My son that is in college was supposed to get the first shot last week, but everything was shut down by the snow and ice. I think he said that his first shot will now be in March when he was supposed to get the second one. He works in Health Services at the university and his boss put them down to be able to get it. He had it back in August and his taste and smell eventually came back, but he says pretty much any meat and other things cooking smell or taste bad.
I have mixed feelings about it and donāt know that I would get the vaccine. My parents could have already gotten it but my mother definitely wonāt and my dad said he would wait and see how others did with it. His younger brother (the only sibling still alive) got it so he might consider it, Iām not sure. I wonāt tell any of them what they should do, itās their choice not mine. I didnāt tell my son he shouldnāt get it and I didnāt tell my parents they should, they are adults and can make their own choices.
Boy, I wish everyone understood this. Hard to hold back sometimes but each person is in charge of their own free will.
Agree, 1000%. Weāre all tied together in this, but that doesnāt give me the right to decide for someone else. They all have to decide what is best for THEM. Seems like this is very hard for some people to just allow others to make their own choices.
I definitely believe in live and let live when oneās choices donāt affect me. If someone chooses not to get the vaccine, their choice, but once everyone who wants one can get one I see no need to wear masks and similar around ātypicalā people (and would still be careful around immunocompromised folks).
I have issues with live and let live when the choices people make affect me or others as with those who wonāt wear masks in grocery stores and similar (or smoking in public, or texting/drinking and driving and other things that are known to put others in danger, not just the one doing it).
I will still teach the facts though when Iām at school or when the conversation fits. People can choose what they want, but they should at least base their choices on facts vs falsehoods. eg I tell kids at school that no one can stop them from using illegal drugs, but if theyāve been in one of my classes they can never say they had no idea what those drugs would be doing in their body.
Recent studies suggest that, for people who have had COVID-19, one vaccine shot is both desirable and sufficient to induce a very strong immune response (in contrast to the variable and sometimes weak immune response from natural infection).
Along the lines of facts, I still get people who tell me thereās no more risk to Covid than there is to hopping in a car and driving. Today it finally caused me to look up the stats. In my state of PA in 2019, 1,059 people of all ages died in a car crash and 76,243 were injured according to our state data. On average 3 people died each day:
For Covid 1052 people in just their age group (50-59) died. 140,693 tested positive for it. Many of those (and some not tested) will be long haulers.
If we look across all ages, 23,570 have died and 786,131 have had confirmed cases with another 125,460 probable cases.
In our county alone there were 12 fatalities and 929 crashes. For Covid weāve had 148 deaths and 6,113 confirmed cases along with another 989 probable cases. I couldnāt find county breakdown by ages.
In what world are those two stats similar? (I chose 2019 because 2020 driving was lighter during shutdowns. Itās likely more typical of numbers for crashes.)
Maybe other states vary, but thatās ours.
Numbers are out there, but Iād place bets theyāll still tell people itās the same risk of death/injury.
@oldmom4896 hereās one for youā¦ my H keeps talking about that old Will Smith movie where everyone except him turned into a zombie. Because they all took a vaccine and he didnāt. Gee, I always make my health care decisions based on old Will Smith movies, doesnāt everyone?
Iād guess that in the 18-24 yr old group car fatalities are far higher. Statistics can say whatever you want them to. Lies, damned lies, and statistics.
Iām sure the under 20 and probably even under 30 group is different, but the person making the argument to me is in the 50-59 age group which is why I looked it up. The statistics are pretty solid for that age group. No manipulation necessary, though it would be nice if I could have seen how many car fatalities there were in that age group vs overall. Itās likely significantly lower. The info might have been on that page if Iād looked more closely.
Once I saw that Covid deaths just from the 50-59 age group practically equal all deaths from car crashes, case closed for their proposition as far as our state is concerned. Finding the number of people killed in car crashes in their age group was only going to make the comparison worse for their side as itās bound to be less than the whole.
So I tried extremely dilute Miralax (polyethylene glycol). I estimate I had 1 mg when full dose is 17g. Pfizerās shot is 0.05mg. I should have done the math first. I had an immediate reaction of chills and burning paresthesias all over my body, including face, and weird burning headache, swollen glands. This is NOT anaphylaxis. It is a very familiar reaction for me but horrid regardless.
I took Pepcid, a little Benadryl, tylenol and 2mg methylprednisolone. Three and a half hours a little better but still sick.
My doctor still thinks i should go for the shot tomorrow. He wanted me to premedicate but I keep reading that blunts the effects. And I donāt think this is the kind of reaction that Benadryl addresses.
I just looked and my toothpaste has PEG so the whole experiment was unnecessary.
My main concern now is that my immune system is revved and I donāt want that to affect the shot.
Methinks thatās a totally different topic, but having seen my mom essentially starve to death and suffocate as her lungs broke down (from cancer) and seeing my dad die quickly from a heart attack, Iāll take quick over slow and agonizing if I were able to choose.
Donāt take the Pfizer shot! Get the Moderna
They ask specifically if you are allergic to any components. Not worth it. Other places will have the Moderna available.
Why? The Pfizer is .3mg dose and the Moderna is 1mg. Is the Moderna gentler? I have read Pfizer is better for 65+ and that Moderna has more side effects, but Moderna had no severe COVID cases and Pfizer had one.
But different places have different vaccines. Search the places that have Moderna. Most retail places will have Moderna since the Pfizer (up until now at least) has required special freezers.
@gouf78 I am asking you why Moderna. Would love to hear your reasons.
Within each chain (Walgreenās, CVS) there are different vaccines at individual stores. Generally Walgreenās has Pfizer and CVS has Moderna, but not universally.
You canāt just search on the site, you have to call each store. The mass vaccination sites do have info on which vaccine.
It is impossible to secure a vaccine here. I had random luck. I can give up my appointment tomorrow if still sick and try again over the next month. I am in no hurry.
