Got first doze of Pfizer today

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Now Pfizer is talking about the potential need for shot #3 maybe 6 to 9 months after #2.
 
Bob Noel said:
Being also in massachusetts, I'm surprised you don't understand the problem isn't the system or systems, the problem is that there are WAY more people clamoring/whining for vaccinations than doses available. In massachusetts we have capacity to vaccinate 2 or 3 times as many people as we have doses available.

Edit: I'm 62 and will get my first shot tomorrow
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I'm not referring to the Mass Vax system which is pretty decent, but rather to the fact that every single healthcare provider that also gets a stock of vaccines has to handle their own scheduling. I signed up for email alerts for open appointments (an alert system that is not associated with Mass Vax nor alerts to those as they contact you to register for an appointment when you are eligible) and ended up interacting with at least 10 different healthcare provider registration systems, entering all my information, only to be denied an appointment because none of these websites/systems can handle race conditions properly (something, by the way that the Mass Vax system *can* do) before ultimately just getting an appointment with Mass Vax.

My point was that having each independent healthcare provider that has vaccines in addition to Mass Vax/CVS/Walgreens setup its own scheduling system is hugely annoying and results in a lot of half-assed, broken, and poorly functioning tech. Of course the problem is compounded by massive demand, but the process of trying to get an appointment is made 10x more frustrating with the piecemeal system we have outside of Mass Vax/CVS/Walgreens (Walgreen's website is also crap I will add).

Please don't tell me what I do and don't understand. I do not appreciate being talked down to in that way.
 
Bob Noel said:
Being also in massachusetts, I'm surprised you don't understand the problem isn't the system or systems, the problem is that there are WAY more people clamoring/whining for vaccinations than doses available. In massachusetts we have capacity to vaccinate 2 or 3 times as many people as we have doses available.

Edit: I'm 62 and will get my first shot tomorrow
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Similar to California, at least the Bay Area. The mass vaccination sites seem to work well at administering shots, but finding an available appointment amounts to being lucky enough to check when slots open up.
 
AKiss20 said:
I'm not referring to the Mass Vax system which is pretty decent, but rather to the fact that every single healthcare provider that also gets a stock of vaccines has to handle their own scheduling. I signed up for email alerts for open appointments (an alert system that is not associated with Mass Vax nor alerts to those as they contact you to register for an appointment when you are eligible) and ended up interacting with at least 10 different healthcare provider registration systems, entering all my information, only to be denied an appointment because none of these websites/systems can handle race conditions properly (something, by the way that the Mass Vax system *can* do) before ultimately just getting an appointment with Mass Vax.

My point was that having each independent healthcare provider that has vaccines in addition to Mass Vax/CVS/Walgreens setup its own scheduling system is hugely annoying and results in a lot of half-assed, broken, and poorly functioning tech. Of course the problem is compounded by massive demand, but the process of trying to get an appointment is made 10x more frustrating with the piecemeal system we have outside of Mass Vax/CVS/Walgreens (Walgreen's website is also crap I will add).

Please don't tell me what I do and don't understand. I do not appreciate being talked down to in that way.
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You appear to think the problem is the piecemeal systems (which, btw, could have joined in with the Mass Vax system but chose not to). I believe the problem is the number of doses being much smaller than the number of people clamoring for vaccinations. If there were a surplus of doses, the piecemeal collection of systems wouldn't have been a problem. Without the doses available, having a really spiffy website would have been useless.

But I guess, we'll just have to agree to disagree about the root problem.
 
Scrabo said:
Now Pfizer is talking about the potential need for shot #3 maybe 6 to 9 months after #2.
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That really isn’t anything new, they have been saying that from the start. But I think I’ll wait until the CDC and FDA confirm that instead of listening to the guy who is selling them. :)
 
Right, Dave. Speculation that further boosters, especially if needed for new variants, has always been in the cards. I'm fine with that.
 
