COVID Vaccine Thread, the Sequel

[Vancat]

Getting #2 Pfizer tomorrow. Have been a tiny bit nervous about side effects (had none but a sore arm with the first) but reading this thread helped. Previously all I was hearing about was side effects with the 2nd shot, but I guess those are the people speaking up.

 

[Lefty2one]

As silly as it sounds, and I don't know if it'll work with the COVID shot, but lightly hitting/slapping the area of your arm where they administered the shot is supposed to reduce the soreness. When we had our first child and had all the usual shots (TDAP, etc.) the pharmacist told us to do that with any shot we get. Worked then, curious to see if it works for COVID.

 

[J187Money]

Very slight soreness from Pfizer (yesterday) but nothing major.

 

[outlaw]

I'm planning to log on to my hartford healthcare chart at midnight + create my VAMS account as soon as eligibility opens here in CT - should I be calling vax sites/providers and leaving messages as well? any other tips for finding an appointment sooner or later? My wife is due with our first in early June - I want to be sure I am vax'd by May if possible

 

[coachcap]

First shot today.....

I have amended my thoughts on it. They straight lied about the mild arm discomfort - I believe Moderna is just a mix of battery acid and Pop Rocks. And a microchip - my left arm pulls in FM radio now.

Right about the time the time you realize that your arm is going to fall off, the rest of you starts to feel like a pallet of bricks landed on you.

I believe I have been poisoned.

But the volunteers were really nice - ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ review on Yelp. (Took off one star for the poison.)

My wife had the same result as you with her first Moderna vaccination. She said that the shot was administered by an inexperienced pharmacy student (This UConn Pharmacy grad hopes the student wasn't from the alma mater) who acted nervous during administration. Her 2nd shot was by a physician from her department & she had no complications other than a slightly sore arm for 24 hours.

 

[Milo65]

Getting the vaunted second Moderna shot on Thursday. Just in time to ruin my holiday weekend.

I had it yesterday at 3:30, woke up today at 4 AM, pounding headache, chills, joints ache... good times

 

[August_West]

First shot today.....

I have amended my thoughts on it. They straight lied about the mild arm discomfort - I believe Moderna is just a mix of battery acid and Pop Rocks. And a microchip - my left arm pulls in FM radio now.

Right about the time the time you realize that your arm is going to fall off, the rest of you starts to feel like a pallet of bricks landed on you.

I believe I have been poisoned.

But the volunteers were really nice - ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ review on Yelp. (Took off one star for the poison.)

You had Covid, didnt you?


They say that is a factor in Vax reaction symptoms.

Either that, or as Ive suspected for some time now, you are a woman.

Why People of This Sex May Have Worse COVID-19 Vaccine Side Effects

According to data from the CDC, more women are reporting worse side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine than men. Here's what to know.

www.health.com

I'll give you benefit of doubt this time and chalk it up to the first.

 

[Vuce]

Keep in mind when looking at the numbers. 95% for Moderna 78% for Johnson & Johnson blah blah blah. EVERY single vaccine including the much ridiculed Russian Sputnik V.... has shown to be 100% effective in preventing death. Which is the most important thing :’)

Here’s the confusion coming in. Reading up on as much as I can on this and love this thread. So Washington state dept of Health is looking into 102 post vax cases which include 8 hospitalizations and 2 deaths. These vax cases were apparently past the timeframe where people are fully vaccinated. Hopefully the DOH will find that it’s some other weird thing that caused the deaths and hospitalizations. I guess the “good news” is that both deaths were over 80 years old and had underlying conditions. No idea on the hospital ones. You’d hope that if you are vaccinated you would at least be able to avoid that Ugh

https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/coronavirus/article250326486.html

 

[JustbrewitMan]

My wife had the same result as you with her first Moderna vaccination. She said that the shot was administered by an inexperienced pharmacy student (This UConn Pharmacy grad hopes the student wasn't from the alma mater) who acted nervous during administration. Her 2nd shot was by a physician from her department & she had no complications other than a slightly sore arm for 24 hours.

