Coronavirus prep

Theoldguy1 wrote: »

Gisel2015 wrote: »

From The New York Times:

What Happens When People Stop Going to the Doctor? We’re About to Find Out
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/22/opinion/medical-care-coronavirus.html?smid=em-share

Very true!.

Might just be me, but I'll take my chances with 'rona before postponing screenings.

I had postponed some things in those first months, but as it became clear this would be more long term and we started to get a handle on how to adjust to reduce the risk, I decided deferring medical appointments was a worse option. I had my first dental appointment the second day dentist were allowed to reopen for non-emergency services.

33gail33 wrote: »

Antiopelle wrote: »

In Belgium, only about 5% has been vaccinated yet due to a shortage of vaccines. It is particularly sour as the vaccines are produced right here but are mostly all exported. I live +- 5 km (3 miles) from the Pfizer manufacturing site and taking into my age (51) and health, I'll probably have to wait until September.
However, we try to take it on the bright side: better times are ahead and at least we live in a country where there is a vaccination plan rolled out, even if it might take a lot of time still.
It is what it is, and getting frustrated doesn't help, keeping up a positive attitude does.

I'm in Canada and getting my first Pfizer shot this week. I am 55, but I am caregiver to my mother who lives in a seniors residence and is 87 - so they have seemingly deemed me to be in a priority group. I actually feel a bit weird about getting it so early, but I guess since I am at the seniors residence regularly it is more about protecting them not me.
Even at that they are telling us that 60 years old's in the general population should be eligible July 1 (we will see if that happens), and by September anyone who wants one can get it. I was really upset about the Canadian roll-out, but it seems there are issues everywhere. I'm surprised that you would have to wait so long in Belgium to get it.

I assume Belgium is in the same EU-wide distribution scheme as Finland - here the last estimate for healthy adults in non-medical professions is that vaccinating could start in May. Even then they are rolling it out in reverse age order, I think, so it could be a while before my social circle (25-35) gets it.

I’ll have to wait until this baby is born anyway. I hope they come into their senses and start vaccinating household members of high-risk people who can’t be vaccinated, like spouses of pregnant women and family members of those who are allergic or have other health issues preventing vaccination. It would seem like a logical thing to do, since the majority of new infections is from household member to household member.

33gail33 wrote: »

Antiopelle wrote: »

In Belgium, only about 5% has been vaccinated yet due to a shortage of vaccines. It is particularly sour as the vaccines are produced right here but are mostly all exported. I live +- 5 km (3 miles) from the Pfizer manufacturing site and taking into my age (51) and health, I'll probably have to wait until September.
However, we try to take it on the bright side: better times are ahead and at least we live in a country where there is a vaccination plan rolled out, even if it might take a lot of time still.
It is what it is, and getting frustrated doesn't help, keeping up a positive attitude does.

I'm in Canada and getting my first Pfizer shot this week. I am 55, but I am caregiver to my mother who lives in a seniors residence and is 87 - so they have seemingly deemed me to be in a priority group. I actually feel a bit weird about getting it so early, but I guess since I am at the seniors residence regularly it is more about protecting them not me.
Even at that they are telling us that 60 years old's in the general population should be eligible July 1 (we will see if that happens), and by September anyone who wants one can get it. I was really upset about the Canadian roll-out, but it seems there are issues everywhere. I'm surprised that you would have to wait so long in Belgium to get it.

Lucky! Locally our paramedics just got their first shot Friday and now we're out of vaccines again. I think the next group is seniors in congregate living other than long term care.

My dad (81) heard that over 80s can start getting vaccinated March 15th. I told him not to pin any hope on that one.

33gail33 wrote: »

ythannah wrote: »

33gail33 wrote: »

Antiopelle wrote: »

In Belgium, only about 5% has been vaccinated yet due to a shortage of vaccines. It is particularly sour as the vaccines are produced right here but are mostly all exported. I live +- 5 km (3 miles) from the Pfizer manufacturing site and taking into my age (51) and health, I'll probably have to wait until September.
However, we try to take it on the bright side: better times are ahead and at least we live in a country where there is a vaccination plan rolled out, even if it might take a lot of time still.
It is what it is, and getting frustrated doesn't help, keeping up a positive attitude does.

I'm in Canada and getting my first Pfizer shot this week. I am 55, but I am caregiver to my mother who lives in a seniors residence and is 87 - so they have seemingly deemed me to be in a priority group. I actually feel a bit weird about getting it so early, but I guess since I am at the seniors residence regularly it is more about protecting them not me.
Even at that they are telling us that 60 years old's in the general population should be eligible July 1 (we will see if that happens), and by September anyone who wants one can get it. I was really upset about the Canadian roll-out, but it seems there are issues everywhere. I'm surprised that you would have to wait so long in Belgium to get it.

Lucky! Locally our paramedics just got their first shot Friday and now we're out of vaccines again. I think the next group is seniors in congregate living other than long term care.

My dad (81) heard that over 80s can start getting vaccinated March 15th. I told him not to pin any hope on that one.

They have already started vaccinating over 80s in some areas of Ontario. York and Halton for sure. Some health departments are setting up their own appointments before the provincial website comes online on the 15th - so maybe check your local health department website.

We're a little.... remote.

They started booking appointments for 85+ this week and the spots filled up instantly. I think we'll be working on that population for a while, particularly as the vaccine supply also has to go to priority occupational groups like health care workers.

Theoldguy1 wrote: »

HEY, TODAY, MARCH 2ND IS THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THIS THREAD.

Doubt if anyone predicted what actually happened.

We were so young and naive in the right-before times

Heading out this next week to TX to move my daughter back to AZ. No choice. She has to be out in two weeks. Just in time for TX to lift all restrictions on masks. Lovely. At least we're going to Austin where their mayor seems to still have sense.

