Just got my first covid vaccine

Got it today, just about an hour ago.  We have the Moderna version here.  Second shot will be Jan 20th.

Trace Oswald wrote:Got it today, just about an hour ago.  We have the Moderna version here.  Second shot will be Jan 20th.

That's great!

I have not understood how we go about getting one? I rarely go to see my GP and wondered if they will call all of us old folks in or if we have to ask? I've never even had a flu shot before so am uncertain how to do this.  Maybe it will be announced in the local paper? a poster at the post office?

At the moment, I hope the nursing home is served first as there has been several deaths there and a large percentage of staff and residents show positive test results.

Judith Browning wrote:

Trace Oswald wrote:Got it today, just about an hour ago.  We have the Moderna version here.  Second shot will be Jan 20th.

That's great!

I have not understood how we go about getting one? I rarely go to see my GP and wondered if they will call all of us old folks in or if we have to ask? I've never even had a flu shot before so am uncertain how to do this.  Maybe it will be announced in the local paper? a poster at the post office?

At the moment, I hope the nursing home is served first as there has been several deaths there and a large percentage of staff and residents show positive test results.

I honestly don't know how people go about getting it in a different situation than I am in. I work directly with very ill, usually quite old people with pretty serious health issues. We were given the chance to get it early to protect that population.

I don't think it's out and about for the general permies, yet. They're doing the most at-risk medical professionals and elderly first. I think if you search your state and "vaccine phases" you'll get a better idea of when it will be available to you.

My husband's coworkers at the hospital have all been getting it. No side effects other than a sore arm so far.

Here in the UK the order is highly regimented by age, preexisting medical conditions, and frontline medical staff. You can't jump the queue.

I don't think I'm in the 'elderly' category at seventy?
Steve and I can go on indefinitely distancing as we have been since March so I guess I don't want to get one until others more needy have theirs. Right now our county is on the rise with positive cases and deaths.

We're not around anyone at risk as you are Trace, or Nicole's husband or Michael I think you said your mom is a doctor?

Missing all those big hugs from our sons and families but I think we are in the 'lucky' category more than so many.

One son (42) and a grandson (10) have tested positive though...school contacts apparently.  They both feel weak, have headaches and loss of smell/taste and I'm worried as the symptoms have not let up for two weeks now...14 days was up yesterday.

Yes, my mum is a doctor (Obs and Gynae - front line for covid because pregnant ladies still get covid!). She is getting her second dose in ten days. We are right in the hub of the new covid variant in the UK, and back in full lockdown restrictions over Christmas. Basically all plans cancelled. The new strain seems no more severe than the other, but is far more infectious - cases have been rising stupidly fast. And we are ten mile down the road from the port of Dover, which has something like 10,000 lorry movements per day. France closed the borders in response to the new strain, so every road in the area is blocked.  Locals have been dropping food to lorry drivers stuck for multiple days with their vehicles on the main roads.

I think the borders are now open again - provided you have a recent negative test in hand - but it will likely to take over a week to clear the backlog. I feel so sorry for the drivers, who are potentially stuck away from their families for Christmas as a result. We are on our third set of Christmas plans as the Gov have repeatedly changed the rule, most recently in response to this new strain.

In Oregon, Health Care Workers are getting the first vaccinations and as completed deliveries arrive the proposed plan is for "at risk" and then to the general pubic. Rural areas that have no access to the ultra cold coolers are awaiting the Moderna vaccine.

Judith Browning wrote:I don't think I'm in the 'elderly' category at seventy?

My understanding -- very possibly wrong -- is that every state was asked to make its own distribution plan.  I've heard of states that offer elders priority access at different ages.  In Oklahoma, the age is 65, but people over 65 are in the same tranch as all other adults with comorbidities.  And that's in Phase 2 (starting in January with luck) as the third priority in Phase 2.  (Phase one, ongoing, is residential healthcare patients and various priority categories of health care workers; the first two priorities in Phase 2 are non-medical first responders and more categories of health care workers.)

Judith Browning wrote:Missing all those big hugs from our sons and families but I think we are in the 'lucky' category more than so many.

Mary and I feel that way too, about our ability to "turtle up" and avoid most risky contacts.  But she's got a big family and the strain of staying way from them is hard on her.  I hope your son and grandson are better soon!