UConn School of Pharmacy students go through pretty extensive vaccination training. As long as they pay attention to the practical section on administration technique (and they pretty much all do!), then they will have better IM injection technique than 95% of the other people I've witnessed giving the shots. I've personally observed admin technique for >20 UConn Pharmacy students and they were all excellent. Some of the other folks I've seen administering shots give me agita...many of the ones I see on TV are ridiculously bad.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Here’s the confusion coming in. Reading up on as much as I can on this and love this thread. So Washington state dept of Health is looking into 102 post vax cases which include 8 hospitalizations and 2 deaths. These vax cases were apparently past the timeframe where people are fully vaccinated. Hopefully the DOH will find that it’s some other weird thing that caused the deaths and hospitalizations. I guess the “good news” is that both deaths were over 80 years old and had underlying conditions. No idea on the hospital ones. You’d hope that if you are vaccinated you would at least be able to avoid that Ugh

https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/coronavirus/article250326486.html

Yes, there are some people that will still develop COVID infection post-vaccination. It will be interesting to see clinical characteristics of those folks in that report as well as viral variant info.

I would guess that many of them will be people for which we had no data (or limited data) on relative effectiveness compared to people in the study population. We're giving it to people with immune compromise in the hope that it will at least provide some partial protection (Cancer patients, transplant patients, HIV, people on immunosuppressive meds for auto-immune disorders, etc., etc.). There's some data emerging over the last ~1-2 weeks confirming that these folks don't develop as strong an antibody/T-cell response vs. people without those immune-compromising conditions.

 

[mauconnfan]

Had my 1st Pfizer Saturday in Windsor Locks and had very little reaction. I did have a sore arm in the vaccinated area but after a couple Ibuo's hardly anything at all. We'll see what happens with #2 in mid April.

 

[Vuce]

Yes, there are some people that will still develop COVID infection post-vaccination. It will be interesting to see clinical characteristics of those folks in that report as well as viral variant info.

I would guess that many of them will be people for which we had no data (or limited data) on relative effectiveness compared to people in the study population. We're giving it to people with immune compromise in the hope that it will at least provide some partial protection (Cancer patients, transplant patients, HIV, people on immunosuppressive meds for auto-immune disorders, etc., etc.). There's some data emerging over the last ~1-2 weeks confirming that these folks don't develop as strong an antibody/T-cell response vs. people without those immune-compromising conditions.

Shouldn’t we know this information or was this so rushed that it’s like wait and see? In reading up on this topic ( NEVER thought I’d be researching any of this LOL) apparently vaccines are developed over like a 5 year + time with testing and trials over and over. But obviously the need outweighed the time for this vaccine so we will find out stuff in the months and years ahead as time passes. Do I have that part right?

 

[progrocks]

I drove to a rural county 3 hours away in my red state that opened up their allottment to anyone because the desire to receive it by the local eligible population dried up. Luckily was able to find a 2nd dose next week that is only 20 minutes away.

 

[aburks41]

I'm going to Miami in a month with a few friends. Hoping to get it shortly as I will be eligible tomorrow. Does anyone know if calling a few places towards the end of the day would increase my chances of getting a walk in appointment? There's gotta be a few scheduled appts that just don't show up, right?

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Down here where I got mine (Publix), they just add a sticker anyway. Should be OK.
Also, my daughter up in CT says her company is laminating cards for employees who get the vaccine.

I heard laminating the card is not allowed in case a booster is required.
I heard of people taking a copy and laminating that for their wallet.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

I'm going to Miami in a month with a few friends. Hoping to get it shortly as I will be eligible tomorrow. Does anyone know if calling a few places towards the end of the day would increase my chances of getting a walk in appointment? There's gotta be a few scheduled appts that just don't show up, right?

If you have the time & resources, it can't hurt to try. Cancellations definitely happen and places jump through hoops to not waste doses.

Good luck!

 

[superjohn]

I drove to a rural county 3 hours away in my red state that opened up their allottment to anyone because the desire to receive it by the local eligible population dried up. Luckily was able to find a 2nd dose next week that is only 20 minutes away.

