Vaccine? Soon!

[Lotsgoingon]

Got my first Pfizer shot a week ago Sunday. Get next one in 13 days ... then 2 weeks from then to get to full immunity. My "liberation" day is May 16th. But frankly, I'll still proceed a bit cautiously. I'll still wear a mask out because well ... people in my neighborhood wear masks and I want to encourage mask wearing. I think I'll start by eating outside with friends (I haven't eaten at all in a restaurant or cafe since the start of things). I'll play it by ear as far as eating inside in a nearly full restaurant. That's not on my rush priority list now. 

The J&J problem is really tiny, but with all the distrust out there about vaccines, I think the Biden Administration was smart to pause it. I think they're trying to nail down what people are most at risk from the clots. But the numbers were really small. Something like eight people had problems with one death. It's concentrated among women age 18 to 45, I think. More people probably get sick from Tylenol ... 8 problems out of 7.5 million vaccines. That's infinitesimal. 

The benefit of the J&J vaccine is it doesn't have all the freezing requirements of Pfizer and Moderna AND it's great for shut-ins and people who have trouble getting out, because you only need to get to them (or get them out) for one shot. Hopefully they'll nail down the problems and see if they can identify who's most at risk ... and proceed again really soon. 

BTW: I assume we'll have to take boosters of these vaccines in a year or so. And I would bet that the J&J booster shot will take its protection up to the level of Pfizer and Moderna, if it already isn't at that level. The J&J vaccine came along at a rougher time for the virus than the Pfizer and the Moderna products. 

 

[lana-banana]

Not even 40 hours until our 2nd shot. Just get it in my arm already, Lord. I'm losing my mind.

I'm also pretty alarmed by what's happening in India and Ontario. It's so desperately important to do this right and we're seeing how catastrophic it can be when leadership misses the mark. I hope people demand change.

[Angelle]

27 minutes ago, lana-banana said:

Not even 40 hours until our 2nd shot. Just get it in my arm already, Lord. I'm losing my mind.

I'm also pretty alarmed by what's happening in India and Ontario. It's so desperately important to do this right and we're seeing how catastrophic it can be when leadership misses the mark. I hope people demand change.

A woman I follow from Canada - a food writer - said that she started to cry when she was shopping today. It feels so odd to be the one feeling bad for people in Canada, instead of the other way around. 

 

[Prudence V]

16 hours ago, Gaeta said:

I got my first shot of astrazeneca this morning. I know it's a controversial  vaccine  but I thought about it hard and decided I needed to be protected asap (my teen goes to a school with multiple cases per day) instead of waiting for another type of vaccine in June. 

Right now I am feeling very tired but doing my best to finish my work day. 

 

Did you take paracetamol after your jab? When I got mine, I was advised to take one when I got home, and another when I went to bed. No side effects whatsoever. 

[Gaeta]

1 hour ago, Prudence V said:

Did you take paracetamol after your jab? When I got mine, I was advised to take one when I got home, and another when I went to bed. No side effects whatsoever. 

oh really! No, they told me to take pain killer if I experienced flu like symtoms and if my arm hurt. I felt no arm pain yesteray but it started in the middle of the night. Other than that no symptoms. I'm nervous about blood clot which happens between day 4 to 20. I had a blood clot in the past but they assured me it's not the same type of blood clot and if I am sensitive to blood clot I do not want to catch covid as 1 person out of 5 will have blood clot with that virus. 

I think today my Province will announce they open vaccination with Astrazeneca to 40+.

[lana-banana]

Your friendly neighborhood social democrat got her 2nd shot! Fingers crossed for no side effects, but we'll see what the next 12-24 hours bring.

Edited April 21, 2021 by lana-banana

[FMW]

Some of my friends have had little to no problems following their second shot, while others have been sidelined for several days.  A coworker who is mid thirties felt pretty bad for almost a week.    

