COVID Vaccination

[Chuck]

NJ has been tough, but possible. I'm done with both Pfizer shots (because I'm fat). My wife found the first slot when my local site first opened. They scheduled my second shot when I was filling out paperwork at the first shot appointment. They run the facility with national guard who do a pretty good job with keeping people on line and they have the best attitudes I've ever seen. Even the nurses and other admins taking info and giving shots are all friendly. It's actually odd (but pleasant).

I felt somewhat bad getting the shot since I'm not reality tv-sized fat, and there are old and frail people that haven't been able to get slots. But at least I'm eligible. In NJ there is no verification and one of the "conditions" is smoker so I guess you could just show up with a cigarette. A bunch of people in my town put together a group of students and tech-savvy people that will find a slot for older people having trouble. From what I hear they've been really successful. It just takes time and expertise that a lot of people don't have.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I’m one of the lucky ones at a school with a clinic. Getting jabbed on Thursday

 

[Vuce]

I think the J & J is one shot as opposed to 2 right?

 

[Improviser]

I think the J & J is one shot as opposed to 2 right?

Yes.

I have read that with the Covid variants, the manufacturers may come out with booster shots at some point to strengthen the efficacy of the current shot(s).

@JustbrewitMan is the expert on this issue.

 

[temery]

@HuskyHawk - Curious to hear why the preference for J&J over the moderna, Pfizer ?

'For me, it'll be because it's one shot, with fewer side affects.

 

[Waquoit]

Side effects means it's working!

 

[UConnJim]

For the people outside of CT, this stuff varies widely by state. In MA nearly everything is going to the mass vaccination sites and a few clinics. The hospitals aren't getting it, the colleges aren't either (and had to return some). That's fine for me living 20 minutes from Gillette, but not for everybody.

In South Carolina my dad had a drive up vaccination on the High School football field. Never got out of his car.

I'm 54 and don't expect to be eligible in MA for a couple of months. Preference is the J&J if I can get it.

I live near Boston and my doctor is affiliated with a hospital group and they keep emailing me about if I am eligible for the vaccine and they will probably be the ones that provide the vaccine to me when I am eligible. That is how it worked for my in-laws. The doctor group called them and arranged the appointments for both shots. And, the hospital group can go through the medical records and see if you have comorbidities and are eligible early. The hospital group anticipates by the time I am eligible, they will have the vaccine. BTW, they are giving more vaccines to the hospitals in Mass now, but not as much as before as they realized they made a mistake.

 

[huskiemaniac]

I am 56 and became eligible to get the vaccine today. The earliest scheduled appointment through the VAMS website is May 5th. You can't log into the Hartford Healthcare website to schedule an appointment (it gives you an error code), and CVS and Walmart and Uconn says there are all booked.

The Walgreen's website shows they have appointments for this week for the first shot, but then says it cannot schedule your second shot so it won't book your first appointment????? None of the phone numbers anywhere work.

Anybody have any luck getting an earlier appointment of any tips or tricks to do it?

I logged on at midnight and have an appointment for Friday.

 

[huskiemaniac]

I am 56 and became eligible to get the vaccine today. The earliest scheduled appointment through the VAMS website is May 5th. You can't log into the Hartford Healthcare website to schedule an appointment (it gives you an error code), and CVS and Walmart and Uconn says there are all booked.

The Walgreen's website shows they have appointments for this week for the first shot, but then says it cannot schedule your second shot so it won't book your first appointment????? None of the phone numbers anywhere work.

Anybody have any luck getting an earlier appointment of any tips or tricks to do it?

A friend called a local Walgreens today and they said call every day at 4... they give any leftover out then. One friend got a shot, they other still trying

 

[huskiemaniac]

I am 56 and became eligible to get the vaccine today. The earliest scheduled appointment through the VAMS website is May 5th. You can't log into the Hartford Healthcare website to schedule an appointment (it gives you an error code), and CVS and Walmart and Uconn says there are all booked.

The Walgreen's website shows they have appointments for this week for the first shot, but then says it cannot schedule your second shot so it won't book your first appointment????? None of the phone numbers anywhere work.

Anybody have any luck getting an earlier appointment of any tips or tricks to do it?

COVID-19 2023 Update – Ending of the Public Health Emergency

With the nationally declared Public Health Emergency ending on May 11, the Connecticut Department of Public Health has announced the State’s COVID-19 recovery plans and next steps. Please visit www.ct.gov/dph for ongoing updates. If you still can't find an answer to your question, please email...

portal.ct.gov

 

[TheChamps990411]

I called my moms clinic for her on thursday and she got the vaxx Friday and felt like utter pooh until this morning. Shes feeling fine now thankfully. Ill get it as soon as my age group comes up (45) which is supposedly March 22nd.

 

[HCCForever]

A couple of my family members logged on early and got appointments for tomorrow and later this week in CT. I am in Florida and optimistic that I will be able to schedule an appointment sometime in March after they open up slots for people under 65. Of course they still have a large amount of over 65 to go. Looks like CT is doing a good job.

 

[businesslawyer]

I am 56 and became eligible to get the vaccine today. The earliest scheduled appointment through the VAMS website is May 5th. You can't log into the Hartford Healthcare website to schedule an appointment (it gives you an error code), and CVS and Walmart and Uconn says there are all booked.

The Walgreen's website shows they have appointments for this week for the first shot, but then says it cannot schedule your second shot so it won't book your first appointment????? None of the phone numbers anywhere work.

Anybody have any luck getting an earlier appointment of any tips or tricks to do it?

