COVID Vaccination

[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.

 

[HuskyHawk]

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.

Yes, I keep getting those emails too. But the last one pretty much said "nevermind, it seems we won't get much". This is Partners/Brigham whatever they call it now.

 

[HuskyHawk]

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

It's not an mRNA vaccine. I'm just more comfortable with the technology behind it. The two mRNA vaccines are the first two mRNA treatments ever approved for humans. They may be fine. They may not. For anybody at risk of severe Covid, they make sense. For young people, nope. I'm in between, but since the J&J is approved and I'm not eligible anyway, I will wait for it.
How the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 Vaccine Works - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

 

[Duncan Idaho]

Went on the Walgreens website at 0630 today. Said there were 15 appointments available locally. I had to click on several time slots until finally getting approved for a shot tomorrow and on 3/31 for the second dose. Also given a lengthy verification number.

 

[Waquoit]

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

It's like buying hot concert tickets, almost.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Side effects means it's working!

Yes. Especially Moderna.

First Moderna shot:

• day of: new symptoms aside from being sore
• day after: Didn't sleep much after 3 AM, feeling like a bad hangover, arm even more sore
• 2nd day after: fever spiking at 100.4, flu-like symptoms
• 3rd day after: starting to feel normal, the best feeling "side effect day" of the time
• 4th day after: 100%

Second Moderna shot:

• day of: just slight arm pain, much less than before
• day after: was up at 3 AM again, almost no arm pain, less aches and headache but a higher fever (101). More lucid than the first dose too. Started to feel more like myself after 8 PM.
• 2nd day after: feeling pretty normal, no fever, just a little cloudy and slightly achy. Going for a walk was tough, but just finished my normal Sunday workout.
• Swollen lymph nodes, should are expected to go away in a week or so.

My wife got both Pfizer shots and had no side effects at all aside from arm pain.

 

[upstater]

Some people may have had Covid without knowing it, which makes the side effects all that much worse. If they already have antibodies then the introduction of similar proteins may trigger an immediate reaction. At least this is what I read may be happening in some of the reactions.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Some people may have had Covid without knowing it, which makes the side effects all that much worse. If they already have antibodies then the introduction of similar proteins may trigger an immediate reaction. At least this is what I read may be happening in some of the reactions.

Yep. That's what all three doctors/nurses during the 2nd dose center told me. All very surprised of my first dose symptoms despite never testing positive for covid.

Here's my week prior to the March lockdown 2020:

Saturday 2/29: Attended a math competition at Fairfield U where my school was participating. ~1000 people in attendance.
Monday 3/2-Thursday 3/5: Regular work at school
Friday 3/6: Spent the day observing a high school in Stamford
Saturday 3/7: A school benefit in Stamford. Drinks, dancing, etc. ~500 people in attendance.
Monday-Thursday 3/9-3/12: Regular work at school
Friday 3/13: Spring break started early, only teachers in school planning for "two weeks of quarantine".
Saturday 3/14: Start of quarantine in earnest.

Lots of mingling and potential for unintended exposure. The following week had much lower cardio stamina (huffling while walking, more time in between sets when exercising) but could have also just been covid anxiety (which was definitely real). Took an antibody test in August that was negative.

Nothing is certain, but a good chance of exposure based on my vaccine reactions, something like the 80%ish range. C'et la vie.

 

[huskypantz]

My wife got both Pfizer shots and had no side effects at all aside from arm pain.

Same here (minimal arm pain), but I have coworkers who had side effects with both moderna and pfizer on the second shot.

 

[Bonk]

I recently tried to sign my parents up thru VAMS and the earliest I found was early April, but I called 877-918-2224 and left my number and they called me back a day later and I was able to book them an appointment for March 4th

 

[Bonk]

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.

Love to hear this @huskeynut hopefully CT follows their lead starts putting vaccination sites in supermarkets and more pharmacy like Florida. It seems like it'd speed things up tremendously!

 

[Waquoit]

Love to hear this @huskeynut hopefully CT follows their lead starts putting vaccination sites in supermarkets and more pharmacy like Florida. It seems like it'd speed things up tremendously!

Other states are following CT's lead. We're the best!

 

[kemba]

My school had its clinic today for the first dose.

Had Covid in early January so not looking forward to the potential side effects. So far just arm soreness.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

I was able to get an appointment on January 25 , to a Drive-up clinic at Chandler -Gilbert Community College.This was run by Maricopa County. I received the, the Pfizer Vaccine It was well staffed with Miltary, Firemen, and Nurses from the Dignity Health Care system. That was well organized . Since I received the Pfizer there was only a min 21 day waiting period between shots.
They actually emailed me an invitation for my second which I allowed me to schedule and receive my booster on 2/16. Apparently I‘m now free to move about the cabin
The county wasn’t taking appointments for group 1c 65+ so my wife registered for the State run clinic at Cardinal Stadium running 24/7. People were getting early AM appointments to avoid traffic . The City of Phoenix separates the East and West Valley.traffic could be problematic.
Since we are pretty far East in the County , Glendale is over an hour away by interstate and commuter bypass Highways.
Needless to say she was not trilled with the drive.
The week before her appointment she lucked out and got an appointment at the
Walgreens 4 miles from our lhouse. They gave her a second appointmentp at the same time. I was impress
She got the Moderna vaccine which has a 28 day waiting period.
Hopefully we can get to Ct this year.
Arizona like Florida has an abundance of out of state visitors this time of year and some of my neighbors were complaining about the over abundance of out of state plates at the clinic. They pay taxes and the federal government paid billions for the vaccines so I personally didn’t see a problem.
Rumors were Canadians could sign up but that never was confirmed. We usually have 250,000 of them every winter.

 

[Northbound]

Keep checking, meaning be relentless. My wife checks and if an earlier one comes up she books it and cancels the other. Just got my Pfizer #1 today because of an underlyimg health condition. This is in NY

 

[Ricker]

In New Hampshire Scheduled appointment through Vams 3 weeks ago for 4/9 earliest date. Got a text and email today offering a change to this Saturday for JNJ vaccine. Impressed with the unexpected outreach amongst the chaos. Like @husky429 I couldn't find any way to seek an earlier appointment on Vams without canceling the scheduled appointment first, so I was resigned to waiting a month before the offer