[lana-banana]

I was very dizzy and had a weird brain fog for about 6 hours after the 2nd shot. (I was dizzy after the 1st as well, but not quite as bad). I popped a Midol and spent a few hours in bed staring blankly at the ceiling, then was able to get up, make dinner, etc like nothing had happened. Woke up this morning and started work at 6 feeling just fine, but by 7 the brain fog was back. I'm running a fever of 101, which is pretty high given that I'm usually at 97.4. I feel like I've got DOMS after a tough day at the gym. This is certainly not fun but it's far preferable to stomach flu, strep throat, or COVID of course.

 

[lana-banana]

Still running a fever and feeling physically a bit winded, but the brain fog is gone and I can work fine. My husband (who hasn't taken a sick day in YEARS) was also running a high fever when he woke up yesterday, so we spent the day going in and out of naps.

Yesterday afternoon I got tired of lazing around and decided to do a moderate-intensity cardio workout with light weights---if you get the sense that "wow, you're a really bad patient", you're correct---afterwards I was so sore and winded, I felt like I'd done a Murph. I slept about 10 hours from Wednesday to Thursday, 5 hours during the day amidst various naps, and 11 more hours last night into today. For comparison I usually sleep 5-7 hours.

As a reminder - plenty of people have no side effects at all or they're completely negligible! I would not necessarily take the next day off unless you have the leave to burn, but at least try to clear your schedule 36 hours after the shot. 

Please, please, please get the vaccine as soon as you can and urge everyone you know to get it as well. There is so much more to COVID than "it probably won't kill you". It can forever change the course of the lives of healthy people who get it. In an extremely large study, 1 out of every 3 COVID patients was diagnosed with a new neurological illness in the months after infection. The agony of COVID-induced tinnitus has led at least one person to suicide. We are seeing it devastate Brazil, India, and Ontario because of a failed public health response. Having access to a safe vaccine at all is an incredible privilege. Take it and help make everyone safe.

[jspice]

7 hours ago, lana-banana said:

Still running a fever and feeling physically a bit winded, but the brain fog is gone and I can work fine. My husband (who hasn't taken a sick day in YEARS) was also running a high fever when he woke up yesterday, so we spent the day going in and out of naps.

Yesterday afternoon I got tired of lazing around and decided to do a moderate-intensity cardio workout with light weights---if you get the sense that "wow, you're a really bad patient", you're correct---afterwards I was so sore and winded, I felt like I'd done a Murph. I slept about 10 hours from Wednesday to Thursday, 5 hours during the day amidst various naps, and 11 more hours last night into today. For comparison I usually sleep 5-7 hours.

As a reminder - plenty of people have no side effects at all or they're completely negligible! I would not necessarily take the next day off unless you have the leave to burn, but at least try to clear your schedule 36 hours after the shot. 

Please, please, please get the vaccine as soon as you can and urge everyone you know to get it as well. There is so much more to COVID than "it probably won't kill you". It can forever change the course of the lives of healthy people who get it. In an extremely large study, 1 out of every 3 COVID patients was diagnosed with a new neurological illness in the months after infection. The agony of COVID-induced tinnitus has led at least one person to suicide. We are seeing it devastate Brazil, India, and Ontario because of a failed public health response. Having access to a safe vaccine at all is an incredible privilege. Take it and help make everyone safe.

Sounds like it hit you pretty hard. 
I got my second shot last Friday and expected more of your symptoms. The only thing I had was a really painful tingly arm for 24 hours. I thought I was about to have a heart attack 🤦🏽‍♀️🤣

The injection site has a swollen bump still and it’s itching but otherwise I’m all good. 
President Biden has done an amazing job getting this to everyone in the US. 

[BaileyB]

8 hours ago, lana-banana said:

We are seeing it devastate Brazil, India, and Ontario

It is pretty scary what is happening in these places. I work in allied health in another Canadian province and I got an email from my regulatory body yesterday ask “if anyone is interested in relocating to Ontario for four months, please contact the regulatory body in Ontario to discuss licensing.” The funny part - sure, I work in allied health but I have never worked in a hospital and I have no experience with critical care. That’s how desperate they are for help to backfill and support the nursing staff. It happened here in the fall, people were redeployed to all kinds of places. It sounds dire indeed.

And yes, we are privileged to have access to a vaccine. Feel better Lana. 

