The military is not requiring covid vaccines right now, and there has been much in the press discussing the relatively high proportion of military members who are spurning the vaccine.
The military cannot be required to take a vaccine that is not fully approved.
I believe that relates to a lawsuit ruling after what happened with Anthrax vaccine.
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With the numbers in the articles I linked to above, Iâm not seeing relatively high numbers TBH. At most it seems to match the general populace.
That is interesting ⊠really quite interesting. If true I am in shock and trying to get my head around it. The same way Iâm trying to get my head around SO many employees, including medical professionals at my hospital who have opted out at this point.
Truly donât know how colleges/universities can mandate it given its emergency use status and absence of long term data - other than the obvious carrot in these environments to âget back to normalâ (whatever that ends up meaning).
I think we have hit the proverbial wall here in the US in terms of vaccine demand and we are in for a bumpy ride.
The numbers from one of the pages (summarized in post 575) suggest that the overall vaccination rate for US military (including Reserves and National Guard) is a little lower than for the US overall. However, the US Navy has a significantly higher vaccination rate, and there is also mention that active duty service members have a higher vaccination rate that appears greater than for the US overall.
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Given how covid has been shown to spread rapidly and readily on boats, it makes sense that navy would have high VAX ratesâself preservation!
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The military cannot require the vaccine until it loses EUA status. DoDMERB announced a while ago that it will be required once past EUA.
Our son reports that the main reason some military are âspurningâ the vaccine is they donât see a reason to line up for something voluntarily that soon will be mandated into their arms like the umpteen other shots they routinely get, so theyâll wait until then, no reason to give Uncle Sam more power over them than he already has. Especially among some enlisted, waiting is a tiny power move. Our son doesnât know any officers who havenât had at least a first shot; it IS a leadership example. He was off-post on a temp assignment when his unit got the first dose a few months ago and, although he was on the re-schedule/wait list, he couldnât get a slot, just empty reassurances that âweâll call you.â Eventually, he and a few others in his cohort who were in the same position scheduled at an off-post pharmacy and are now fully vaccinated. So, he and these friends would have been counted among unvaccinated officers until they took matters into their own hands.
I wouldnât count all those military unvaccinated as âreluctantâ in the sense of what weâre generally discussing here. A lot of it is just waiting for the military medical machine to catch up with them as it always does, albeit slowly. The military numbers will be moot post EUA.
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Anyone know the timing of when the application/approval for âregularâ status may occur to move us beyond the EUA ? Since it appears to be such a sticking point, it would be a huge positive step !
None of the companies have filed their full BLA approval package yet. Pfizer has repeatedly said they should get that in this quarter. Typically takes FDA takes at least 6+ months to review the data submitted BUT the EUA data that has been submitted so far is much greater than a typical EUA package (and in a relatively higher number of patients)âŠso not sure that will cut down the FDA review time, or not.
in regards to SS#s; iâve been volunteering just a bit at a friendâs pharmacy. We take insurance - it pays the small admin fee. Iâve been told that if people dont have insurance, we will take the SS# so that the gov can reimburse for the small fees. It makes sense, right? A private company isnt going to pay for nurses and staff and admin for this all, right? AND - i noticed on Friday about 20% of the people scheduled for second shots didnt show up. ??!! WTH? why wouldnât you? anyway - going back tomorrow to help again. Itâs rather fun actually.
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Those who have a systemic reaction (swollen lymph nodes, chills, fever, nausea, muscle aches, exhaustion) to the first shot most likely had Covid. They may not need a second shot until we need boosters. Researchers are studying this now.
Of the teens we know who have not been Covid-safe (indoor parties, unmasked, with drinking), quite a few got sick after their first dose. They did not know they had Covid, but most likely they did. It may be that these people are maxed out on antibodies/immunity, so Iâm not sure they need another shot.
But for those whose first shot was nothing, or just local pain in the arm, I sincerely hope they go for their second shot. None of the systemic reactions Iâve heard of for either dose lasted longer than about six to ten hours and many were shorter. Plus, about 50% of people have no systemic reaction at all.
Iâd certainly rather feel sick from the vaccine than be sick with Covid.
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I mean, we know that itâs likely to cause a reaction. Maybe itâs because they had it already, and maybe not. To not get a vaccination because âI might get a reactionâ is ridiculous.
This isnât just a personal choiceâthere are repercussions for everyone. If you care about children who canât be vaccinated yet, especially, being willing to keep passing around the virus and help spread mutations is, Iâm sorry, immature and selfish. Too many people need to grow up and realize they share responsibility whether they want it that way or not.
I would like vaccine refusers to at least be honest and come out and sayââfrankly, I donât care about other people and will do what âfeelsâ right to me, whatever the facts are.â they wonât though.
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I have a friend that never had covid and had a very bad allergic reaction hours after her first shot (pfizer). The doctors told her she would need to switch to JnJ then. And of course they pulled it right before and she is now concerned about it, being a woman. But she did not show up for a 2nd appointment because of the situation.
I have to admit that I am scheduled to get my shingles vaccine on Friday.
I am WAY more nervous about that than I was about the coronavirus vaccine. Maybe because itâs not about the greater good but itâs about protecting me.
I do see being nervous about the side effects. I will get the shingles vaccine because I do not want to get shingles. But I think I have built up in my mind that itâs going to be terrible! Others telling me about the reaction arenât helping either lol!
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My first shingrix shot I had a sore arm but okay and the second was much worse for sore arm and lasted much longer. BUT my sister had shingles and I guarantee that is MUCH worse! And it doesnât guarantee anything but at least if you do get shingles it wonât be as bad as it could have been (good enough!)
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To clarify, 50% of people have a systemic reaction with their second dose, so that is common. However, about 7% of people have a systemic reaction to their first dose, and they are the people who may have had Covid.
The New England Journal published a study out of Mt. Sinai saying that, âPeople whoâd had a coronavirus infection prior to the shot were more likely to report side effects like fatigue, headache, chills, fever, muscle pain, and joint pain after receiving one dose.â
Thatâs what I meant by systemic reactionâa full-body immune activation which happens the day after the shot. I did not mean an allergic reaction, which happens right after the injection.
@sdl0625 I am sorry that your friend had a bad allergic reaction. That is scary! I have heard of people with allergies getting their shot in the hospital so that the staff can be ready to treat them. Maybe something like that could work for her second shot (immunologists think itâs fine to wait longer up to about 5 months between shots).
Another option would be to look into Novavax which will likely get approval in May.
My husband had his second Shingrix shot two weeks and one day after his second COVID shot. He was tired, and had the chills. That was it. Felt fine the next day!
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As rough as the Shingrix shotâs side effects may be, if youâve ever watched a loved one suffer through shingles, believe me, you do NOT want that. The feeling of helplessness while watching someone you love suffer is heartbreaking.
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My H had a flu-like reaction from both Shingrix shots as well as both covid (Pfizer) shots.
The reaction was from hour 6 until hour 48 or 72. He slept it off the best he could (Tylenol helped him get thru it)âtired, achy, low grade fever, chills.
He had had Shingles and believes he may have had covid in Feb 2020 (no test).
My 91 year old mom and I have only discomfort at injection site for all of our shots which I got at same time as him. We believe I had a very mild case of shingles (treated immediately with antiviral) and havenât had covid. I have many allergiesâH has fewer.