How does it work? They had no problem with you being from a different part f thr state?

 

[outlaw]

UPDATE: 16+ can register and sign up for appointments through the UConn Health Chart

 

[WhereistheDove?]

I'm going to Miami in a month with a few friends. Hoping to get it shortly as I will be eligible tomorrow. Does anyone know if calling a few places towards the end of the day would increase my chances of getting a walk in appointment? There's gotta be a few scheduled appts that just don't show up, right?

Honestly, just go on the CVS website and refresh every couple seconds for a minute or two. An availability in the next few days will pop up.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Shouldn’t we know this information or was this so rushed that it’s like wait and see? In reading up on this topic ( NEVER thought I’d be researching any of this LOL) apparently vaccines are developed over like a 5 year + time with testing and trials over and over. But obviously the need outweighed the time for this vaccine so we will find out stuff in the months and years ahead as time passes. Do I have that part right?

Right. Accelerated timeline in setting of global pandemic. Note that Accelerated Timeline doesn't equal compromise in research method integrity. It just means that "special population" data (that takes longer to recruit study subjects for) lags behind. As well as "long-term efficacy and safety" data. Thankfully, we have decades of research to show that it's exceptionally rare to see directly-attributable adverse effects from vaccines that don't happen in the immediate weeks to months post-vaccination.

Any significant protective benefits (even if only temporary) can play a pivotal role in tamping out the pandemic spread. Which is why the FDA accepted ~3-4 month efficacy and safety data in determining whether to issue the Emergency Use Authorization, with representation of important "very common" special populations (Age >65, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, etc.).

There's nothing in the realm of efficacy or safety that's emerged in the U.S. / Worldwide real-life safety & efficacy data to suggest that the decision was a bad one. Safety data is as good/better than just about all previous vaccines brought to market. Efficacy to prevent severe disease and to prevent transmission is wayyyy better than what we could have hoped.

Get them shots ASAP, Boneyarders!

 

[aburks41]

UPDATE: 16+ can register and sign up for appointments through the UConn Health Chart

Their website crashed

 

[FairView]

I got second Pfizer last night. Had some arm pain overnight that is already subsiding. I'm a 63-year-old male.

 

[OOMMM]

At least some of the sore arm can be mitigated with positioning. If going to a drive through site, do not rest your elbow on the open window. Drop your arm into your lap keep your hand unclenched, and try to relax your arm. I have a colleague who had her patients rest their hand loosely just behind their back. Wish I could describe it better but it was very hard to tense the muscles and it worked like a charm.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Getting #2 Pfizer tomorrow. Have been a tiny bit nervous about side effects (had none but a sore arm with the first) but reading this thread helped. Previously all I was hearing about was side effects with the 2nd shot, but I guess those are the people speaking up.

Very slight soreness from Pfizer (yesterday) but nothing major.

Had my 1st Pfizer Saturday in Windsor Locks and had very little reaction. I did have a sore arm in the vaccinated area but after a couple Ibuo's hardly anything at all. We'll see what happens with #2 in mid April.

I got second Pfizer last night. Had some arm pain overnight that is already subsiding. I'm a 63-year-old male.

Same here with Pfizer with slight soreness in the arm near the injection site.

I'm about 16 hours past second shot.

Almost feels like how you'd feel 3-4 days after getting a real good punch on your arm. Not really pain or sensitive to touch on the skin but more like a slight deep tissue knot.

 

[coachcap]

I'm planning to log on to my hartford healthcare chart at midnight + create my VAMS account as soon as eligibility opens here in CT - should I be calling vax sites/providers and leaving messages as well? any other tips for finding an appointment sooner or later? My wife is due with our first in early June - I want to be sure I am vax'd by May if possible

In today's Hartford Courant, it was suggested that you go to your portal & pre-populate the personal & insurance information fields NOW. Then, tomorrow at 8 a.m. you just click NEXT, & vaccination sites pop up with appointment availablity.
I used the Hartford Healthcare my chart site for my vaccinations. It's a lot easier & MUCH less of a headache than signing up through VAMS.