Well Walgreen’s still has spots that aren’t taken. So at least I can feel I am not taking a spot from someone else.
Anyone in any state who gets a spot is considered high risk at present, right? I mean you cannot get a vaccine if you aren’t. The exception in MA is companions of 75+ at vaccine sites.
@compmom, my 82 year old father got his shot at the Mattapan Walgreens 2 weeks ago and it was Pfizer.
Not a great location for him, as he lives in Cambridge, and it started snowing (naturally!) on his drive home, but all went smoothly.
You are in an eligible group, you deserve the shot as much as anyone else. Good luck!
Long term effects of COVID-19 seems to be underreported, even though they seem to be common. For example, 26.6% of the 18-39 year old people who recovered from COVID-19 (mostly about 6 months prior) who were surveyed reported persistent symptoms (most commonly fatigue or loss of taste or smell).
My personal knowledge of people who have had COVID-19 is that 2 out of 7 (one age in the 50s, all others younger down to 20s) had long term effects (one in the 20s, one in the 40s).
The majority of people I know (6 out of 8) are still suffering from lingering symptoms, and different for each person. Shortness of breath, even among previously healthy who had mild cases, and brain fog, are the two I hear the most about. this is pretty motivating in terms of getting a vaccine. Small sample but it mirrors the stats I have read.
Our community did that. One of the early vaccine sites was at a large black church. It was well attended according to the paper. In my community, AA is the majority race though not the power/wealth. I think our community does try but of course a lot more work is needed.
@compmom
CT is doing vaccines with 65 and over…no other issues except age.
VAMS also does not allow double booking. In fact you can’t even search for available locations in their system unless you cancel an already made appointment first. The tab for “schedule an appointment” doesn’t appear if you already have an appointment scheduled within the VAMS system.
Of course, folks are registering with multiple systems to try to get early dates for appointments. But it’s VERY easy to cancel a VAMS appointment if you get one elsewhere.
I believe if folks were told up front to wear a mask only if you were high risk due to co-morbidities ( as they were known around Feb-March) and save the masks for health care and first line, people would have done so.
Instead, false information was provided and people saw through it. Credibility was crushed. Folks who were experts became laughingstocks as they changed the story multiple times and allowed science to be manipulated.
I don’t think it’s odd that many elderly folks outside of nursing homes are unwilling to get a shot. Some have historical precedence of living under Jim Crow, and others just have a need for factual info that stays consistent. You can lie to some of the people some of the time but you can’t lie to all of the people all of the time.
And many 75-100 year olds want to walk in or call an 800 number and get an appointment. They don’t want to use the internet.
“And many 75-100 year olds want to walk in or call an 800 number and get an appointment. They don’t want to use the internet.”
I would say most either have no access or are not able to use the internet without significant help. It took a LONG time and several tries for my 86 y.o. FIL to figure out and read me his Medicare ID number on his card over the phone. You know the big number on the front labeled ID number? Apparently he kept finding numbers on the back to give me. Figure out the internet? Even if they were still connected, not a chance.
Agree. I once took my 80 year old Dad to the Veteran’s hospital for an appointment. He was met with a robot. The “robot” was supposed to check him in. Needless to say, he didn’t take kindly to this. Nor did the next couple of guys. He literally walked by and up to the floor.
Whoever thinks of solutions should be asking the people who use them how they would like to interact.
I’d hate to think someone won’t get a vaccine because they don’t have an internet connection. Not to even mention folks who have disabilities.
Our ENT office (we have one in the city) changed their check in/form system to iPads. There are so many elderly people who couldn’t handle it. My friend’s D worked in billing and she spent most of her day in the waiting area filing everything out for them.
Most people who design things don’t think about or understand the challenges of the elderly - or even middle aged for that matter. I’m finding this out as my eyesight is going. All of the printed instructions are so tiny!!! Lol!
Some more good news.
I definitely believe that outreach by institutions that the Black community trusts would help with vaccine hesitancy. But I have a feeling that even some of those institutions may have some reservations because of the historical mistrust. I have not personally seen much in the way of outreach besides by family members. One piece of good news for my family is that my wife’s Grandmother ended up being convinced to get the 1st vaccination this week (just found out today) after declining the vaccine for about a month.
For what it is worth, Americans tend not to be very trusting:
Note that trust level was lower among Black, Hispanic, younger, less educated, and lower income people – probably not a surprise, due to these groups typically being more disadvantaged in society and often by policy. Except for age, the lower trust groups are also impacted more by COVID-19. However, even overall Americans tend to be more distrustful than trusting.
Given that much distrust has been built up over years or decades, it can be hard to turn it around even for what should be seen as an obvious benefit like an effective vaccine.
I had the most interesting conversation with my brother today. He is worried that getting vaccinated will alter his DNA. He is a graduate of his state flagship. Where does this stuff come from?
There was is a video snippet of mark zuckerburg saying something to that effect and I’m sure it’s made the rounds. A random lady in the post office ahead of me starting chatting with me and got to the vaccine rollout and she said the same thing about DNA and the vaccine. Maybe because RNA sounds similar to DNA?
@NJSue i simply don’t understand why NJ doesn’t clean up the massive confusion about the “eligibility” notification Not appointment notification,
I’ve had many people say they registered with state and were waiting for appointment emails. Ugh. I helped them get mega site apts, because they were already eligible.
Did you see the massive line of people in Philadelphia lined up in frigid temps for vaccines! They were doing 3500 and first come first serve. The wind chill was in the upper 20s, during a pandemic and this is the system for Philly residents, Shameful,
The decisions of the Philadelphia city government re vaccine distribution have been incomprehensible. For example, instead of relying on their medical centers for distribution, they hired some 22-year-old psychology grad student whose associates stole vaccines. Hopefully now they are finally getting it right.
Is it better to have the queue outside in the weather or inside where an asymptomatic infected person can spread COVID-19 to those near them in the queue?
It is better to do the lineup in cars if possible, in a drive thru site. If that isnt possible, hand out timed tickets to everyone in line and tell them to return at that time and not before.
Car lines may work in places with big parking lots and where people have cars. But some densely populated areas would not have the space, and have many people who do not have cars (whether due to poverty or choice).
Also, that could be a lot of fuel used and exhaust fumes made if people are running their cars for hours to have heaters. A car the runs out of fuel in line can also jam things up.
The timed tickets are a better idea for walk up sites, although later no-shows would waste some time slots. Some people may not leave to return later because of transportation logistics.