I logged on exactly at midnight to the Yale New Haven website. Within five minutes I had an appointment for this weekend. But if you were ten minutes later, the system was already overloaded.

 

[GHSWolverines]

VAMS is terrible. My first appointment went smoothly. My second appointment was a hot mess - canceled then not canceled then canceled for a second time. So I called the location where I was suppose to get it and they said my second appointment was all set.
When I went for my second shot I asked them about VAMS. They said they are not networked with VAMS.
I went to CHC in Hartford. The address was 76 New Britain Ave. They were great!
I received Moderna. After the 2nd shot I felt like crap for a day and a half then felt fine.

 

[boba]

Side effects means it's working!

Side effects appear to come in two categories: "mild" and "this is awful." Conversations with a fairly prominent immunologist and anecdotal evidence is the "this is awful" means previous exposure to / episode of COVID-19. Frau had the Moderna and had a delayed reaction (2 weeks in) to the first dose and a "this is awful" response immediately after the second dose. She got the COVID back in April 2020. I had the first (Pfizer) a couple weeks ago, second scheduled in a couple weeks. I had no ill effects other than "mild." (sore arm)

FWIW - She had the COVID and we have traced the infection back (one of our postdocs). However, I never exhibited any symptoms nor appeared positive in any test. Not sure what to say about the transmissibility of the pathogen or the robustness of my immune system. I cared for her during the 3 week affair and didn't leave the house either for fear of infecting others.

 

[Greathusky]

Using the VAMS CT site, I put in a registration request at 2AM and received a reply at 8am. I am scheduled for 4/29 at St. Francis in Hartford.

After reading many stories, I am convinced that the non tech savvy folks are screwed. God bless the seniors who have no one to help them.

 

[Ha Who]

Using the VAMS CT site, I put in a registration request at 2AM and received a reply at 8am. I am scheduled for 4/29 at St. Francis in Hartford.

After reading many stories, I am convinced that the non tech savvy folks are screwed. God bless the seniors who have no one to help them.

Best bet for them (even I gave up with website crashes) is call the toll free number. It puts you in a line and I got a call back within two hours. They check every available site and I have an appointment March 11

 

[RichZ]

Using the VAMS CT site, I put in a registration request at 2AM and received a reply at 8am. I am scheduled for 4/29 at St. Francis in Hartford.

After reading many stories, I am convinced that the non tech savvy folks are screwed. God bless the seniors who have no one to help them.

They can find all the help they need at their town's Senior Center.

 

[husky8273]

logged into UConn Health 2/28 at 11:50pm, got appt. on 3/3

 

[huskypantz]

Using the VAMS CT site, I put in a registration request at 2AM and received a reply at 8am. I am scheduled for 4/29 at St. Francis in Hartford.

After reading many stories, I am convinced that the non tech savvy folks are screwed. God bless the seniors who have no one to help them.

My parents just went to the local Walgreens. They’re in the 65-74 club but got in a day or so early. They went there in person to schedule their visits.

 

[beerfan]

UPDATE: I was able to get an appointment for Friday at CVS. I guess the best advice it to just keep trying

 

[drayenob]

Just went on the CVS site this morning and got an appointment for next Monday

 

[huskeynut]

We live in Florida, Polk county. State started vaccinations in early January with 65 and older.

Counties are organizing/ sponsoring vaccine PODs throughout the state. Publix supermarkets, Walgreens, CVS, Walmart and others have vaccine PODS all over the state. 55+ communities like The Villages are also PODS. As of two or three days ago, Florida has vaccinated over 4 million residents. Doctors are now administering the vaccines in their offices for those who are elligible.

We got our first shot, Moderna, on January 18th. Our church sponsored the event. Second shot was on February 15th. In and out both times in under 30 minutes. Stayed in the car. Reactions were minor. Sore arm for about 24 hours.

We live in a 55+ community, Solivita. We sponsored a POD. National Guard came in and set up the traffic patterns and the vaccine stations. the community's CERT program (Community Emergency Response Team sponsored by Polk County Fire & Rescue) handle traffic flow. Our retired nurses group assisted with paper work. And our CAP program (Citizen Action Patrol sponsored by Polk County Sheriffs) also assisted. Over 2700 residents were vaccinated over two weekends. We are awaiting the next level and ready to sponsor another POD.

Has the system been perfect? No. Many counties got off to a good start but demand caused frustrations. Some counties, like Polk, were very slow to respond but eventually got it going.

By the time we started calling to get an appointment in either Orange county (Orlando area) or Osceola county (Kissimmee area), the church came through. Its in Osceola. Many of our friends called for an appointment and received their first shot within 2 weeks of the call.

 

[Kitaman]

Its very tricky. I mean some places if you got late in the evening (towards the last appointment) some people accompanying a scheduled patient can get a shot also, even if not scheduled. They don't want to waste the vaccine. This happened at Stamford Hospital. By the way there are pop up announcements at times which means a site got a vaccine drop (I believe), so be on the lookout locally for that. My wife got a call when the local site received such a drop. Very surprised they called her.

Also family caregivers can get poked, but that is not official. Depends on the site and the mood of the nurses or the phone scheduler. Its hit and miss, but if you just keep trying you may get a hit.

Not saying its unorganized, because it is, but there is a human element involved which allows for exceptions, with those in the eligible ranks. Mostly out of compassion, and so much awareness of the Virus, being in the medical field.

 

[oshkosh]

From a spouse of a healthcare professional, you have to keep checking. Appointments open up as these hospitals and pharmacies get word of vaccine shipments.