If it does come to that, maybe it can be blended in with the annual flu shots.
 
write-stuff said:
Right, Dave. Speculation that further boosters, especially if needed for new variants, has always been in the cards. I'm fine with that.
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The booster is to cover variants...like the Brazilian. The current brew isn’t working for that. All other variants seem to be very effective.
The current RNA vaccines are show high effectiveness even after 6 months.
 
Oregon opens to everyone on the 19th. I was expecting weeks of fighting just like trying to buy a PS5. Went on-line and my first dose is scheduled Wednesday the 21st, looks like plenty of availability here in rural Oregon at least. Not sure what the status is in the big city.
 
Bob Noel said:
Hopefully, for future annual(?) and booster doses, pfizer and moderna can make effective doses that don't require the special cold storage, etc etc.
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That, yes, and hopefully down the road they’ll have vaccines that will be effective long term, like the measles, polio, chicken pox, etc., so it’s not a yearly thing.
 
Down here we're a red state and there's a lot of vaccine "hesitancy." We had no problem lining up shots. In fact, my son-in-law was visiting from Maryland last week and we were able to snag him a J&J shot before he left.
 
Here in Georgia, things are opening up. My daughter and I went to Dalton, which is about 70 miles away, because appointments were easy to get. In south Georgia, there are plenty of appointments to be had as well as some walk in events. It's only in metro Atlanta where you have to do some searching. There are a lot of providers, so you have to do a lot of searching and registering if you want an appointment close to home. I decided to drive instead.
 
Bob Noel said:
Hopefully, for future annual(?) and booster doses, pfizer and moderna can make effective doses that don't require the special cold storage, etc etc.
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The cold storage has turned out to be far less of an issue than anticipated. As long as the vaccination providers receive a consistent supply of doses and are able to schedule a flow of vaccinees, they can thaw just enough for the days volume. Pfizer seems to work better for larger sites, moderna works well for medium sized operations. Neither of them will work for something like an individual doctors office that needs to have the vaccine available for a few patients each day (that's where you need single dose vials that can be stored in a fridge).

I actually don't anticipate that we will need an annual booster beyond a year or two. We are seeing variants because we have high levels of transmission . We are not dealing with the dreaded 'Norway variant' , we are dealing with UK, Brasil and SA variants. So once the overall level of transmission is down, we are less likely to see new variants.
 
Bob Noel said:
Hopefully, for future annual(?) and booster doses, pfizer and moderna can make effective doses that don't require the special cold storage, etc etc.
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Both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use mRNA as an active ingredient. RNA is very unstable, and has to be kept at very cold temperatures to prevent degradation during storage. The J&J and Oxford vaccines are DNA based, and can be stored in a refrigerator because DNA is more stable. Sadly, for whatever reason both of those seem to cause blood clots. Right now the mRNA vaccines rule.

I doubt Bourla is correct. The vaccine directs an immune response against the spike protein of the coronavirus, which is what gives it its crown shape and its name. All the data I've seen has suggested that the spike protein is the one thing not quickly evolving in the viruses. That makes sense, since the tight association between the spike protein and the angiotensin converting enzyme is what gives COVID its kick. Mutations in the spike protein sufficient to mask it from a polyclonal antiserum would likely denigrate its binding affinity for its target, and that would be bad for the virus.
 
steingar said:
Both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use mRNA as an active ingredient. RNA is very unstable, and has to be kept at very cold temperatures to prevent degradation during storage. The J&J and Oxford vaccines are DNA based, and can be stored in a refrigerator because DNA is more stable. Sadly, for whatever reason both of those seem to cause blood clots. Right now the mRNA vaccines rule.
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I was on the fence about getting vaccinated, but after some lengthy discussions with some doctor friends I went with Pfizer and get my second shot May3.
 
Bill said:
I was on the fence about getting vaccinated, but after some lengthy discussions with some doctor friends I went with Pfizer and get my second shot May3.
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Good to hear Bill. The second dose kicked my six, but it really is worth it for proven immunity against COVID.
 