Love putting my family's lives at risk for his political future.

Theoldguy1 wrote: »

HEY, TODAY, MARCH 2ND IS THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THIS THREAD.

Doubt if anyone predicted what actually happened.

It's very interesting to go back now and read this thread from the beginning.

I've said this before, but I honestly believe that this thread should be preserved long-term for its historic context. It's amazing to see posts from people from all over the world as this pandemic evolved. You see dramatic shifts in views, opinions, and fear, even among the same posters.

It's a great, time-stamped record of what life was like during this time.

Theoldguy1 wrote: »

HEY, TODAY, MARCH 2ND IS THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THIS THREAD.

Doubt if anyone predicted what actually happened.

There were actually some pretty good posts early on about the potential to kill hundreds of thousands, etc.
@MikePfirrman had a pretty good one on the first page...got 24 disagrees. It looks like a lot of the early posts predicting quite a bit of death and whatnot got a lot of disagrees.

At this time last year, I wasn't paying a ton of attention to COVID except monitoring what was going on in Colorado as I was supposed to take my boys on a road trip at the end of March to culminate in a SuperCross event at Mile High...but other than that, NM did not have any known cases yet and I figured it would be pretty much like any other bug out there. Two weeks later, NM came to a grinding halt.

Some This Week in Virology insights:

• There does not seem to be any benefit to taking NSAIDs before vaccination, but it's fine to take after vaccination if you do experience side effects.
  
• Emerging data seems to show that at the least, virus shedding after full vaccination is greatly reduced. They still can't see if these vaccines will ultimately be sterilizing or not, but it suggests that transmission will be much less likely and maintains hope for herd immunity.
  
• There was a preprint study that concluded that a high dose of vitamin D helped those sick with covid-19. That preprint has been pulled rather than completing peer review due to issues with how participants were chosen (it looks like they gave D to the less sick and used the worse cases as their control). Meanwhile a peer-reviewed study showed no benefit. They stressed that being D deficient does correlate to more serious illness, so they still recommend getting tested and supplementing if you are low as a preventative.

On March 3 of last year I was monitoring the virus (the first case in Chicago was reported in late January, and I was paying attention to the number of cases), but way more focused on Super Tuesday. I did not yet have any intention of voting early in the primary (ours was March 17, I actually voted on March 13), and I wasn't particularly worried about any shortages (although apparently I said something about stocking up on toilet paper in this thread). I was lucky that I never really had to deal with any significant shortages, as it happens. I was also joking about mask ads, and didn't really believe that masks would be used in a widespread way, and did not expect to work from home for any extended period of time -- at some time around then (might have been late Feb, however), I recall a workplace meeting where someone talked about making sure we all had what we needed to work from home (which sounded awful to me), and I recall thinking they were overreacting and that would never happen. Sigh.

lokihen wrote: »

Looking back at the first page reminded me how badly the WHO dropped the ball on this.

Unfortunately , COVID was underestimated by almost everyone in the beginning.

Yes. Some knew. I cannot speak to the WHO, but a friend at Johns Hopkins coordinated a pandemic response planning team back in the early 90's. They knew. They had plans detailing what constituted "essential workers," how much movement needed to be limited for how long, impacts on public transportation ... they had plans and experts ready. Literally decades ago. It's just that US leadership in place at the moment of the outbreak fired the readiness team and disregarded the readiness plan. That was the shocking part to me. And other state leaders -- to this very day -- continue to disregard virologist and public health guidance.... it's almost inexplicable.

*Finally* got my first shot (Pfizer) today, after seeing friends getting theirs (some of them even the 2nd dose) for weeks now . . . I guess, what I get for being on the young end of 1b, with no reported co-morbidity risks? (I didn't report COPD, because it's so early stage, and I've gotta believe the added risk is minor with my level of lung function from exercise.)

The drive-through site was really well-organized. I got there at 10:45, drove out at 11:20, and that included the post-shot 15-minute observation period in case of allergic reactions (none then, or so far, almost 3 hours after).

I'm going to describe the setup/process, in case anyone is interested. If you're not, stop reading. 🙂

It's run by one of the two big local hospital/health care systems, in what used to be a Sears auto repair facility at a local mall. Staffing was a combination of National Guard (NG) troops (doing traffic control, but one also gave me my shot) and health care staff.

They have the building split into 2 multi-lane Covid facilities, one for Covid tests, one for the vaccinations. (There's a full concrete block wall between the two sections with one small door in it, and both areas are constantly opening the overhead doors on either side to let cars in/out, so good air exchange. Seems like adequate isolation for the two functions.) There are 3 lanes for vax, and I think there were 3-4 for tests. Tests side wasn't as busy. Vax side was full.

They have a long approach with traffic cones, really good signage to get you to that, and when you sign up online there's a map of the traffic flow, too. Some NG folks directed me into the start point, where there were 3 lanes (looked to be mostly NG) asking to make sure I had an appointment, giving me info paperwork, and explaining the process. Then I was shuttled into a long lane around the building, where it split to 3 lanes, one for each set of drive-through bays. There was a little wait there.

When it was my turn, I drove in, doors were shut, and there was a two station process: 1. Check in (I was mostly pre-checked-in, but they looked at my ID, updated the computer system, gave me my vax record card). Someone also wrote a number on my windshield (with one of those markers people use for athletic slogans on car windows!) that turned out to be the time I could leave the monitoring line. 2. Jab by NG guy.

Then the opposite door was opened, and drove around the building again, where we were herded into a single line in order by the time on the windshield (more NG people herding). We'd been told to honk our horn if any problems, and there was a PA or someone medical like that walking up and down glancing in cars, too. At the end, they made me wait until it was my time, then asked me questions about side effects (none), and I left.