PlagueWatch 2020-23 - Coronavirus

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

I'll venture to guess that the OP is suggesting that pharmacists are already overworked with their other responsibilities due to understaffing.

Yes. And I can only assume that there's a lot more folks getting COVID shots and boosters than flu shots.

[MChambers]

The pharmacist who administered my Pfizer booster yesterday said it had been crazy busy, mostly in terms of phone calls. When I went at 11:45 a.m., for my 12 noon appointment, I was the only person in line, however. I was done in five minutes.

She told me I needed to stay in the store for 15 minutes, but after a few minutes I decided the risk of contracting Covid in the store was greater than an adverse reaction to the vaccine, so I left.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Yes. And I can only assume that there's a lot more folks getting COVID shots and boosters than flu shots.

The very large bank I work at was giving out flu vaccines this past week at our offices (I am back part time - there are over 10,000 people who theoretically work in the building complex I am in) and there was a constant flow of people.

And things are only going to hopefully get busier for those who give vaccines in the next week or two when 5-11 year olds are authorized to get the vaccine. I have two kids in that age range and we got an e-mail from our pediatrician saying they placed a large order and are planning to work all weekend November 5-7 on the assumption it will be approved before then.

If the timing is right there will be a lot of kids fully vaccinated just in time for Christmas (unfortunately Hanukah is early this year so those who get it immediately will likely still be in the two week window during Hanukah). People will still need to be cautious but this would be really great.

[Indoor66]

Why? Pharmacies have been doing vaccinations for as long as I can remember.

Maybe we need a Federal Department of Innoculation to handld all pandemic related issues. That would really help the Walgreen's staff.

[camion]

I got boostered the Moderna way this morning at my neighborhood Ingles Pharmacy. I got my original Moderna shots at Ingles so I decided to stick with the vaccine type and store brand.

I reacted similarly to the first two Moderna shots with sore arm, minor aches and chills, slight fever and pulse rate elevated about 10 BPM. None of that would have stopped me from going to work, but I don't have a job.* All of the reactions happened in the first 18 hours and I was fine after 24. We'll see how it goes this time.





*I retired in early 2020 just before the first lockdown.

[Acymetric]

She told me I needed to stay in the store for 15 minutes, but after a few minutes I decided the risk of contracting Covid in the store was greater than an adverse reaction to the vaccine, so I left.

Just for the sake of anyone else doing risk calculus, this is probably not true unless you happen to carry an epi pen.

[camion]

Just for the sake of anyone else doing risk calculus, this is probably not true unless you happen to carry an epi pen.

I stayed in the Ingles supermarket for 15 minutes after my shot and it was definitely bad for my health.

cherry-pie.jpg

This is officially a "Cherry Plenty Pie."

[ClemmonsDevil]

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/covid-19-updates/

I have not looked through this, but this is ambitious and massive in scale. Covid information database from 538.

[camion]

I got boostered the Moderna way this morning at my neighborhood Ingles Pharmacy. I got my original Moderna shots at Ingles so I decided to stick with the vaccine type and store brand.

I reacted similarly to the first two Moderna shots with sore arm, minor aches and chills, slight fever and pulse rate elevated about 10 BPM. None of that would have stopped me from going to work, but I don't have a job.* All of the reactions happened in the first 18 hours and I was fine after 24. We'll see how it goes this time.





*I retired in early 2020 just before the first lockdown.

My reaction to the morning injection of the booster followed the same path as with the first two shots, but it wasn't as strong. I felt icky and odd with a sore arm and some achiness in the evening, and I woke a couple of times during the night with general icky feelings, but no fever and no pulse rate increase this time. Now, 24 hours after the injection I feel pretty good, just a little tired. Hopefully I'm past the main reaction phase.

[Bluedog]

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/covid-19-updates/

I have not looked through this, but this is ambitious and massive in scale. Covid information database from 538.

Thanks for providing. I'd love for them to break-out the "mask effectiveness" section also by age group. What is the real-world effectiveness of masks in reducing COVID spread in ages 2-5 for example. I'd think you could do that based on different daycares taking different approaches (depends on the state though, but for example, IL mandates it at age 2, WI at age 5, CO is age 11. Not sure if there are some states that leave it up to the individual center and those centers have different age cut-offs). And that's not considering potentially trade-offs, which are MUCH more substantial for that toddler/young kids group than it is for adults if you're requiring 2-year olds to wear masks 9+ hours a day every day. They're already stating cloth masks probably aren't as great as we think they are. Probably worse for young kids who get them wet/don't wear them properly all the time (although admittedly I've found that children are often better than many adults I've seen!).

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Update:

Pfizer's first shot was uneventful. Second shot in April laid me flat on my back for two days.

The booster I got Saturday afternoon. Felt fine Saturday evening. Felt rotten Sunday most of the day - achey, hot/cold, sore. Slept terrible last night for those same reasons.

Woke up this morning, feeling pretty miserable. Cloud lifted around 10:30. Ventured into the world for a few hours.

Spent again now. I expect to feel 90% by tomorrow.

[Bluedog]

Update:

Pfizer's first shot was uneventful. Second shot in April laid me flat on my back for two days.

The booster I got Saturday afternoon. Felt fine Saturday evening. Felt rotten Sunday most of the day - achey, hot/cold, sore. Slept terrible last night for those same reasons.

