more and more Iām seeing people posting and talking about getting vaccinated who are not high risk and who arenāt eligible under the tiers of my state. People are gaming the system and taking advantage which means people like my elderly in-laws lose out because we canāt find them one.
Iām getting so angry and tired of the poor mismanagement of this rollout here and everywhere. Iām also tired of people bragging about being vaccinated when they know damn well they shouldnāt be yet compared to others.
https://www.fda.gov/media/144434/download
I skimmed this last week. My take away is that it appears that you have pretty good immunity after 14 days. However, the sample size is too small for a lot of confidence and they donāt believe it will last, hence the second dose. I am now on day 16. I am not changing my habits. I still wear my very duty mask all day at work with the air purifier. I limit the gym to a small fraction of my usual time, and only go when itās at 0-10% capacity and only for cardio stuff. But, I have stopped giving out the evil death glare to all the non maskers and my anxiety is much lower.
Donāt forget that there are a lot of people with underlying health issues that you might not know about. Not everyone shares personal information, and not every comorbidity is obvious. Best to leave it between the person and the authorities who are supposed to be verifying these things.
Several of my extended family members work in the medical field and caught Covid between their first and second shot. You really need to keep your guard up until 2 weeks after your 2nd shot.
My state isnāt vaccinating co-morbidiites. Itās age and occupation (healthcare workers and teachers).
But also when people tell me they got it because of a loophole based on a former employer etc I know they are gaming the system. Or the one who signed their kid up as a volunteer in a school just to get vaccinated. Iāve heard more and more of these stories direct from people and itās disgusting because my in laws who are at higher risk canāt get one.
It is unfortunate the roll out has been so bad. It takes a lot of time to get appointments, but it can be done. You need to be persistent, do a lot of search, and be on social media to find appointments. I am in NYC and I have found appointments for my friends, their parents in NY and NJ.
When I heard Walgreens and CVS were giving vaccines I was on their sites with a lot of appointments. When Cuomo wrote in his daily email that they were opening mega vaccination hubs I was one of those first people on. People tweet and post on FB about openings.
I have also found few tricks when I am on vaccine schedule sites - instead of doing refresh (you may need to re-enter your information), just keep on clicking on the link (like Javit Center) to get their latest availabilities.
Given that the US is a competitive dog-eat-dog society, the above is an unsurprising result. With scarcity, many people will try to cheat or game the system to get the scarce resource,and even those playing by the rules must compete aggressively with each other. Rules and enforcement to stop cheating or gaming the system and/or enforce a more detailed priority order that accounts for all of the special cases would add overhead and slow down the distribution.
Winter storm forecast here on Friday. Some sites have already cancelled their vaccines for that day, and those folks are needing to reschedule. Plus there will also be folks who will be reluctant to drive a distance if the weather is badā¦even if their site is open.
This was dealt with well after the last big storm with some additional sites set up immediately. I was cancelled on a Sunday for a Tuesday appointment and logged into VAMS to reschedule and several new sites were available with many open appointment times.
MA will open up for vaccinations for 65+ and those with two qualifying comorbidities (CDC list plus moderate to severe asthma) tomorrow at 8am.
One million people or more in this new group, and 139,00 doses provided per week by the federal government.
Comorbidities wonāt require attestation: MA is relying on an honor system. Oh boy.
Volume and speed are the priority.
What county is your mom in?
Sarasota
MA opened to 65+ and the comorbidities group and promptly crashed the site. Still out this morning.
Had a zoom yesterday with a group of friends in NJ. Most of those in their families who need the shot (because of job or medical conditions - all ages) have already gotten the first and were scheduled for number two. It was funny that a couple of them got theirs at the same place and on the same day as my husband did.
NY kinda/sorta required documentation instead of self-attestation at first (and honestly, itās still not that clear) but it really slows things down and creates barriers for those who donāt have a regular doctor.
Our mayor and governor constantly claim to want to get vaccines to the most vulnerable and then create a system that favors the internet-savvy and adequately-insured. 
The way US health care and society are structured, there is probably no way to prioritize the most vulnerable (outside of those in nursing homes and the like) in the short term, versus those who are better connected to health care or ācheatersā (depending on how much proof is needed for eligibility in priority groups). Of course, even within priority groups, getting a vaccine appointment is competitive, to the disadvantage of those already disadvantaged.
Yesterday the MA governor announced eligibility for 65+ and those with two qualifying comorbidities (adding asthma, but not type1 diabetes). The website availability was 8am today.
Immediately the site crashed, as did the phone system.
I have concluded that the government can not run websites at all. Ticketmaster can handle 50k people trying to get Harry Styles tickets within 3 minutes.
This is potentially one million newly eligible folks. And as a side note, vaccines distributed to MA have increased to 139k per week. So it is going to take some time.
Boston hospitals are very upset. They put a lot of resources into setting up the clinics and got all the kinks out vaccinating their own staff. And then the state pulled all their supplies, to do something they feel is less efficient.