The COVID Questions
(EDITOR’S NOTE: During the dramatic weeks of January and early February, dozens and perhaps hundreds of Yale62 classmates received COVID19 vaccinations. We thought it an appropriate time, while the experience was fresh in your minds, to invite descriptions, comments and opinions to the following questions. Please respond to one or both in around 100 words each. Classmates who have not been vaccinated may also respond and express opinions. Opinions and questions about what other classmates have described are encouraged, but please be sure to click the reply button below the specific comment you are addressing so that the material will thread together for others to read.
See graphic here:
Many more classmates also were having tests and knew family and friends diagnosed with COVID19. Just for the record, national daily cases dropped about 16 % in the past week but remain high at about 140,000 new cases and 3,000 deaths per day. Concern and uncertainty about new variants persist, including whether vaccinations will have the same high efficacy in combating the new threats. Thank you for participating)
THE QUESTIONS
1. What was your reaction to receiving either the first and/or second vaccination and did it change your outlook for the coming months? Were your reactions to your “shots in the arm” about as you expected or more than you anticipated? Did you have reservations about getting the COVID19 vaccine and perhaps decide to delay or not be vaccinated at all?
2. What is your opinion about the rapid development of the various vaccines and how they were allocated and distributed in your area? Do you have concerns that less privileged Americans are not getting equal access to COVID19 protection? Should seniors be the highest priority?
1. I had no reservations about taking the shot. I took it as soon as possible! Had the first Moderna shot Jan 12th and as I expected I had NO DETECTABLE consequence. No pain AT ALL.
2nd shot comes Feb 9th and suspect chills and slight fever after affect 10 or so hours later. My guess.
2. I believe in the scientific process and most on the companies complied in spite of the pressures. I recognize they should be HIGHLY praised for their teams expeditious accomplishments. I see only an age requirement in Arizona. The shots are free. No. Seniors should not be first. Front line workers, nursing homes, teachers, seniors, law officers, prison inmates and staff, kids.
1. Rapid development of, as of now, three vaccines seems an unusual scientific accomplishment spurred/aided by government effort. It’s not fashionable to give the T guy credit for anything, but maybe here he deserves some.
2. Distribution seems inept, or worse; charge that against the T guy. On balance, I judge we’re better off with the rapid development ineptly distributed [at first] than not to have them fast.
3. Locales have been developing their own allocation protocols. By now, early February, I judge that no one has come up with a method better than give them to the medical ppl first, then to the oldest and then by decreasing age. Attempts to implement other allocation disciplines seem to lead to bribes, political influence and other line-jumpings. Doing it by age may not be ideal, but it beats any other queuing discipline I’ve read about: don’t let the best be the enemy of the good. Allocating by age is workable and enforceable. Any method that requires/allows judgment by a bureaucrat will lead to disquiet, upset, favoritism or, at least, charges thereof.
None of this originates with me; I read it.
4. My experience. I signed up in five cities, expecting to travel to where I was offered first. Then my primary care doc, who says I’m his most compliant patient, said he thought it more dangerous for me to fly for early vaccination than to wait for a later one. So I declined the first three offers, in Winthrop WA, Jackson WY, and Darien CT, while I await something in Sarasota FL. Just now, on Feb 5, a text message arrived saying that on Feb 13, at 11am, word of some appointments will arrive via email. The number mentioned–7,000–seems too small to accommodate the large number of old farts here. RomanWeil@gmail.com
1. After all the hullabaloo about the vaccines, and the distribution, and the appointment process, the shot itself was an anticlimax. Connecticut has been running a pretty well-disciplined and organized process. No reservations about the shot — quite the contrary. The reaction was . . . relief. Nothing will change for us until at least a couple of weeks after the second shot — around mid-March. Even then: masks, distancing, etc. But maybe we’ll try a restaurant.
2. My opinion about the development of the vaccines has been shaped by my daughter, who works “in the belly of the beast” at a biological sciences foundation. Lots of ups and downs and ins and outs during the development process, but the over-riding idea is that biological science, especially medical science, has been drastically, fundamentally changed, for the better. Going forward, as this issue fades, nobody will do things the same old way. Bodes well for what Roman Weil calls us old farts.
1. I’m still waiting to be vaccinated.
2. It’s very very frustrating. I signed up, but have yet to find a spot. The problem is Montgomery County, Maryland, where I live, has over 50,000 people over 75, but only gets 6,000 shots a week. So we’re talking about and 8 week time people to play vaccine roulette.
One has to be very adept at signing up when there are listed openings. Luckily we have our daughter, who is far more literate on the computer than us, so she is doing that, so far to no avail. Less privileged Americans are screwed because they don’t have computers. They can use a cell phone, but following openings and getting slots takes time, time that many not have if they are working at various gig jobs. I don’t have a problem with over 75 being category 1B. We are the ones most at risk.
As of 02:21 am Sunday morning we both received our second Pfizer vaccination here in the Phoenix, AZ area at the drive through location out at State Farm Stadium – the location that Pres. Biden and the VP Harris are visiting remotely as I write this. Our first shots were totally uneventful. The second shot which we received some 37 hours ago has had more of an impact. My arm still feels a bit sore as does Lynne’s. But more importantly we both feel a bit odd. Sort of a cross between a bit of a headache, a bit dizzy, or a bit hungover, and quite tired. In other words now would not be a good time to be doing anything serious or complicated. I’d recommend anyone planning their second shot make sure that they can clear the next couple of days of any obligations.
1. Getting the COVID vaccination in Austin, Texas has been a considerably difficult process. Our efforts to get on the Austin Public Health (APH) website has been close to a nightmare. Back on January 14, my wife Marcia was able to get on and get an appointment for Saturday, January 16. When I tried less than 5 minutes later, no luck. Anyway, willing to try my luck, on Saturday, after arriving at a designated site only to be told they weren’t doing vaccinations, we were directed to another location. After clearing up some complications, we did get our first shot, with our follow-up indicated to take place on Saturday, February 13. Leading up to that date, all efforts to get a reservation met with persistent frustration. Nothing we tried to do could secure a reservation on the APH website. Then and through now (February 16), the weather has maliciously intervened and all injections have been canceled for this week. Having been a program developer for decades, I find myself these days much irritated by the incompetence and hostility I find designed into so many websites.
2. Given the usual timeframe it takes to develop a viable and effective vaccine, I have been impressed by the accomplishments of the various drug companies over the past 10 months. The allocation of the vaccines is another problem and I don’t see any capable coordination of the logistics of delivery, as well as inconsistencies from locale to locale as to who is eligible to receive it. With the rollout of the various vaccines, I have neither seen nor heard anything about the production capabilities of the different drug companies involved as to how they can and would ably and equitably meet the demand.
I received the Pfizer first shot on 1/23/2021 and the booster on 2/13/2021. No reaction to either shot. So much so that I was a little concerned that they were still administering the placebo.
First and second shots received with no adverse reactions. Geezers properly prioritized. We knew going in that black and brown and poor communities would be underserved. There are ways to avoid that result but few were taken. We will be playing catch-up with our essential workers for a long time and will not be over the pandemic until we equitably have shots in all arms