COVID VACCINE - The Megathread

Would you get the Pfizer vaccine if it were available to you?


  • Total voters
    77

akflightmedic

Forum Deputy Chief
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It's not easy to do, but it's also not impossible: and this is what public health departments are for. And as was mentioned above, there are costs to this "free" vaccine, esp when the private industry gets involved. storage costs, manpower costs, training costs (even though it should be minimal), and while a government entity can use existing staff, doing so in the private world would take people away from their day jobs.

I think you missed my point regarding this section. The costs I mentioned exist whether you are public or private. Without listing point by point the Federal requirements, their are many requirements which must be adhered to, policies and procedures which must be followed, and all have a cost regardless of public or private.

I emphatically restate, a private initiative would have been better as that entity and its labor would have been focused on ONE single agenda. Get the vaccine out and administer it. No distractions. The public options are burdened with their existing full time duties.

Lets discuss my service with regards to labor costs. There are rules on who I can use, how many I can use, and when I can use. For example, they can NOT be on duty staff. They must be off duty and in no way be part of the daily operational staff. I also have to have certain emergency back ups which do NOT involve planning with the thought that I will just use one of the on duty trucks should things go sideways. The vaccine clinics must have proper stand alone resources which do not negatively impact routine 911.

So while the clinics are paying time and half, people are growing tired of the OT. That happens even when it is just normal station coverage OT. We were already understaffed and there is an area shortage of providers. So there are not people just waiting in the wings to be utilized in an administrator of vaccine role. This applies to ALL the pharmacies as well.

The pharmacies have recruitment agencies applying heavy EVERYWHERE right now. Why? Cause there are not enough people. CVS, WG, etc. they do not have surplus staff. So now they are depleting both local and out of town work forces. Example...As a RN, I can fly to S. FL right now and work 12 hours a day 7 days a week (yes that is the schedule) giving vaccines and earn $77/hour plus Overtime. While this sounds great, why do you think they offer this much? This same stupid money exists in parts of CA as well.

Anyways, not to sidebar too much, but I think we are on opposite sides of the fence. I am very much pro-government, however in this particular situation, it should have been contracted out.

My own personal opinion not based on any fact is I suspect prior to the release of the full national stock (which I label as "mostly true"), I do think once it hit each hand in the chain, there was hoarding. Maine CDC got their stock and sat on it, they are still sitting on it and dolling out bits at a time. Which then got Maine EMS concerned who slowed the clinics cause maybe there is not enough. And then when the vaccines hit the pre-approved providers, they are now holding back cause of what they have seen in regards to the delays (hypothetically speaking)...because they want to ensure there is enough on hand to at least complete the second dose as opposed to having tons of people with only first dose cover and no knowledge of when a second will show up if ever.
 

fm_emt

Useless without caffeine
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"Example...As a RN, I can fly to S. FL right now and work 12 hours a day 7 days a week (yes that is the schedule) giving vaccines and earn $77/hour plus Overtime. While this sounds great, why do you think they offer this much? This same stupid money exists in parts of CA as well. "

Been trying to get in on some of that here in CA but keep running into roadblocks and dead ends. :/

"Anyways, not to sidebar too much, but I think we are on opposite sides of the fence. I am very much pro-government, however in this particular situation, it should have been contracted out."

Yeah, they could have contracted it out to whoever does Spirit Halloween stores and the Chick Fil-A drive thru and we'd have it done by the end of the month. ;-)
 

FiremanMike

Just a dude
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So, I got my first dose of the vaccine at the end of December, then a week later I got COVID..

Lucky me, lol
 

DrParasite

The fire extinguisher is not just for show
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I think you missed my point regarding this section. The costs I mentioned exist whether you are public or private. Without listing point by point the Federal requirements, their are many requirements which must be adhered to, policies and procedures which must be followed, and all have a cost regardless of public or private.

Anyways, not to sidebar too much, but I think we are on opposite sides of the fence. I am very much pro-government, however in this particular situation, it should have been contracted out.
I think I got your point... but I think you missed mine. If the public runs the distribution, they should have the staff and resources to administer the vaccine (aka, your tax dollars at work). If the private sector runs the distribution, someone needs to pay for the "free" vaccine.

I agree with you, let Walgreens, CVS, and all of the local pharmacies administer the vaccine. they often have the technological infrastructure already in place. give them money to buy the equipment needed to store, track and administer the vaccine, as well as the funding for time and a half for staff.

The public sector can set up "vaccine clinics" which require infrastructure, power, shelter, etc... pharmacies already exist, and the big chains have the IT infrastructure in place to handle reservations. Even though there are costs involved, the private sector is much better equipped to handle the distribution, provided the local and state governments provide them the funding to the job right.
 

akflightmedic

Forum Deputy Chief
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We still disagree on existing capabilities and stand up costs.

