They got their invites today - yay! Interestingly, their site choices included the same one I was offered for shot #1 (but was not offered for shot #2). I guess for those in “our” track (as opposed to my friend’s), they are doing different locations for 1 vs 2.
They’re both worried they’ll get the J&J shot, which is somewhat less effective, but will happily take whatever they can get.
I got my 1st today - Pfizer. My best friend had been last Thursday so I knew exactly what to expect. The site is an old auto inspection station so it’s set up to funnel cars into five lanes at the building. Workers were stationed all along the way. You got your appointment verified at the entrance and when you were assigned a lane, you were given paperwork to complete. I got there about 3:15 for my 3:30 appointment and got the shot at exactly 3:30. I waited there for five minutes and then joined a line waiting to get out. They had an impressive system, because I waited there behind several other cars for exactly ten minutes before we were allowed to leave. It was seamless. Since it was basically outdoors, I felt very comfortable with the whole process.
They gave me a date for the second dose but I have to make my own appointment. Everything is working much, much better since the city took over from the county. People had been struggling to get second doses before they did. I hope in a couple weeks, that will be working much better. Right now, the site I went to today doesn’t offer second doses but maybe that will change. All the other sites are indoors and while I’d feel better about that after having one dose, I would really like to repeat today’s experience.
I’m having just the expected injection site pain but that’s it.
Just got my second shot. No side effects yet.
I just made a first appointment for my 17 year old! I wonder if he’s the youngest in this thread so far. Our state is opening up vaccinations to frontline essential workers starting tomorrow, including restaurant workers, which is what qualifies him (he is customer facing in a restaurant and has been working since they opened back up last fall). He will have to get the Pfizer, because that is the only one approved for 16-18 year-olds. His first shot is Friday.
Got my first dose just a few hours ago.
A 17 year old is eligible? Wow, I really live in the wrong state for getting vaccinated.
You would think, maybe, just maybe, the most densely populated state in the country would get a little more vaccine than we have. Who did New Jersey piss off? Oh yeah, that’s right, I know who. Could someone tell President Biden we’re on his side and please help us.
A 17 year old frontline essential worker. If he’s otherwise healthy, he’s at a much lower risk for severe complications than the average 65+ year old, but as a frontline essential worker, he’s at a much higher risk of contracting COVID in the first place, and also a much higher risk to be a vector.
As to New Jersey’s allotment, no one’s getting enough doses. There just aren’t enough to go around. New Jersey’s densely populated. Some states have a higher percentage of elderly. Some have higher poverty rates. I’m sure they think they should be getting a little more vaccine than they have, as well.
i live in a 400+ unit building, we just got the email that our building will be vaccinated on saturday. anyone living in or working in the building is eligible. very excited!
they will go floor by floor for residents, and lobby for workers/missed my floor.
I wonder if states also have different rates of people opting out of vaccination. Texas seemed to blow through 1A really quickly. I wonder how much of that was people not wanting it.
It seems like that must be a factor, but I haven’t seen any good numbers.
Right…he’s been working five nights a week serving customers face to face. He may not get seriously sick himself, but he’s in contact with a lot of people. I’m nearly 50 with some risk factors, but I work from home and can limit trips to the grocery store, etc. People in my group won’t be eligible until the end of March in our state.
Got mine today - Moderna. Go back for #2 in April
Got my second dose today (Moderna). Based on the reports of more severe side effects with the second dose (I had a bad night the day after), I’m taking it easy for the rest of the week.
It took longer than the first dose, mainly because today was the only day in the past couple of months that turned cold (low sixties), windy, and rainy. I arrived a little earlier than the first time, but they shut down, just as I reached the line of cars scheduled to drive in next. It turns out that the tents they had set up (used for staging, you stay in your car for the shot) were blowing down, so they shut down until the wind died down (about an hour).
Once I got in, my group of cars were practically at the head of the line, so it went quickly. Everyone was wearing parkas and ponchos over parkas. I’m pretty sure anyone from the Midwest or Northeast would have laughed at the sight.
One interesting side event- the way entrance to the lot where the shots are administered works is that there is a perpendicular side street that is supposed to be the only entrance. It’s at one end of the lot and there is an intersection (three way). You enter the perpendicular side street several blocks away and crawl forward in a long line until you reach the intersection. When a group of cars is let out, there is a group along the curb of the street parallel to the lot that are let in. Then an attendant motions a number of cars across the intersection and along the curb to be checked in and be ready to be let in.
Well, I was the last car in the group motioned across, and then they went into the shutdown. So, I’m sitting there and suddenly a car pulls up behind me. It doesn’t look like the car that was behind me at the intersection. Then another car pulls up behind that car and I see that it has travelled down the parallel street and slid in behind me. Then two more cars slide in, then a fifth car. All this time, the car across the intersection has been waiting there. He beeped his horn futilely when the cars slid in behind me, for all the good that did.
So, when they started back up and the attendants came done the row to let us know what was going to happen (not yet checking us in, just getting ready), I waved one over and pointed out each car that had, in my words, “jumped the line” and pointed to the car waiting on the other side of the intersection and told them that was the car that was behind me in line. The attendant made them all drive to the back of the line, several blocks away (except the first car that was behind me, they pulled out and sped down the parallel street to leave, but not without a nice young lady flipping me off as they passed me).
What’s the verdict on my actions? Sure, I was a snitch, but I think if I had been the guy waiting at the intersection, I would have wanted the lucky car that made it across to let the attendants know about the line jumpers.
Sometimes being a snitch is a good idea.
You are my kind of people. Snitch away at that kind of stuff.
Got my second Pfizer shot today at the county fairgrounds location. 3 weeks ago there was a huge line to get into the parking lot and a big line to get in to the vaccination building. Today I showed up early and there was almost no wait at all. Guess I’m all set if I want to visit Texas or Mississippi now.
And how’s your arm? I got the first Moderna shot yesterday and since about an hour after it and all day today I’ve felt like I got punched in the arm. I’m hoping it’s mostly gone by tomorrow.
I don’t feel pain; it’s more like I worked out a bit and that the muscle’s been used. I wouldn’t even call it soreness, just a sensation that you get when you’ve engaged in some light lifting. I feel a little tired but then again my sleep schedule tends to be inconsistent during the workweek, so there’s that.
I’ve read and heard from at least one person I know that the second vaccine could be a little rougher. I’m not especially worried but I might clear my schedule for a few days afterward.
well done, you.
Oddly enough, I actually began to feel soreness in my vaccinated arm right before bedtime. It was at its most intense when I rolled over on that arm. Feel mostly fine this morning though.
I’m actually relieved to feel something, as it convinces me that I got an actual dose of, well, something!