There are over 100 vaccine doses available tomorrow within 1 mile of my house. I don’t think anyone is worried about supply, anywhere.
Isn’t almost everyone eligible for an additional shot now? Those with weakened immune systems ( per CVS), those over 65, those over 18 with an underlying condition ( including merely overweight), and those over 18 who believe their occupation or living conditions put them at heightened risk of exposure. That must cover a substantial part of the population.
And pretty soon younger kids. I am having trouble seeing appointments around here. Once kids get the okay I think I will have more trouble getting one in Nov. when my 6 months is up. My doc said go ahead, last week, due to medical conditions. I am waiting the full 6 months. I will come back here in early Nov. and let you know if I do, in fact, have trouble getting a shot.
Just keep in mind that Nov will be 6.5 months, since it takes 2 weeks after injection for the shot to work up to its effectiveness level.
The kids are getting different doses, so that shouldn’t affect supply for your dose.
A half dose is still an appointment.
Yes, pediatricians and retail may be busy, but at least here they expect vaccines to be distributed in the schools. Hopefully an adult-care doctor will still have time for you.
At my annual checkup on 10/1, my doctor said I needed the first dose of the shingles vaccine, a flu shot and the Covid booster. But, she would only give me 2 because in her opinion the shingles and covid shots can be difficult. I got the shingles and flu. Will try to get the booster shot elsewhere. Other than being overweight, I have not underlying medical conditions, but the doc seemed to think everyone should get the booster.
My FIL asked H for us to make him an appointment for a third shot. He is 7 months past his second Moderna. I said sure and hopped on the CVS site which is where he got them before.
Zero issues finding shots - unsurprising since ours have been plentiful since mid March for anyone. But the site said for over 65 and immune compromised, you had to have had Pfizer? Or maybe I read it wrong? Nonetheless, FIL is 86 with active leukemia and a very bad heart and lungs, so we are taking him this weekend.
Edit: he also had zero side effects to the first two shots so I do sort of worry it didn’t take well
A little more than half of the vaccinated US population got the Pfizer vaccine. No official eligibility recommendations have been given for those who got the Moderna or J&J vaccine. I.e. the groups you list above would only be as subsets of Pfizer vaccine recipients.
The Pfizer dose for 12-15 is the same as for 16+.
If under-12 dose is approved at a lower dose, then it is possible that such lower doses can be given by filling needles with smaller amounts from the multi-dose vials, so that all ages would be drawing vaccine from a combined supply.
Per CVS, the third shot is authorized for anyone with Pfizer or Moderna and a weakened immune system. In any event, millions are eligible, and 5.7 million have already been given.
If one is eligible and chooses to delay for personal reasons, that is their choice. Always a risk that things could be different in months ahead, though unlikely.
We’re with medical lad now and he tells us he had his booster this past Monday. His first shots were in Jan. This time, besides the sore arm, he was fatigued for a day and had a headache for a night. He took nothing for either since he knew the cause.
Then he told us he thought we should get boosters too (our last shots were early April). I expect we will when we return home. Maybe it’s better to delay, but in 6 months time we ought to know more. At this point, I’m pretty positive we’re choosing to be in the booster group for this planet experiment.
Not if you had Moderna or J&J. For Moderna only those with a very specific few conditions making them immunocompromised are technically eligible for a 3rd shot. Since Moderna seems to be holding up better in terms of efficacy, and since the second shot was pretty rough, I’m personally waiting for the reduced dose booster. I am about 7 1/2 months past my second shot, but I don’t have any particular risk factors, other than the fact that I’m not getting any younger (but not yet into a high-risk age group) and I’m not especially worried about waiting. My D22 had Pfizer, but she’s not 18, so waiting on her booster as well (she’s only about 4 months out from her second shot in any case). My parents, who are pretty old (mid/late 80’s) and have underlying conditions both had Moderna. I’ve considered recommending they go get a third shot, but figure we may as well wait until the end of the month when they are officially authorized & we know what the recs are.
That’s how I read the cvs site regarding Moderna receivers, I am willing to have my otherwise healthy parents in their 70s wait a little bit. They can isolate a bit longer fine. But my FIL also now lives in a vaccine reluctant household that also watches their pre-school and elementary aged grandchildren in the home after school and on weekends.
And our area is a low vax area who’s daily rates are still in the 50s cases/day per 100K and a percent positivity of around 20% and our hospitals are still diverting. I just heard of a co-worker’s relative in a nearby hospital now (local one kept sending him home) for an unrelated covid issue who says he can’t get any staff to come to his room when he needs help. We have no staff here.
