Take a guess at when you will end up being vaccinated

Mine did, too. They contacted my lovely wife, but not me. We are in the same category (currently receiving vaccinations).

I’m 64, will turn 65 in late September. I have lupus, so I’m immune-compromised, and the Lupus Foundation of America says people with lupus are at high risk for life-threatening cases of COVID. Washington state’s PhaseFinder site–a misnomer, as it doesn’t find what phase you’re in, merely whether you’re currently eligible–is no help. I called the state COVID hotline, and after 4.5 hours, I was able to speak with a very nice rep, who took my info, checked her papers, and said, “Oh, man, it’s not clear, is it?”

She checked with her supervisor who confirmed I’m in a much later tier and “will probably turn 65 before you’re eligible.”

The problem with state and CDC guidelines is that they allow for no input by physicians on patients who don’t meet certain conditions (TWO comorbidities in my case) yet are at high risk. I live alone and haven’t socialized, seen my adult kids, or been with my siblings in well over a year. Seeing family this summer after we’ve all been vaccinated (My siblings, all older, have had round one.) has been all that’s gotten me through this very lonely, hellacious year. Now that won’t happen. (For complex reasons, we can only gather in summer.)

Meanwhile, healthy twenty-somethings are gaming the system to get the vaccine early. If I can find a way to get unused doses that would go to waste, I’ll do it. If I can find a way to jump the line, I’ll do that. I’ve always played by the rules, but the rules in this case dismiss those of us with lupus, HIV, or other immune-compromising conditions. Screw that.

So, here I am playing Publix roulette at six in the morning. Have been here for an hour and they have made 100 reservations. That means I’m supposed to sit here for another six hours and stare at the screen.

Seems I don’t have a choice.

For entertainment I tracked the numbers on an Excel spreadsheet. Looks like a second crew comes in after an hour and the rate goes up. So they cleared off 750 reservations in 2 hours, but I wasn’t among them.

I have no priority and am basically last in line (and I’m not planning to try to do any queue-jumping, like the article @nelliebly referenced.) But I’m still betting 6/15 for the first shot going in my arm. That’s based on assuming J&J gets approval and that they, Pfizer, and Moderna can hit the targets that they’ve advertised, plus some assumptions about the degree to which other people will delay (or even decline) getting vaccinated.

That said, the actual current rates of vaccination are not encouraging. If I understood the speedbumps better, I might revise my estimate.

My local pharmacy now has a waiting list!!

And I am now on it; at least, presuming the automated message-taking setup is working.

How much this means is unclear, since I have no idea how many people are ahead of me on the list, and the pharmacy has no vaccine and no idea when they’ll get any. And they’re a two-branch indie, not one of the big chains. Nevertheless I’m feeling encouraged.

– I wonder whether it’s OK to get on more than one waiting list? I mean, if my doctors’ office calls me to come get one that doesn’t involve a day’s driving, I’m going to take it and then call the pharmacy to let them know. But if said office does start a waiting list (I’ve got no reason right now to think that they’re even calling people), or a chain pharmacy waitlist actually becomes accessible, or the county starts one, should I sign up everywhere I can? or is that cheating?

For what it’s worth, my place of employment (which also handles my medical) had me fill out a form for them to manage vaccine distribution. They explicitly state that if I can get vaccinated elsewhere that is okay and that I can update the information on my covid vaccination request at anytime (and am encouraged to do so if my situation changes).

Practically, what’s anyone going to do to you if you get vaccinated in some other way? I think with the disorganized roll-out everyone expects this sort of “oh, no thanks, I already got vaccinated” to happen. You are ‘entitled’ to one vaccination, where you get it doesn’t really matter in the long run.

Nothing, I’m sure. I just don’t want to feel, myself, like I’m trying to jump the line. I’m 69 with at least two additional risk factors; but I’m not customer-facing until late May, and can stay home most of the time in the meantime.

You aren’t jumping the line. You are merely waiting in a different one.

Getting my first shot tomorrow morning with the second scheduled for 23rd April (!).

So tomorrow morning should be a good morning.

Unfortunately I think I’ll find out I’m being made redundant in the afternoon, so swings and roundabouts…

In physical lines, however, one can only wait on one line at a time.

But I think that if I get the chance I might sign up on one more, anyway; on the grounds that I’m not sure whether this particular pharmacy is going to get any vaccine at all, at least before it becomes as routine as the flu shot.

There is nothing wrong with being in multiple queues. Just grab the first opportunity and then remove yourself off of the other lists.

Sign up for any and all you can get on. It doesn’t take a vaccine from anyone else.

Nor to do see anything wrong with “line jumpers” who skulk around and get those excess vaccines. There is no way to avoid having some leftovers (except by risking not having enough) and I’d rather they go to SOMEONE than be thrown away.

I agree. If they want to wait around for six hours just for a chance at one, more power to them. I’ve done similar for concert tickets.

No idea. Seriously, no fucking idea. The state has put out a schedule: They’re doing essential workers and teachers now, then, in a couple of weeks (supposedly) they’ll start with people over 80, then a couple weeks later, those over 75, then those over 70 (me). This is all supposed to take place in February. They’re going to have a HUGE logjam by the time it supposedly gets to my group, because we’re talking about around a million people, so it’s pointless to try to get vaccinated until all the hysteria dies down.

Nothing has been set up for pharmacies and clinics to administer vaccines, so while my clinic has said they will notify me when they can administer it, there is no telling when that will be, if ever. In summation: I’m not expecting anything helpful until late summer at the earliest, so we are hunkering down for the long haul.

When Hell freezes over? That’s the way it seems right now.

February 18 for the first. Our local hospital just opened it up, and it only took about an hour waiting on the phone - plus my wife and I both got scheduled on the same call.
The hospital is taxpayer funded, so it let anyone in the tax region sign up.

I was hoping for sometime this month, but now…who knows? Kaiser pulled back from scheduling over-65 folks last week and now they’ve started cancelling appointments. I guess there’s a supply issue with no real answers as to when they expect to ramp things back up.

I’m theoretically eligible now (over 65) but have not been able to get an appointment. I signed up for a local waiting list, but I was also advised by one of my doctors today that I should keep checking with MyUNC to see if there are any appointments available.

In the meantime, a local luxury weight-loss center has vaccines for residents willing to sign up for a four-week stay: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/durham-county/article248864984.html#storylink=mainstage

“This story is exclusively available for subscribers.”

However I get the idea. And it sounds like it shouldn’t be legal; though I don’t know if there’s any specific law it’s violating.

ETA: Thanks, everybody, for weighing in. If I do get a chance at any more lists, at least at any reasonably near here, I’ll go ahead and sign up.

My primary-care’s site is apparently overloaded; all I get is ‘temporarily timed out’.