If the public runs it, they do NOT have the existing resources to do this massive roll out. If the private does it, the up front costs are still the same. Which is why it should be subcontracted to an entity that can focus on this single task.

Unsure what is confusing about that...up front costs to both public and private. The privates could focus solely on it. And arguably do it better.
 

Aprz

The New Beach Medic
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So, I got my first dose of the vaccine at the end of December, then a week later I got COVID..

Lucky me, lol
I was so afraid of that happening to me. I had an exposure the night before my first dose of the vaccine! They were debating about giving it to me or waiting a bit. They ultimately decided to give it to me. No COVID and I just got my second dose yesterday. Some people have been getting vaccines and still catching it so people will try to argue the vaccine doesn't work or give it to you, like they argue with the flu vaccine "Everytime I get the flu vaccine, I catch the flu." People forget you need to give the vaccine time to build up antibodies to work.

I hope you have a smooth recovery. Hopefully a week of building some antibodies will lessen your symptoms.
 
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OceanBossMan263

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We still disagree on existing capabilities and stand up costs.

If the public runs it, they do NOT have the existing resources to do this massive roll out. If the private does it, the up front costs are still the same. Which is why it should be subcontracted to an entity that can focus on this single task.

Unsure what is confusing about that...up front costs to both public and private. The privates could focus solely on it. And arguably do it better.
There is also the option of using tax credits or other financial maneuvering to encourage the private business to get on board. Doesn't all have to be cash up front.
 

akflightmedic

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There is also the option of using tax credits or other financial maneuvering to encourage the private business to get on board. Doesn't all have to be cash up front.

Solid plan for "big business", horrible plan for small business...just saying, as a prior and now new small business owner, those incentives do not do much for me and others in similar position.
 

Jim37F

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I was so afraid of that happening to me. I had an exposure the night before the my first dose of the vaccine! They were debating about giving it to me or waiting a bit. They ultimately decided to give it to me. No COVID and I just got my second dose yesterday. Some people have been getting vaccines and still catching it so people will try to argue the vaccine doesn't work or give it to you, like they argue with the flu vaccine "Everytime I get the flu vaccine, I catch the flu." People forget you need to give the vaccine time to build up antibodies to work.

I hope you have a smooth recovery. Hopefully a week of building some antibodies will lessen your symptoms.
Yeah, I was reading an article talking about how after the first dose of the vaccine, you're only 50% protected, then after the second dose, it goes up to 95%, but takes a week or two after that dose to get there. So definitely not an immediate thing, hence people getting the first shot but still getting COVID a week or two later.

Supposedly there's a new Johnson & Johnson vaccine about to be released that only requires 1 shot, but still takes about a month afterwards for your body's reaction to result in the 95ish% immunity.
 

Akulahawk

EMT-P/ED RN
Community Leader
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So, I got my first dose of the vaccine at the end of December, then a week later I got COVID..

Lucky me, lol
I might be in almost the same boat. I got my first dose and 15 days later I started having some vague symptoms. Mostly fever, chills. I also developed some urinary frequency and urgency along with some mid-back discomfort. Kind of sounds like a UTI but all the usual labs came back looking good. I'm feeling a mite bit better today than I did two days ago, but for two solid days I was kind of doing a SIRS/not SIRS yo-yo. I'll be taking another COVID19 test in a few days to confirm or refuse this. Aside from some minor nasal congestion, no respiratory symptoms at all.

Lucky me too...
 

FiremanMike

Just a dude
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I was so afraid of that happening to me. I had an exposure the night before my first dose of the vaccine! They were debating about giving it to me or waiting a bit. They ultimately decided to give it to me. No COVID and I just got my second dose yesterday. Some people have been getting vaccines and still catching it so people will try to argue the vaccine doesn't work or give it to you, like they argue with the flu vaccine "Everytime I get the flu vaccine, I catch the flu." People forget you need to give the vaccine time to build up antibodies to work.

I hope you have a smooth recovery. Hopefully a week of building some antibodies will lessen your symptoms.

I might be in almost the same boat. I got my first dose and 15 days later I started having some vague symptoms. Mostly fever, chills. I also developed some urinary frequency and urgency along with some mid-back discomfort. Kind of sounds like a UTI but all the usual labs came back looking good. I'm feeling a mite bit better today than I did two days ago, but for two solid days I was kind of doing a SIRS/not SIRS yo-yo. I'll be taking another COVID19 test in a few days to confirm or refuse this. Aside from some minor nasal congestion, no respiratory symptoms at all.

