But they catch it from grocery store clerks. I mean that in all seriousness. If you can reduce the spread, many fewer people will be exposed.
The most important thing is to not prioritize rich countries. Whether its doctors or old people or whoever that get it first, it must be spread out among every country.
If you are a healthy young American you shouldn’t get your vax until all of the priority people in Africa and the Faroe Islands have received theirs.
I’m not sure I agree with prioritizing the elderly, either. Don’t vaccines generally work much less well on the elderly? It seems like they’d benefit at least as much if the people they interact with, like retail employees, were vaccinated so they’re not catching it from them.
The infirm, however, don’t have the same poor results as long as they’re not also elderly.
Even though I would be the beneficiary of it going to those at risk early (my pulmonologist will fast track me through any emergency room visit if I get COVID-19 symptoms), I agree with this. Let’s get the rest of you vaccinated first, as I never leave the house and am no risk to anyone even if I did somehow get it (which is possible as my wife has to teach). If I were in charge of eliminating this threat, my order would be something like: healthcare professionals, people in shared living spaces (prisoners, nursing homes, etc.), public service pros, those in education (teachers and students), party animals/spring breakers, everyone else, then people like me. That way, by the time I get it, even 95% efficacy should be good enough to keep most of those like me alive.
I should note that I never leave the house BECAUSE of COVID. Once it’s safe again, I’ll rarely be home, just like before this all started.
Says who? Regardless, it doesn’t matter much if grocery clerks are spreading it if older people are vaccinated.
Even without heaters they’d have more natural protection from the cold than parking lots, especially the below ground ones. I’d wonder if putting tarps around the edges of the actual vaccination floors for above ground ones wouldn’t help the cold as well but I don’t know enough about their ventilation to know if they rely on the open spaces for the exhaust fume ventilation.
Vaccines work best in people with robust immune systems. The people who are most likely to die of a bug are the very same people who are most likely to not get protection from a vaccine. I mean, different vaccines are different and have different failure modes, and it’s possible that the Astrozeneca vaccine may fail if your immune system cleans it up before it has a chance to prompt your cells to make spike protein. But the the two mRNA vaccines should work best for people with a robust immune system. And the frail elderly are much less likely to have a robust immune system than the people who work at the supermarket.
We’ve seen that a lot of the spread has been through “super-spreader” events. What those all have in common is a carrier who is in contact with lots of people.
That’s a misleading way to think of it. I don’t read everything but I don’t recall a super spreader grocery store story. My grocery store cashiers have masks and are behind a plastic shield. They aren’t loudly telling drunken jokes in someone’s face at a wedding.
Also, not sure if it is in this thread but I already said I wouldn’t prioritize the frail elderly. Give it to the staff at long term care centers and keep strict visitor rules for a while. Then target independent seniors.
Step back: older adults are good vaccine candidates after all.
The Oxford vaccine team separated vaccinated people into groups of 18–55 years (160 participants), 56–69 years (160), and 70 years and older (240). Some received the candidate coronavirus vaccine and some a control meningitis vaccine at one or two doses each, to measure if booster vaccination would help. Their new study, published in The Lancet, investigated whether older adults can develop coronavirus-specific immune responses similar to younger adults.
Not only did the older adults develop similar immune responses to younger people, they also tolerated the vaccine better with fewer reports of side-effects, such as fatigue and muscle ache. Neutralising antibodies that block infection and virus-specific T cells are thought to be important for protective immunity, and older adults in the Oxford trial showed evidence of both. Those who received a booster vaccination had even better response.
The one at my nearby mall switched from a tent, to the auto bays at a defunct Sears store.
In the movie “Contagion”, they determined who would get it in which order by birthday. IIRC, the people who didn’t know their true birthday would be considered February 29 by default. I should watch that again.
Yeah, the initial covid vaccine results do look promising for older adults. 
Finally! Regularly being sore and tired pays off! You don’t notice those side effects. 
I’ll post this here instead of starting another thread. I welcome people explaining to me why older people in assisted care ought to be given priority for vaccine distribution.
I would think that providing vaccine to health care providers and nursing home employees would give the folk in assisted care considerable protection. My personal choice would be to give it to people who were working, attending school, and caring for families.
It seems to me that such peoples’ situations are more clearly impacted by an inability to be out and about than persons in longterm - especially end of life - institutions. I would think that vaccinating younger persons would do more in terms of stimulating the economy.
The justification is rather obvious. They are the ones most likely to die from covid. In some jurisdictions as much as 80% of fatalities are LTC residents. I happen to agree that doing staff and independent seniors is a better use of resources but the opposing view isn’t odd to me.
Do we know if there are plans to vaccinate those who already have had exposure to the disease, i.e. had it or tested positive for it? Because I’d say that in an ideal world they should fall to the back of the line in order to get this under control faster. Then, once everyone else has been immunized, they can get the shot too: it would be a win-win because if protection wears off after awhile, they will be getting a boost just about the time they will be needing it instead of too early.
(Also, if they don’t go to the back of the line, I’d be almost the last person to get the shot in America, as a 47 year old living alone and working from home. About the only people who should get it after me are the few in my same situation but younger, and those who already have antibodies. I’d think even school age children should be prioritized over me since they can still spread it.)
How are they getting it? Are they going to crowded bars? Attending motorcycle rallies?
If you can vaccinate the people who have contact with vulnerable but isolated communities you can protect those vulnerable people.
What is the ratio of workers to residents? How many workers work at more than one facility? If you have a limited number of vaccinations available it seems reasonable to vaccinate the staff. Ultimately you will be casting a larger protective net.
Well, if you’re making an argument, why don’t you give me those numbers rather than ask rhetorically? I think generally staff outnumber residents fwiw. And regardless of your answers, if you are in a jurisdiction where 80% of your fatalities are LTC residents and they all get vaccinated with a 95% effective vaccine, you drop your fatalities by about 76%.
??? Sheer numbers of staff vs residents, or numbers infected? Because no assisted care facility of the many I’ve been familiar with had anywhere near a 1:1 staff/resident ratio.
Given my perception of how the gov’t works, drawing fine lines is NOT a strong point. So I don’t expect any subtle differentiation related to prior exposure or any number of other seemingly relevant factors. Instead, I expect it to simply be released in huge non-discriminating waves - akin to the boarding groups for airlines.
I guess I can imagine prioritizing the aged and others in assisted care IF doing so would reduce the stress on our healthcare system. But if the facility workers and care providers are vaccinated and the residents stay in their facility, they should be pretty safe, no?