some mild soreness normal for any injection, currently feel completely fine. We'll see if anything changes over the next couple of days but rn I'm just happy I'll be able to see my boyfriend relatively soon.
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Post by Allison on Mar 23, 2021 21:32:15 GMT -5
I work in state government, which means that in my state I'm one phase ahead of the general public, and my phase is supposed to be released March 29. They are going to have a vaccine event specifically for gov't workers, but I'd be shocked if they have one locally. That being said, if I can't get one locally, I will totally drive the 1.5 hours one way to the state capital to get my vaccine. I literally have months worth of sick leave I should be able to use for it. Geo, I think we live in the same state, or maybe one away. But I'm not sure which of the two "metro areas that crosses a state line" you are. I'm on the east side of the state. And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, then... never mind. Ha! I'm on the east side of my state but the main metro area is on the other side of the border on the west side of the neighboring state. This is the opposite of the other city where the main metro is in the eastern state. xD. (Or a better hint, my city confuses people because it's named after a state that it's mostly not located in xDDD) I did cross the state line to get my vaccine as I was eligible under that state's guidelines earlier than my state although now I'm eligible in both so I'm still seeing if I can get my second dose in my current state. If not, I still have an appointment at the CVS across the border that's 30 minutes away. Ha! I THINK I got it figured out. SO... not in the same state. I'm on the eastern side of your neighboring state, in the other major metropolitan area. You know the one that's always in the news, but only for bad reasons. *rolls eyes* (I promise, it's not as bad as major media outlets might lead you to believe.) And I'm sure we've totally confused anyone not from one of the states we're talking about, because I've pretty much confused myself. XD
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