Just over 24 hours since I got my shot, and I have had exactly zero side effects. I can't even feel the spot in my arm where I got it, so, so far so good. I was given a sheet to fill out with daily side effects for the duration of the two shots. No danger of writers cramp.

Thanks Trace. I was wondering about side-effects. I still want to hear from others who do experience them, but it's good to know that some don't get any at all.

Please do keep us apprised, and good luck.

-CK

28 or 29 hours after getting the shot, I got very tired.  It was about 3:30 in the afternoon.  I took a nap for an hour or so, woke up and had something to eat and watched TV for a couple hours.  I had a slight headache and was still tired.  I took two tylenol and went back to sleep at about 7.  By morning I was back to normal, so I did develop slight side effects.

Just got the second vaccination 45 minutes ago.  I'll update this over the next day or two, depending on whether or not I see any side effects.

Over the last hour or so I've started feeling like my face is flushed and a kind of weird headachey feeling.  Sort of like you feel when everything is just a little off and you are coming down with something.  I don't really feel bad, just not quite right.

So, the second vaccination is definitely harder on you than the first.  Still, I've been fortunate.  My arm is pretty sore today, and my entire body is achy.  I'm quite tired.  I came to work this morning but I'm not sure I will stay for the entire day.  I'm shooting for noon or so, and then I think I'll go home and go back to bed.  I still have that "starting to get a fever, coming down with something" sort of feeling.  I don't want to exaggerate the effects.  They are far, far less than being sick with the flu or something like that.  The main effect is just feeling slightly unwell, with some body aches and a low grade headache.

This will probably be my last update.  The second shot went much like the first, with the side effects just being a little more extreme, but very manageable.

Yesterday afternoon, I went home at 2.  I was very tired, had a headache, and just didn't feel well.  I took a nap for a couple hours, got up and had something to eat, watched TV for a bit, and went back to bed.  When I went back to bed, I was still pretty tired and had some body aches.  The headache wasn't bad, but it was definitely still there.  I woke up this morning feeling fine.  It seems, at least in my case, that the side effects really set in 30 hours or so after the injection.  By the 48 hour mark, all my symptoms are gone.  If other people react the same way I did, I wouldn't expect to accomplish much the day after the vaccination, but other than that, it really wasn't bad at all.  

Judith Browning wrote:

Trace Oswald wrote:Got it today, just about an hour ago.  We have the Moderna version here.  Second shot will be Jan 20th.

That's great!

I have not understood how we go about getting one? I rarely go to see my GP and wondered if they will call all of us old folks in or if we have to ask? I've never even had a flu shot before so am uncertain how to do this.  Maybe it will be announced in the local paper? a poster at the post office?

At the moment, I hope the nursing home is served first as there has been several deaths there and a large percentage of staff and residents show positive test results.

After posting here I got on the list and a month later, after several 'just checking' calls to the clinic we both got our first Moderna shot yesterday and are scheduled to get the second March 30.
They are allowed 100 doses a week here in my county and the clinic is the only place giving the vaccine for the whole county.  

Nothing but a sore shoulder today.

Judith Browning wrote:

Judith Browning wrote:

Trace Oswald wrote:Got it today, just about an hour ago.  We have the Moderna version here.  Second shot will be Jan 20th.

That's great!

I have not understood how we go about getting one? I rarely go to see my GP and wondered if they will call all of us old folks in or if we have to ask? I've never even had a flu shot before so am uncertain how to do this.  Maybe it will be announced in the local paper? a poster at the post office?

At the moment, I hope the nursing home is served first as there has been several deaths there and a large percentage of staff and residents show positive test results.

I got on the list and a month later, after several 'just checking' calls to the clinic we both got our first Modrerna shot yesterday and are scheduled to get the second March 30.
They are allowed 100 doses a week here in my county and the clinic is the only place giving the vaccine for the whole county.  

Nothing but a sore shoulder today.

Excellent news, I'm glad to hear it.

The "double mutant" variant (horizontal gene transfer consolidated virulence gains from two virus variants into this one new double mutant) they found in India during this time of their new faster massive spike in cases they're in now has been identified in the USA.  Kind of figured that would happen.  Everyone stay safe and please help protect your neighbors as you do yourself.  
Double Mutant found in Bay area

Update: Added the second chart from 2 weeks later.