I’m trying to help a non tech savvy friend schedule a second dose in St Louis. She got her first dose in her home state where she is eligible, but had to go to St Louis to care for aging parent and will be there for several weeks. From what I can tell she is not eligible for first dose in MO but should be able to get second dose there regardless (I would think anyway). I registered her in the MO system for vaccine notification but it thinks she’s not eligible despite my entering second dose need. Does anyone out there know what the system is there? Where I live, there are public access sign up websites and it’s very easy. I just can’t crack the St Louis system.
Message me. I have a friend who is a nurse there and working on the front lines to help people get vaccinated and has been volunteering all over as well. If you send me a message, it will trigger a reminder to me to ask her what is going on there and what people can do to get them. I do know there are delays there due to the weather.
My daughter is also supposed to go back for dose 2 to that convention center and told me today to the weather there is some issue so maybe that’s the hold up. I didn’t really pursue it further with my daughter as she was studying for a test but she is part of 1b. But like I said message me and I can see what I can find out from my friend.
Thank you, I will send you a message!
That makes sense. I want to read more about this – could you provide a citation? Thanks!
I have concerns about long lines inside smallish venues for COVID vaccines. CVS, for example, does 24 an hour, which means 4 every ten minutes. I thought people waited in their cars, but the pharmacist there told me there is a long line all the way through the store. And of course after the shot, everyone sits for 15-30 minutes. The parking lot was full when I went to check it out yesterday.
The pharmacist told me that if my time is at the end of the hour there would be fewer people but not sure why that is.
The hospital system’s vaccine location is similar, with a long line in a narrow lobby, but at least they have cubicles.
I am scared of getting COVID while waiting for a vaccine! I guess I would feel safest with a 9 am appointment but that is not going to happen when we are lucky to get a spot at all.
For those who have gone to a mass vaccination site, is this less of a worry? High ceilings, open air? is anyone wearing face shields?
I would add that after a year of my daughter and my friends never entering my apartment, even masked, and either grocery shopping at 6:30 am or curbside, now I am supposed to be in close quarters with strangers for 45 minutes to get a vaccine? Future vaccine does not mean I am safe now. I don’t trust anyone to wear a mask properly. The staff are sanitizing but what about all those studies on airborne virus?
I can definitely understand your concerns. I don’t know how many CVS does in VA an hour, but appointments are in 15 min slots. The parking lot is definitely more full on vaccination days, but I haven’t seen any lines through the door.
Most of the people I know who took their elderly family members to CVS (Including my in-laws) reported the process to be very fast and easy. However, around here people generally are not as careful as you.
The one exception is that my parents got vaccinated at a CVS yesterday. They reported a delay because one guy came in without an appointment and demanded one and would not leave for quite some time. (He did not receive one)
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It’s a mob scene and the pharmacist said he could not do anything about it.
The other thing that is happening is that people are getting in line a hour before their scheduled time. So if you follow instructions and arrive 15 minutes before your appointment, as instructed, you are way behind other people whose scheduled appointments are much later than yours, and have that much longer of a line to wait in!
Have you got a KN95 or N95 mask you can wear? Then another mask over it? We have been more careful than anyone in our peer group but still go to Costco (weeknights when quieter) and have recently had to return to work. We have worn KN95 masks exclusively and feel a lot more protected with that. I don’t panic as much when I see someone unmasked.
My sense of things (or maybe just hope) is that folks waiting for their vaccine are going to be more conscientious about protocol.
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Yikes! That sounds awful. Ours isn’t like that, but we probably don’t have the demand like other places either. After a 3rd outbreak in an inpatient pysch center this week, they said only 30% of staff had been vaccinated. 30% seems to be on par with what I’ve heard around here. It fits my workplace anyway.
You could double mask it?
Yeah I can double mask with face shield. Just concerned about the situation in general, and the way people are behaving is the main problem.
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I’m in CT. I got both shots at smaller venues. First one had 3 vaccine stations and the second had 4.
First place…waiting room was your car in the parking lot. They would call or text you when your time to enter came. If you didn’t have cellphone, they came to your car. In and out in under 30 minutes.
Second place had four vaccine stations. I was 30 minutes early, and was very willing to go to my car to wait. They were moving people through VERY quickly…really no one was waiting. In and out in under 30 minutes.
I don’t know what CVS or Walgreens are doing here. But I doubt they have a weaving line in their stores…as they still have a limit on occupancy and they still have other shoppers.
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I had both shots at a drive-through, outdoor mass vaccination facility. You had to stop and talk to a few people along the way (to confirm appointment, identity, etc), but overall I felt pretty safe. Most of the volunteers were double masked and kept away from from your car.
I can appreciate the anxiety around standing in a crowded line inside a pharmacy.
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Sorry, but this reminds me so much of most of my senior citizens friends! I once arrived to a party on time and was the last person there!
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It’s cold here but I still think they could do this at a drive through, the same way they do COVID testing nearby. (And those without a car should be able to stand in line too!)
@compmom we have drive through sites in CT! It’s really not warmer here!
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I am writing my doctor.
Just got the first vaccine dose at Danvers. It was very busy but well organized. There was about a 10 minute wait in line outside then groups of perhaps 10 or so were led inside to various waiting areas then moved inside the ballroom. Everyone was shown where to sit and then called in turn to a vaccination station. Then on to sit for a further 15 minutes before release. Took about 30 minutes from when I left the car to when I got the shot. Dont think hotel ballrooms are the ideal venues, they always seem dark and gloomy to me and not especially well ventilated but everyone was masked and recipients didn’t stay in one place for long. The people working were all super nice. I found the appointment randomly by frequently refreshing the site (last week before the waiting room was a thing). There kept being one or two slots open but I could never get them then suddenly there were 100+ and I got lucky. Still hunting for one for my spouse. I think they released quite a few appts yesterday and are showing availability now in mass sites in Boston and further west.
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@Onetogo thanks for the info! I assume you got Pfizer. Good luck with your husband!
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@compmom- Had first vaccine at Gillette this week. While the system was smooth, it was not possible to be inside for less than 30-40 minutes. During that time, you snake your way through a maze that doubles back on itself multiple times. The floors are largely marked with circles that tell you where to stand for distance, though one was almost always in motion. Most of the route, there is a row or two of people parallel to your line, closer than the person directly in front or behind you. We spent 20 minutes weaving through and were vaccinated about 5 minutes after our appointment time. Then we sat for the required 15 minutes. Ironically, as folks who opted out of even grocery shopping in an abundance of pandemic caution, it was definitely the most exposure we have had to crowds, never mind indoors, since this started. We wore N95s and put the required surgical mask they handed out over it. We minimized contact with escalator rails. People were all wearing masks and following the directions. But the numbers were were high. Had an early evening appointment, so knew that the building had been full of people all day. Still, no regrets and gratitude to have had an appointment. Hope you find a place that works for you.
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