Is this something new? My 84 y/o MIL lives in San Francisco (in the city) but got her vaccination an hour away in Antioch across the Bay two weeks ago.
Iâm scheduled to get the first dose tomorrow (donât know which one at this point). Iâm grateful I managed to get a slot. At the same time, I am worried about how effective the vaccine will be against some of the new strains out there.
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My dad signed up through his county. The county sites here are run by the National Guard. When you register you answer a bunch of questions and you are told which group you are in and then sent a link if your group is currently being vaccinated so you can find an appointment .You cannot go to a different county if youâre going to use the county vaccination centers.
If youâre going through a pharmacy like Walgreens or the medical group your doctor belongs to it doesnât matter what city or county you live in.
A new county site opened this week and I was able to get my dad in yesterday. Very well run and super easy in/out. Everyone was so nice and helpful to him. 2nd appointment scheduled. So thankful. Just getting this set up was several hours of work. I actually made the appointment the old fashioned way- I called- online system not so great and he definitely could not navigate.
Got my second shot late this afternoon. So far, only a sore arm.
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DH got his second shot yesterday. I got mine the week before. No side effects at all other than mild sore arm briefly.
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Name on a lease (at least longer term) would count as residency here.
And younger S just got his! Poor older S is out of luck for awhile Iâm afraid. Heâs on the mysterious pre-registration list out there in a dark corner of cyberspace.
But almost as good - at least 9/10 and probably 10/10 of the people in my office got theirs today or will on Monday. Several of them surprised me. But once they are fully vaccinated, my office should be much less of a risk! (happy dance!) 
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If MIL is a patient of a particular large group like Kaiser or Sutter Health which has many clinics then she can go to any clinic that has available appointment. However, if you go to a county sponsored site, you will have to prove you are a resident of that county.
I live in the Bay Area and people who have gone to another county sponsored vaccination site have been denied.
Woohoo! I got my second Moderna shot this morning. I was in and out of the place in under 30 minutes. The fun part was the physical therapist I used to work with was right behind me in the line. So when we had our 20 minute observation time, we sat and caught up.
I have chicken soup cooking. The gal who gave me the shot said I had at least six hours before any side effects kicked in.
So happy to have this done!!
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Thanks for the clarification- the post I was responding to did not indicate that. MIL did get vaccinated through a private health care system, not a county site. I live in Maryland and it is run in a similar way. My parents also had to go out of their county but vaccinated through a private health care company at a hospital in an adjacent county.
Iâm just home from getting my second dose too. In and out in 30 minutes as well 
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@momofboiler1 we can compare notes on side effects tomorrow! Hope you donât have any!!
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I want to relate a story that my friend just told me. Her daughterâs whole family got Covid through a babysitter and she and her husband were vaccinated with first dose a week before exposure. Her D became so sick she had to to the ER. We need to be vigilant even after vaccination.
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@cbreeze the first shot does not provide much protectionâŠmaybe that is part of the issue.
I read the study and I think the Pfizer vaccine starts to offer some protection starting at 14 days. I was exposed 10 days after my first shot and developed mild symptoms at day 13 (yesterday). So far I seem to have it a lot easier than my husband.
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I think that is the most surreal side effect. The day after the first vaccine, I actually broke down in tears. I was so relieved and grateful.
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My understanding is the first does provides up to 70% protection after 12 days. If infected, symptoms may not be as severe.
Both DH and I had second dose of Pfizer two days ago. Soreness in the arm for day and a half. Both were low energy the following day with mild headaches for about an hour. Both back to normal today.
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The verbiage on Pfizer is 52% after one shot after at least the 12th day.
Moderna is reported to be 80% after one dose after 14 days.
Because the time in-between doses was shorter for Pfizer, the efficacy could be higher, they had longer time to measure Moderna.
I think the 70% that is sometimes quoted is an âaverageâ of the two, which doesnât make much sense.
I went around with a Dr. friend who is convinced he has 100% immunity after 2 doses. Reading the results helped me understand, it is 94% effective against getting symptomatic covid. Someone wanted to do a study of 20,000 college students to check for asymptomatic covid but couldnât get funding, too expensive, which is why they donât yet know.
I know that one of the screening questions at the vaccine clinics here is whether youâve had covid within 90 days, they say the CDC recommends waiting for the vaccine, but will still give it to you if you insist. I wonder if the severity of reaction to a first dose depends on the length of time since youâve had it.
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Well we were back to the drawing board. I was able to get an appointment for my husband through the Rite Aid site. However when he showed up yesterday, they said that they are only giving the second shot and he was not eligible, even though he had a print out of the appointment. I understand that if they change the rules they change the rules. However they should have notified him in advance