Edited April 23, 2021 by BaileyB

[Gaeta]

Justin Trudeau and his wife got vaccinated today and it was hilarious!! While Justin was getting his shot he was holding his wife's hand. When her turn came to get the shot he offered his hand to her and she made a gestures meaning *take your hand away I'm a big girl* lol.

Edited April 24, 2021 by Gaeta

[Alpacalia]

The 2nd dose side effects were intense.

Thank goodness for ibuprofen and heating pads.

Much better than the alternative though.

Hopefully, if enough people are given the vaccine, it will eventually have a transmission-blocking effect. 🤞

[ASG]

14 hours ago, Alpaca said:

The 2nd dose side effects were intense.

Thank goodness for ibuprofen and heating pads.

Much better than the alternative though.

Hopefully, if enough people are given the vaccine, it will eventually have a transmission-blocking effect. 🤞

There was one study done in Scotland that showed that having one person in the household vaccinated prevented transmission by up to 30%. So that might be the case, particularly as more and more people get vaccinated. 

 

Here in Portugal we're still only up to 65+ being vaccinated, so I still have a bit of a wait until I get mine. Though hopefully it won't be TOOOO long, what with the ramping up of vaccine deliveries. 

But we can already see the effect of the vaccination, particularly in death numbers. 20% have had 1 dose, 7% both. And 91% of people over 80 have been vaccinated, which has been making a huge difference, as most cases are now younger people, who tend to have less severe cases of the disease. 

We're reopening, after nearly 3 months in lockdown, and it doesn't seem like we're going to get a 4th wave at this rate!!

 

[Angelle]

I'm going to see if I can get an appointment next Saturday, for the first dose. Dad said he wasn't sure that I could get vaccinated in Stark county (we're right on the border), but neighbours were vaccinated early this year, two hours away. They mentioned it on next-door. 

[Alpacalia]

11 hours ago, ASG said:

There was one study done in Scotland that showed that having one person in the household vaccinated prevented transmission by up to 30%. So that might be the case, particularly as more and more people get vaccinated. 

 

Here in Portugal we're still only up to 65+ being vaccinated, so I still have a bit of a wait until I get mine. Though hopefully it won't be TOOOO long, what with the ramping up of vaccine deliveries. 

But we can already see the effect of the vaccination, particularly in death numbers. 20% have had 1 dose, 7% both. And 91% of people over 80 have been vaccinated, which has been making a huge difference, as most cases are now younger people, who tend to have less severe cases of the disease. 

We're reopening, after nearly 3 months in lockdown, and it doesn't seem like we're going to get a 4th wave at this rate!!

 

Since vaccinations were mainly distributed to young and middle-aged people in my neck of the woods, our rate has slowed. Cases for people aged 18-49 are down more than 90% so far in April compared to December. However, we continue to use masks and social distancing.

Edited April 25, 2021 by Alpaca

[ASG]

1 hour ago, Alpaca said:

Since vaccinations were mainly distributed to young and middle-aged people in my neck of the woods, our rate has slowed. Cases for people aged 18-49 are down more than 90% so far in April compared to December. However, we continue to use masks and social distancing.

Oh yeah, we're still wearing masks and distancing. And still have fairly heavy restrictions (only 4 at a table in a restaurant, for instance, and no big parties allowed at all), but slowly we'll get there. 

 

Our positivity rate is below 1% right now, and in the last week there were only 20 deaths. So we're getting there, even if our vaccination is not as far along as some other countries. 

[elaine567]

I believe in the UK we are rushing it.
Yes there are sections of the community who are very cautious, but so many aren't and whilst every one is getting a bit fed up and are therefore doing what they want to do, the virus doesn't care a damn about how fed up we are getting. All it sees are new opportunities...
India is now suffering from complacency, a complacent Govt and the complacent people thought they were over it, they had beaten it, but the virus had other ideas.
We in the UK are rolling out the vaccine but still 1/2 the population are not vaccinated, only about a 1/6 have had both doses, some will never be vaccinated and there will be breakthrough infection in those vaccinated too, so there is still a long way to go until we are "safe".
These variants are the game changer. Anything is now possible.
Too many are getting complacent IMO. 
We are over it, we have beaten it...
Famous last words...

