Thanks for the reference. It doesn’t include mRNA injections. My understanding is that the concerns the German authorities had were with (the very rare) administration errors in mRNA vaccination specifically.
Thinking about it a little more I’m a little confused, because if, for example, myocarditis could be attributed to accidental errors in administration, the data would be randomly distributed across age groups and it is not. It is clustered around young age groups. Maybe the Germans are being extra cautious since aspiration will probably not add much more time to the administration technique. I have no idea if there are any downsides to adding the extra step.
I’d been reading about the accidental injection of vaccine into vascular tissue and its relationship to adverse effects. It seems that retraining injectors to aspirate would be time consuming AND supposedly it hurt more and takes a few seconds longer.
That said, when I received my booster the injector said ‘oh good, no blood’. I assumed at that time it was related to the risk factors.
Also read that the BEST and least vascular place for these injections would be the butt. But, getting untold millions of people to ‘drop trow’ and stick their butt check out the car window was apparently considered to be a deterrent to vaccine acceptance.
My friend is hosting the party, not her 91 year old mother. Most guests are her friends because her mother has very few friends who are still alive. I am just surprised my friend would host such a party for her mother.
My mother asks me for my opinion often about what she should or should not do. There have been times when I’ve just came straight out to tell her not to do it. I have also told my siblings not to visit if they couldn’t refrain from social gatherings prior to visit my mom.
Many long years ago, I was a medic in the Israeli army, so giving injections was our job. Since our unit was a combat unit, that meant flu shots in the winter, and hepatitis shots in the summer. The unit had some 300 soldiers, 95% of whom were male.
Shots were given in the butt, and there were 5 of us medics. The doctor (who was our medical officer) gave shots to Captains or Sergeant-Majors and (lowly lieutenants got us). That was twice a year, for the 2.5 years I was with that unit.
You can do the math as to how many butts that was per medic.
When we were on base, the soldiers were required to come to the clinic. Their company commander officers collected them and brought them, and told them to get their shots or else. In the field it was more difficult to monitor that, but the soldiers slept in long tents. At night, right after lights out, we entered the tent on both side, with one medic at each flap and an officer, and another two medics walking down the two rows of beds, giving the shots.
Yes, it looked as you likely imagine it looked.
Most just wanted to go back to sleep, so they got it over with. Some panicked. On one memorable occasion, a pretty large soldier saw what was going on, jumped out of bed, barreled by the medic at the entry flap, and disappeared into the night, through the brush and thorns, in his underwear and barefoot.
Watching the immunizations my children have received I have never noticed a doctor or nurse aspirate a needle. They are usually so quick that there isn’t time to blink before the injection is done.
Also while getting my Covid vaccinations I have noticed them being extremely quick and painless. I have seen no evidence of aspiration. I have also seen a few examples on TV of celebrities or others getting vaccinated and not seen the aspiration occur.
I would say it was because I cared about my community and trying to do my part to help others stay safe (especially the vulnerable ones) and end the pandemic.
" aspiration is defined as the pulling back of the plunger of a syringe (for 5–10 seconds) prior to injecting medicine.
Aspiration is most commonly performed during an intramuscular (IM) or subcutaneous (SC) injection, and is meant to ensure that the needle tip is located at the desired site, and has not accidentally punctured a blood vessel.
Advocates of aspiration contend that it is a technically easy maneuver that is rapidly performed and well tolerated by patients with no increase in costs incurred."
If aspiration is defined as pulling back on the plunger for 5-10 seconds, it is NOT “rapidly performed” and I cannot imagine a patient “tolerating” that well if it took me up to 10 seconds to deliver an injection!
When I was first educated as a nurse, I was trained to aspirate very quickly, as described above when talking about pediatric injections.
After a long break from nursing while I was a SAHM during middle school years, I did a lot of CE hours to reactivate my nursing license. The protocol had changed that we were no longer to aspirate during injections due to lack of data justifying the practice.
It’s interesting that it is once again being examined.
As to the subject of people asking you why you are wearing a mask:
A friend of mine said that as she walked into a CVS that a man exiting the building asked her why she was wearing “a face diaper.” She said she ignored him and went on about her business.
I think there are probably very few people who are truly just “inquisitive” when they ask-they know exactly why someone is masked, they just don’t believe in the effectiveness, or they are taking “a position.”
My first instinct would be to say “none of your danged business.” Maybe a less hostile response would be “why on earth would you want to know?”
I live in a relatively low mask area, but can not even imagine someone asking a stranger why they were masked, or for that matter, wearing any other article of clothing-a jacket, jeans, etc. People here do not comment on other’s appearance, unless perhaps it is a compliment ( love your sweater, for example). I would think a shocked look would be the appropriate response to such a rude mask comment.
When someone on FB objected to wearing “face diapers,” a guy wrote, “Oh, I see the confusion! You’re supposed to wear a mask, not a diaper, on your face! Hope that helps. “
A shocked look can be misinterpreted as insult or humiliation- which is likely what the rude person was intending. The rude comment is a power play. I would say “who cares” except that those kinds of rude comments have a way of spreading- like a virus (pun intended), and are modeled all the time now in the media. That’s the real problem.
I don’t hear comments like that either (I am in a high vax area, though I agree most people wouldn’t say anything no matter where they live). But if I were the target of such a comment, and I felt the need to engage rather than ignore, it would be “wow that’s a rude thing to say”. Make it about them. They are the one who is out of line, not the mask wearer minding their own business. Answering a question (even with a witty retort), which wasn’t meant as a question in the first place, just reinforces the notion that it is appropriate behavior. So if possible I would just label what they said as rude (the ability to label implies a position of power) and try to move on.
I agree. If someone was sincere, I would answer truthfully that I am immunosuppressed. But it is a power play more than likely, so I like to throw it back at them and say something that effectively ends any confrontation, they recoil, and walk away.
My husband received a rather lengthy lecture on why he shouldn’t wear a mask or get vaccinated from a total stranger at a rest area on a rural interstate. The person claimed to be friends with Dr. Oz and that the government suppressed articles on covid written decades ago. The man wasn’t rude though, so my husband listened politely and we continue to mask up. Frankly, public rest areas are probably a place where I will always wear masks going forward.