FormerHangie said:
Here in Georgia, things are opening up. My daughter and I went to Dalton, which is about 70 miles away, because appointments were easy to get. In south Georgia, there are plenty of appointments to be had as well as some walk in events. It's only in metro Atlanta where you have to do some searching. There are a lot of providers, so you have to do a lot of searching and registering if you want an appointment close to home. I decided to drive instead.
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Hundreds and even thousands of appointments open statewide every day now here in Kansas as well.
 
Ryan A said:
Hundreds and even thousands of appointments open statewide every day now here in Kansas as well.
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Yeah, in a lot of the state it's pretty much "walk-in". Around me you can setup appointments, they may be a day or a week out, but they are available.
 
out here in, everyone who wants a shot can get it.
 
Bill said:
I was on the fence about getting vaccinated, but after some lengthy discussions with some doctor friends I went with Pfizer and get my second shot May3.
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Thank you!

(I think we don't say that enough! Thank you to *everyone* who has gotten the shot... and those who have gotten the flu shot and all those other shots... and who participated in the clinical trials, etc. It's been a scary time, especially to be immunosuppressed like I am right now, and these things make a big difference.)
 
Kath, I hope your treatment is going well and that you're keeping a positive attidude!
 
First shot this week of Pfizer. Arm was a little sore in the spot that afternoon, but nothing else. No other reactions.

@steingar I've read some "stuff" (certainly wasn't scientific journals) about the Pfizer and Moderna (mrna vaccines) not giving immunity only suppressing the more egregious symptoms. Does this have any basis in fact?
 
jsstevens said:
I've read some "stuff" (certainly wasn't scientific journals) about the Pfizer and Moderna (mrna vaccines) not giving immunity only suppressing the more egregious symptoms. Does this have any basis in fact?
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You may still have some virus replication in your system, but you won't have enough of it to cause clinical disease (or more accurately it reduces the odds of developing clinical disease by 94%). That's how pretty much all vaccines work (the exception being things like Tetanus). The experience from Israel also shows that the Pfizer vaccine reduces ones odds to transmit the virus are substantially reduced.
 
172andyou said:
"Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine neutralizes Brazil variant in lab study"

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...zes-brazil-variant-in-lab-study-idUSKBN2B02JC
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I'm not a doc....but this guy I'm quoting (Jamie MacDougall) is and he flies a Bonanza so he must be smart. lol ;)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/willia...more-reason-to-be-vaccinated/?sh=7a81456d12e2

https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(21)00183-5/fulltext

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-...ould-evade-immunity-from-past-infection-68506

There has not been any clinical research yet on how the Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson shots—the three vaccines approved for use in the US—will fare when faced with P.1.
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There is a relatively good correlation between how sick you get and how robust your immune response is, assuming you recover. Individuals with mild or asymptomatic infections tend to develop relatively weak immune responses (as measured by both antibody production and memory T-cell response) in comparison to those who survive a stay in the ICU. The assumption is that there is therefore a correlation between how sick you get if you get infected, and how long your immune protection against reinfection will last, but this has not been proven yet in the case of Covid19. (It is the case for most other pathogens however.)

The average person who has been vaccinated produces immune responses comparable to, or better than, the best of the strongest responses seen in ICU survivors. Furthermore, the data is pretty convincing that vaccination produces what is called broad-based immunity, which means that someone receiving an mRNA-based vaccine is robustly protected against all of the known variants (with possibly the Brazilian P1 variant being an exception). So the logic is that vaccination is much more likely to protect you against getting re-infected with the more infectious strains that are now becoming dominant than by just relying on the immune protection you have achieved from your previous infection. Given what is known so far, this makes biological sense to me, but frankly whether this is true or not will not be known for at least another 1 to 2 years in my estimation.

Last thought: my personal opinion is that if you’ve already had the real deal, you may only require a single dose of a vaccine as a booster shot in order to achieve this broad-based immunity, but I can’t prove this yet. My reasoning is that the original infection acts as the priming dose (the first shot, if you will), and getting one jab later pulls the trigger and really jacks up your immunity just like the second shot does. This is being looked at even as we speak.
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jsstevens said:
First shot this week of Pfizer. Arm was a little sore in the spot that afternoon, but nothing else. No other reactions.