[Lotsgoingon]

I went to the gym today for the first time since March 2020.  I was desperate to do some weight lifting. My body just feels so in need of a tuneup. I have a set of really good resistance bands, but couldn't quite get into the routine of using them. 

Felt GREAT to be giving my muscles a wakeup call. 

I was ready to turn around and walk out if it didn't feel safe. Well,  they had really spread out  the equipment and there weren't many people there in the morning when I went. I was double-masked. Got about 35 to 40 minutes of hitting the machines.  Felt so good.

I've had one Pfizer shot, and it's been two weeks, so I have some solid immunity. (The CDC estimates immunity after one Pfizer shot as 80 percent after 14 days). I go for the second shot next Sunday. I'm already looking forward to meeting people outside for coffee, or hanging inside with other vaccinated people without using a mask. 

I do not care about the side effects. Two good buddies of mine had none. Actually about four good buddies had no side effects. If I have a lot, fine. I'll deal. I'll feel grateful and deal! A sign that the immune system is roaring to life against covid. 

[lana-banana]

1 hour ago, Lotsgoingon said:

If I have a lot, fine. I'll deal. I'll feel grateful and deal! A sign that the immune system is roaring to life against covid. 

This is exactly the attitude to have! I know some people have had really awful headaches and pains, but I wish everyone the same experience I had: just totally overpowering exhaustion. Even while being sore it was amazing to do nothing but sleep for almost 36 straight hours. And yes, it's such an incredible relief to know that it's working. Just knowing "okay, even if I do get COVID it's almost certainly not going to be debilitating" is a MASSIVE load off your mind.

The variants most active now seem quite powerful and in many places it's a race against time to get shots in arms before people succumb. In the US, most people being hospitalized now are under 40 not just because so many older people are vaccinated but because some variants are more powerful. I don't know how anyone can be unmoved by how this virus is exacerbating inequality. It's unacceptable that 130 countries don't have so much as a single dose of the vaccine. The US and UK need to say to hell with industry profits (I know, I know, we'll just as soon say "to hell with the 2nd amendment" but still) and start flooding the world with shots. It's not acceptable that many countries will apparently have to wait years before even a majority of their populace can be vaccinated. I think if you in the US refuse to get Pfizer or Moderna you should have to pay out of pocket for 10 full doses in another country.

Edited April 26, 2021 by lana-banana

[Gaeta]

A woman of my age, in my neighborhood, died of a blood clot caused by Astrazeneca 14 days after her first shot. I am 9 days post vaccine, I'm gonna live in fear for the next 2 weeks. 😨

Edited April 27, 2021 by Gaeta

[FMW]

That's terrible, @Gaeta!

I had the Johnson & Johnson shot almost 5 weeks ago. I should be (hope to be) past the danger period for the blood clots.  I've paid attention for any warning signs.  Try not to be fearful, just be aware of what's going on with your body and seek immediate medical attention if something seems off.  Remember that the occurrence of blood clots is only a tiny number compared to the total number of vaccines given.  Most of us are exposed to similar statistical risks for other things we choose to participate in or are exposed to.  Vaccines are an extremely hot and controversial topic right now, so the risks are more publicized and discussed.     

[Gaeta]

@FMW Thank you for your reassurance! 🙏

[lana-banana]

Gaeta, I'm so sorry to hear thar! The odds of developing a blood clot from the AZ vaccine are 1 in 100,000---.001---and the odds of that blood clot being fatal are far smaller still. Please look after your health and call your provider if anything feels off; they will help you out. I know it's scary but those are very small odds. You might even be able to get extra peace of mind by asking the doctor what symptoms to watch out for.

All the best!! Hang in there!

[Lotsgoingon]

Gaeta, your odds of trouble are astronomical against. I get that people feel scared, though. The vaccines are now. But you'll be fine. Yes, I read that the odds of trouble are 1 out of 100,000. There are routine medical procedures that have odds (of problems) of 1/100 and that is often considered highly safe.