You have to put the quote tags on their own line
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Like this
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I’m OK with queue jumping, honestly. It feels like traffic laws. We claim to have police out there, making sure people obey the rules, but actually 9% of it is self-policed, and it works out just fine anyhow. In the end, it’s a shot in somebody’s arm, and that person will be immune, and that’s all that really matters. Vaccines aren’t for you, they’re for everybody around you.
Of course it’s a bad analogy. The writer’s a journalist, not a mathematician. I don’t know why you’d need to “compare” 95% to anything, let alone 91%. “Think that sounds small?” Yes, yes I do. I think that sounds like about 1 in 20. “That translates to nine women for every 100”…which is a pretty small number, wouldn’t you agree?
I’m just not sure what the point of the article is. Just because you went to journalism school doesn’t mean we all flunked STEM.
That’s true of masks. It’s less true of vaccines. All the vaccines seem to be really good at reducing serious illness and death. A lot of them are less good at reducing mild and asymptomatic disease, and some vaccinated people will become contagious.
Yes. While many women are aware of the suggestion to use 2 forms of birth control, very few of them do. The pill is about 99% effective with perfect use, and still 91% effective with typical use, and most people think that’s enough. Comparing the vaccine to the pill will have the exact opposite effect as the author intended; namely, persuading people they probably don’t need a “barrier” method, too.
Perhaps it could have been improved by pointing out that about one in three women will have an abortion in her lifetime. Not all of those are due to birth control failures-- but then again, lots of birth control failures do not end in abortion. Half of pregnancies are unintended; perhaps that’s the stat we should use?
Got my first shot 6 hours ago (10.40 AM UK time). No pain, no side effects so far (fingers crossed); I have a problem with needles and injections, but I was a brave boy. I got AstraZeneca, which is the one I would have chosen, simply because in line with UK policy there will be a 12 week gap between my injections, and AZ is the only vaccine (so far) where there is at least some clinical data to support this.
As an aside, the surgery I went to is an absolute vaccination machine - I would guess a patient every 45 seconds or thereabouts. One queue into the surgery, five (at least) offices in which the shots were being administered, the waiting room set aside for drivers to do their 15 minute observation, or straight out the door for the rest of us. Very impressive.
As has been mused about upthread, I didn’t get a lecture about still wearing a mask and continuing with other precautions. I wonder if this is deliberate, so as to not slow down the patient flow - you get handed (PDF links!) a patient leaflet, another leaflet called “What to Expect”, an immunisation card, and you’re on your way.
j
Second vax a few hours ago.
Welp, my brother had a 9:30pm appointment for his first vaccination last night and I tagged along. The day before the radio news had said “some” locations were doing +1 vaccinations, especially if the second was in the same household, and there’s only one location in the county, the parking lot at Cardinals Stadium.
It was run like a well-oiled machine; we were there and out in a half-hour, including a fifteen minute wait to make sure there wasn’t a reaction. Unfortunately they had no extras to spare. 
My mother’s second dose is scheduled for February 21 and my father’s for February 24. I think she was going to bring my father along to her appointment to see if he could get the second dose three days early, simply to avoid the second trip.
My county announced 2 weeks ago that you could make an appointment at the local hospital, so many neighbors signed up. Then they cancelled 80% of the appointments, saying they hadn’t received the doses they expected (or were promised?).
So I decided to wait on the VA (Veterans Administration) to call me, since I am on their hot list #2 (#1 is for the health care workers only). I got my first Pfizer shot today in Green Bay, where they were vaccinating 750 veterans for the day. They plan to do 750 or more each Saturday. It’s an assembly line; I didn’t feel rushed, but cared for.
After 8 hours, I have absolutely no ill effects. My left arm is slightly sore, but so is my right arm (probably arthritis), so I can’t blame a shot for that.
I was very impressed, as I often am, how the VA handles patients. I was greeted by an army of assistants (volunteers?) all eager to help, very friendly and efficient; no one was rushed through. Each patient was given a personal assessment by a nurse (or someone incredibly like one), filling out a safety questionnaire before the shot. After the shot, we were moved to a waiting area for observation, to get a card, and be reminded of the 2nd appointment. After 15 minutes, if there were no ill effects, we could leave. I didn’t see anyone with complications, but there certainly was ample medical assistance if any happened.
Well, I’ve got a vaccine appointment!
Had just gotten a notice from our clinic that oops, so sorry BUT it won’t be 65 and over, it’ll be 67.5 and over getting “invitations to make an appt.” next week… (of course, I’m “only” 67). Was chatting online with my doc and mentioned it, and he said “Sorry, just be patient.”
Not easy… the rest of my family is vaccinated (medical jobs), and I’m taking groceries to my 90+ mom with lung and heart issues.
So I tried something different and made a Mychart account at my insurance company and HEY, there’s a note from a doc at the nearby Huge Hospital, saying I can make an appointment. Though every time I did, it rejected my appointment, but I figured that’s because others were nabbing up slots. So my first shot’s in two weeks, but that’s okay.
Glad you’re on the schedule!
At T+10 hours, I’m a little sore at the injection site but otherwise good.
Got the Pfizer vaccine. Shoulder muscle hurts like a b, and I’m tired today, but it’s nothing to whine about. I’ll just reach the top shelf with my other arm instead, and in a day or two I’ll be totally normal, except closer to immune.
Both my wife and kid spiked a 100+º fever after their second shot. Neither of them would take a sick day and just rest… but they were okay the next day.
A week ago the government announced that it was lowering the vaccination age to 16. On Thursday my son turned 16. On Friday I got him a vaccine appointment for two weeks later, on February 19th.
At T + 24 hours I’m just the same. But honestly, it’s so slight I might just be thinking myself into it.
j
At 31 hours, the site is a bit more stiff, though not visibly swollen. Minor headache, temp a couple of degrees up. My lovely wife has a bit more of a fever. Nothing much report.
About an hour after I got the vaccine, the injection site got sore - felt kind of like a minor cramp. Not painful, really, but enough that I was aware of it. By the next day, it was really aching, but not quite enough to take a pain killer. If I stretched that arm, though I really noticed it. I also felt tired and woozy all day. Right now, V+54.5 hours, the injection site is slightly sore if I touch the site or stretch out my arm, but otherwise fine. I still feel tired and woozy, though. I’m glad I got the vax on Friday (I have weekends off), and I’m just hoping I feel better for work tomorrow.
My second shot was Friday. Arm got sore for sure–still is, a little. Was tired all weekend: unfocused. Felt like being on the edge of being sick all day. Much better today.
T + 50 - absolutely fine.
Anyone else left with a feeling of post-shot impatience, waiting for immunity to kick in?
j