Lucky me too...
Mine hit hard like a truck, but it was only really for the first day. Day 1 felt like the worst flu I've ever had, I went to bed with all the blankets I had and didn't move for about 14 hours.. The next few days were like a bad head cold with an annoying cough and then it's been pretty much back to normal since then.. I did lose taste for about 12 hours..

I have a sporadic "smokers cough" and about 1-2 times per day I'll have a coughing fit.. My biggest lingering affect is fatigue. I just don't have the same level of energy. Those around me who've had it say this was their experience as well..
 

Akulahawk

EMT-P/ED RN
Community Leader
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Mine hit hard like a truck, but it was only really for the first day. Day 1 felt like the worst flu I've ever had, I went to bed with all the blankets I had and didn't move for about 14 hours.. The next few days were like a bad head cold with an annoying cough and then it's been pretty much back to normal since then.. I did lose taste for about 12 hours..

I have a sporadic "smokers cough" and about 1-2 times per day I'll have a coughing fit.. My biggest lingering affect is fatigue. I just don't have the same level of energy. Those around me who've had it say this was their experience as well..
If I have the 'Rona, I haven't had the same experience. While I do have some of the symptoms, I don't have very many of them and they're lightening up quite a bit to the point where I feel nearly normal as I type this. That's NOT typical of 'Rona and I know it. My last bout with fever/chills was very early yesterday morning and I haven't used meds to control anything since the day prior to that because my symptoms weren't that bad. I definitely got hit with fatigue and that let up last night. Even my joint and muscle aches are gone at the moment. Again, that's not normal for 'Rona. I only hope that if it is/was, that the 1st shot of the vaccine had already reached its peak effectiveness (not close to 90%) by the time I got exposed and thus shortened my illness. I never did lose my sense of taste though I did experience something similar to it when I ate my daughter's corn flakes. Those things are so bland that I hoped that I wouldn't lose my sense of taste because I don't want everything to be that bland. Ick!!
 

Kavsuvb

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I would not be able to take the Vaccine because I have two rare diseases such as Kallmann's syndrome and Vitiligo.
 

akflightmedic

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I would not be able to take the Vaccine because I have two rare diseases such as Kallmann's syndrome and Vitiligo.

Interesting...neither of those conditions seem to be contraindications for the vaccine, just saying. Who told you that?

  • Undescended, or partially descended, testicles
  • Small penile size
  • Facial defects, such as cleft lip or palate
  • Short fingers or toes, especially the fourth finger
  • Development of only one kidney
  • Hearing loss
  • Color blindness
  • Abnormal eye movements
  • Abnormal development of the teeth
  • Mirror hand movements (bimanual synkinesis), in which the movements of one hand are mirrored by the movements of the other
 

FlorianFred

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I had the first shot (Moderna) on 12/28 -- second shot is scheduled for 1/25. First shot was just 2 days of arm pain....discomfort really, didn't stop me from using the arm.
 

Kavsuvb

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Interesting...neither of those conditions seem to be contraindications for the vaccine, just saying. Who told you that?

  • Undescended, or partially descended, testicles
  • Small penile size
  • Facial defects, such as cleft lip or palate
  • Short fingers or toes, especially the fourth finger
  • Development of only one kidney
  • Hearing loss
  • Color blindness
  • Abnormal eye movements
  • Abnormal development of the teeth
  • Mirror hand movements (bimanual synkinesis), in which the movements of one hand are mirrored by the movements of the other
My endocrinologist and dermatologist with the backing from NIH and Mass General Hospital. It’s because of the two rare diseases I have and they are concerned that it would affect my DNA which is already altered. On top of that, I have vitiligo and they don’t know what the vaccine would do to it.

And also with Kallmann’s syndrome, I can’t smell anything and I have right sensorineural hearing loss as well. I have the Kal-1 version of kallmann’s syndrome. https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/10771/kallmann-syndrome
 
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akflightmedic

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Obviously, I am no where near educated at the level of the people you are quoting...however, in my limited understanding, I absolutely fail to see what connection "altered DNA" has in relation to the vaccine. I mean technically, we all have altered DNA in one way or another, your disease process is not going to change and mRNA is not going to alter DNA, as again from my limited knowledge this is scientifically impossible.
 

Kavsuvb

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Obviously, I am no where near educated at the level of the people you are quoting...however, in my limited understanding, I absolutely fail to see what connection "altered DNA" has in relation to the vaccine. I mean technically, we all have altered DNA in one way or another, your disease process is not going to change and mRNA is not going to alter DNA, as again from my limited knowledge this is scientifically impossible.
It's because with my DNA, i have XXY.

In fact, you can find clinical trials for every condition and rare disease. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/home
 

Kavsuvb

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Also not a contraindication to the Covid vaccines on the market.
I still won't take it because the RISK is VERY HUGE because of Kallmann's syndrome and Vitiligo
 
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