So I doubt being 86 and having cancer and a bad heart and lungs (among other issues) technically qualifies, but I told my H that if FIL asked us to help him get it, I would. He might not have long left, but we really hope he outlives MIL with severe Alzheimer’s (currently in rehab with a broken hip/wrist who’s memory loss is going downhill even faster now)
I am 6.5 months out from my second shot Pfizer in March, but a family member who completed Pfizer vaccines in April just tested positive this week and while I had been planning on waiting for a bit (I am eligible because of my job), but this latest development convinced me to get it done ASAP…I have my 3 shot scheduled for tomorrow night.
And, my parents who are in their 80’s also signed up to get theirs on Saturday.
My 27 year old son got the flu shot and the Moderna booster yesterday. (He’s been on immunesuppressant meds since he was 13, so he qualifies.) He’s never had any reaction to any vaccine in the past but it hit him pretty hard this time. Don’t know if it was the combination or just the 3rd Moderna but he was pretty sick for 24 hours.
The Moderna booster is going to be a half dose, once approved. For a third shot, which is what immunocompromised folks are getting, is a full dose. So your FIL will be getting the full dose if done before approval. The half dose for everyone else would probably reduce side effects.
With the flu shot, a higher dose is given to those over 65. So maybe an 86 year old is better off with the full dose of Moderna (even if he does not actually qualify yet).
So in all our discussions about “Jumping the line,” people have said there is plenty of supply. I again want to say there is a difference between supply and access. Already there are problems with getting appointments, and once you add in younger kids, as well as Moderna and J and J, it will again be very hard to get an appointment, regardless of supply. Those of us who followed the rules, so to speak, may have more trouble getting appointments at some point. Is that a reason to go before 6 months? No.
I just saw an article on this, and excerpted, italics mine: More people are getting Covid-19 vaccine boosters than first shots (msn.com)
“We estimate that 4 million Americans have now rolled up their sleeves and gotten a booster shot, including 2 million in the first week and another 2 million in just the last five days,” he said.
The administration of booster doses may pose a challenge to some vaccine clinics as demand increases.
“On the ground, it’s been manageable, and we haven’t been hearing much in terms of trouble with the Pfizer boosters. But I think the main concern about adding more boosters is capacity,” Lori Tremmel Freeman, chief executive officer of the National Association of County and City Health Officials, told CNN on Wednesday.
"Mass vaccination clinics will likely be considered when and where there’s a need."
As an employee of the University of Michigan who runs Covid-19 testing sites, Alicia Kalsi, 26, was able to get her booster shot at an employee clinic early on in the booster rollout.
"The last time she checked, she said, the next available appointment at the employee clinic was at the end of October.
“It’s a decently high demand,” she said. "
“There is probably going to be a period of time where demand exceeds supply, very similar to what we saw in doses for adults back in December," he said.
You know which group is left out of the booster dose discussion? 16 and 17 year-olds without medical conditions. They are not in the group that qualifies for Pfizer boosters, as it is only 18 and above. Now of course a certain percentage of the 17 year olds who received two doses will have turned 18 by now, so could be eligible (if their individual risk/benefit calculation puts them at risk).
I don’t think there is going to be a big run on Pfizer vaccines once the 5-11 year old age group is approved for the 1/3 dose. Surveys had already determined that it wasn’t a large percentage of parents who said they would get it for their children, and now that Delta is on the retreat in many places, that will further lower that percentage. IMHO. Yes, I know that Delta could very well resurge once cold weather hits and also surge in places that weren’t surge before. But wherever rates of disease are going down, I suspect there will be more hesitancy to get the young kids vaccinated.
I think having the 5-11 year old Pfizer shot by Halloween is very optimistic, since the CDC’s approval is also needed. Since the FDA committee isn’t meeting until Oct 26, I don’t see how the CDC committee is going to meet within 5 days later. There is no such meeting already on their calendar. I suppose the CDC head could approve without the committee meeting or an emergency meeting could be called. Time will tell!
Not every doctor’s office administers the covid vaccines. Mine doesn’t. It’s a small independent office not part of my area’s medical monopoly organization, so that is probably why.
I am now over 8 months out from my 2nd Moderna dose. While I know I could have fibbed and gotten a 3rd dose of Moderna, I haven’t. I am interested in the 1/2 dose booster that will be discussed by the FDA advisory committee next week (and the following week by the CDC advisory committee). Once it is fully approved, I will get my Moderna booster. Since I had the typical side-effects after my 2nd dose (slight fever, chills, Moderna rash – rash not uncommon but not typical --), I would like to try and lessen them by only getting a 1/2 dose.
I agree about shots not being offered by Halloween. I could not change the title of the article. I was more interested in the excerpt about supply not meeting demand for awhile.