Woke up this morning, feeling pretty miserable. Cloud lifted around 10:30. Ventured into the world for a few hours.

Spent again now. I expect to feel 90% by tomorrow.

I do have a bit of concern that if getting a COVID vaccine is an annual thing (or even more than that), many people are going to say "sc**w it" as they don't want to (or can't because of work) feel like cr** for a day for a shot. Just another hurdle to overcome. It does seem like COVID rotten feeling is more prevalent/pronounced than the flu shot as a comparison though. Note that I am NOT saying it's not worth it, simply that it may be an ongoing hurdle if the crumminess exists every time for a good 24-48 hours for people and many people may take that into consideration when getting their semi-annual booster.

Glad you're on the upswing and hope you feel close to 100% soon.

[budwom]

if my Googlage is correct, about 50% of Americans get flu shots each year, probably a higher number among older people...

[Bluedog]

if my Googlage is correct, about 50% of Americans get flu shots each year, probably a higher number among older people...

Yes, and that's with 0.8% (!) of flu vaccine recipients reporting a fever. See comparison details below. The COVID vaccine is magnitudes higher for muscle pain, headache, fatigue, chills, fever...I actually am surprised to see such low numbers for fever for vaccine side effects for COVID when chills/headache is much more common. Basically, everyone gets local pain whereas less than half of flu shot recipients do. I think (?) that the side effects tend to be worse for "younger" people /strong immune systems too, right? So, that may again be a determining factor and perhaps those at greater risk for severe disease won't be as discouraged by the side effects for an annual booster, so I guess that's good in a way.
https://www.samhealth.org/about-sama...other-vaccines

COVID Vaccine Side Effects Compared to Flu & Shingles Shots.jpg

[YmoBeThere]

I stayed in the Ingles supermarket for 15 minutes after my shot and it was definitely bad for my health.

cherry-pie.jpg

This is officially a "Cherry Plenty Pie."

Plenty of calories and I would have enjoyed every single one of them

[aimo]

I do have a bit of concern that if getting a COVID vaccine is an annual thing (or even more than that), many people are going to say "sc**w it" as they don't want to (or can't because of work) feel like cr** for a day for a shot. Just another hurdle to overcome. It does seem like COVID rotten feeling is more prevalent/pronounced than the flu shot as a comparison though. Note that I am NOT saying it's not worth it, simply that it may be an ongoing hurdle if the crumminess exists every time for a good 24-48 hours for people and many people may take that into consideration when getting their semi-annual booster.

Glad you're on the upswing and hope you feel close to 100% soon.

Maybe (hopefully) annual dosages can be smaller and less make-you-feel-crappy?

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

I do have a bit of concern that if getting a COVID vaccine is an annual thing (or even more than that), many people are going to say "sc**w it" as they don't want to (or can't because of work) feel like cr** for a day for a shot. Just another hurdle to overcome. It does seem like COVID rotten feeling is more prevalent/pronounced than the flu shot as a comparison though. Note that I am NOT saying it's not worth it, simply that it may be an ongoing hurdle if the crumminess exists every time for a good 24-48 hours for people and many people may take that into consideration when getting their semi-annual booster.

Glad you're on the upswing and hope you feel close to 100% soon.

Especially considering that so many people are already exhibiting "mask fatigue," as in "I'm tired of it and don't wanna."

Our population has proven quite resistant to "minor inconveniences."

[MChambers]

Update: I got my heterologous (Pfizer) booster Saturday at noon. Felt pretty good Saturday, but Sunday I had some chills and was very tired. Accordingly, I took it easy and even had a fairly long nap Sunday afternoon. By Sunday night, I felt pretty good and this morning I felt back to normal. (Of course, at age 63 normal isn't all that great.) Still, I did my usual 45 minute swim this morning and felt fine.

The Pfizer booster did seem to give me more side effects than the original J&J shot, for which I had minimal side effects.

[Phredd3]

Our population has proven quite resistant to "minor inconveniences."

I'm going to stick up for our population a bit here: 1. I think it is more than a minor inconvenience being unable to smile at someone. Smiles (and other facial expressions, but smiles are the ones I miss the most) go a long way in daily life. 2. Listening fatigue is real, and masks make listening quite a bit more difficult, especially for people with even a little hearing loss. Beyond just a loss of decibels, there is a significant loss of definition to the sounds and no visual cues to help. 3. I don't think our population is particularly unique in this regard. I think there is mask fatigue pretty much throughout Western culture. I know it is present in Europe, both in the UK and on the Continent.

I'm still in favor of masks in most indoor settings, but I don't think it helps to minimize the inconveniences. I think a more productive approach is to recognize those difficulties and, where possible, try to mitigate them.

[aimo]

My first trip to the gym since March 2020. Mask requirement, though I saw a couple of noses hanging out, one twit in the locker room w/o one, and one older lady walking around with it at her neck until she saw me glaring at her. They did do an intercom reminder to properly wear masks.

Very few people there, at 4:30/5pm, usually a busy time on Monday.

As you walk in, you grab a rag and a spray bottle and clean each machine as you finish.

I actually felt pretty OK working out, so I hope to get back into the habit and get rid of COVID poundage.