@steingar I've read some "stuff" (certainly wasn't scientific journals) about the Pfizer and Moderna (mrna vaccines) not giving immunity only suppressing the more egregious symptoms. Does this have any basis in fact?
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Nope. It is known (been watching too much GOT). The mRNA vaccines are 100% effective against you going to the hospital. I think they're 95% effective against you even being symptomatic. I think you can be infected and pass it on, but you aren't likely to have any symptoms, and even if you do they'll be mild.
 
Well our quarantine was up yesterday. I still have a bit of a cough and still tired but it really wasn't any worse than the average cold. My symptoms first appeared 4/5
 
$wife got Pfizer #1 on Thursday, sore arm and a headache yesterday, ok today.
 
I got Pfizer #1 yesterday. Got it at 9am, by 4pm I had a headache, sore arm, fatigue mild body aches and a slight fever. Today I feel fine. Not sure this bodes well for #2, but in for a penny, in for a pound.

Was scheduled to get the J&J one-and-done Thursday, but that went out the window. Friend of a friend hooked me up. Pharmacist said they are getting a ton of no- shows for the second shot! She gives the shot to anyone who shows up, appointment or no.
 
Got my second Moderna yesterday. This one definitely packs a punch. Was OK until the evening, a bit tired maybe. The fun started at night - high fever, aches all over my body, headache. It’s midday now and I still feel like a train wreck, despite Tylenol.

If my wife’s experience is any indication, I should be back to normal by tomorrow morning.
 
Pfizer #1 Friday evening - big nothing burger. Not even a sore arm (unlike the mild arm discomfort from a recent pneumonia vaccination).

Hopfully, #2 goes as nicely.
 
Bob Noel said:
Pfizer #1 Friday evening - big nothing burger. Not even a sore arm (unlike the mild arm discomfort from a recent pneumonia vaccination).

Hopfully, #2 goes as nicely.
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My Moderna #1 was not bad too - just a sore arm for a day or two.
 
jsstevens said:
First shot this week of Pfizer. Arm was a little sore in the spot that afternoon, but nothing else. No other reactions.

@steingar I've read some "stuff" (certainly wasn't scientific journals) about the Pfizer and Moderna (mrna vaccines) not giving immunity only suppressing the more egregious symptoms. Does this have any basis in fact?
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Not true at all. The vaccine instructs your body how to construct the "spike proteins". These are the antigens on the surface of the virus. Your body sees the induced spike proteins and begins creating antibodies that bind to them. If you then get exposed to COVID, your body is already creating the correct antibodies. Studies suggest that the immunity you get from the vaccines are probably more robust than what you may have after having the disease.
 
Dave Theisen said:
That really isn’t anything new, they have been saying that from the start. But I think I’ll wait until the CDC and FDA confirm that instead of listening to the guy who is selling them. :)
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Who do you think the CDC is going to listen to?

Moderna #2 yesterday. Sore arm, like last time. I'm a little tired.
 
steingar said:
I think you can be infected and pass it on, but you aren't likely to have any symptoms, and even if you do they'll be mild.
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https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7013e3.htm?s_cid=mm7013e3_w

"Under real-world conditions, mRNA vaccine effectiveness of full immunization (≥14 days after second dose) was 90% against SARS-CoV-2 infections regardless of symptom status"

Or, said another way, it's working as expected since the vast majority of vaccines also prevent not just symptoms, but also infection.
 
flyingron said:
Down here we're a red state and there's a lot of vaccine "hesitancy." We had no problem lining up shots. In fact, my son-in-law was visiting from Maryland last week and we were able to snag him a J&J shot before he left.
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I think the red state correlation is anecdotal. The majority of people I know refusing the vaccine are hard blue. Regardless of their political views they have a few traits in common.
 
I got Moderna #1 Monday, nothing so far, despite already having antibodies.
Dad got Moderna #2 Saturday, nothing for him either.
 
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