Covid-19 discussion

FIL is getting his vaccine tomorrow!

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My sister in a Chicago suburb got a choice but had to drive a hour for it. In Nevada I didn’t get a choice and didn’t care.

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This idea of vaccine choosing is fascinating. Like there are several versions of many vaccines. But if you wanted a non standard vaccine it would be a pain to get them prescribed and then you’d have to pay for them. Like travel vaccines you either go to the travel vax place, or order them through the pharmacy IF your doctor would prescribe them and then I guess go back to the doctor to get them?

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This is why some Catholics are wanting a different vaccine

Churches on collision course with the government over AstraZeneca vaccine

But apparently the Pope has said either is ok

Pope approval

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Passing this along - this is a site where you can sign up to be texted if there’s a vaccine dose near you that’s going to get thrown out. It seems like it’s still based on who’s allowed to get the vaccine in your state or city, but I signed up anyway - can’t hurt, right? They only give you 15 minutes to say yes so that could work down the line pretty quickly.

https://hidrb.com/

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Johnson & Johnson has planned trials of its vaccine that will include infants.

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Major props to the parents of those infants. I don’t know if I would have it in me to volunteer my baby up for these necessary trials.

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Agreed. I might be able to volunteer myself pregnant, but I can’t imagine being brave enough to sign my little up for a trial

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At first I was like ā€œI’m not sure I could eitherā€. But then I thought, In a way I’ve done this. By getting my vaccine while breastfeeding. Which is why I’m pumping for that study. I definitely wouldn’t want to do it like now though. I’d want to see in kids down to toddler age first. I worry somehow the MIS-C could result from the vaccine itself, since that seems pretty autoimmune?

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How are vaccine studies normally done? It seems like they need to get approval (from whom though I’m not sure?) to start a trial with newborns.

It surprises me that they could do that before doing juveniles then toddlers first.

I don’t actually know to that level of detail, who approves trial specifics.

Oh, interesting!

In a couple weeks they’re opening the United Center as a mass vax site - and the doses will come directly from the federal government and not out of Chicago’s or IL’s supply.
Huh.
The federal government even HAS vaccines that aren’t going to states already? I did not know that.

United Center is way way way far from me and I’d need a zipcar - but, well, if others go there then that maybe frees up spots that are closer too.
They say they’ll be able to do 6,000 shots a day.

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I mean, at a minimum there’s a separate supply for military troops, diplomats, state department, etc, right? So I imagine there’s quite a few different ā€œpoolsā€ they draw from. Not sure the explanation though on that new site! I’d be curious to know the exact like, supply chain and decision making there. Years from now this will be a VERY interesting public health case study on the choices that are being made!

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ā€œThe United Center is one of 18 ā€œfederally-established community vaccination centersā€ across the country that President Joe Biden’s administration highlighted Friday as either recently opened or opening in the coming weeks. Those 18 sites will have the capacity to administer a total of 61,000 shots per day, the White House said.ā€

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For people who don’t want to click through:

Here

Those sites, including the United Center, were selected based on a range of criteria including the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s ā€œSocial Vulnerability Index.ā€

That index helps officials ā€œidentify and map communities that will most likely need support before, during, and after a hazardous eventā€ taking into consideration ā€œcritical data points, including socioeconomic status, household composition, minority status, languages, housing type and transportation,ā€ the White House said.

The governor’s office noted the location ā€œis one of the best places in the country to advance key equity priorities through its proximity to medically underserved communities and goals of reaching those most vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus.ā€

ā€œThe United Center is one of the best locations for vaccinating large numbers of people in America: it’s easy to get to, is in the midst of a medically underserved community, can handle large crowds and is well known to everyone in Illinois," Pritzker said in a statement. ā€œThanks to FEMA, the United Center is just our most recent among a growing number of state-supported mass vaccination location for residents."

Okay so that’s super cool! They have a special reserve for the hardest hit or most vulnerable areas. That’s great- basically a federal override for state mismanagement in some ways, while still letting states have primary control of the whole thing. I can see the logic there for sure.

It does get back to your question earlier though- is the J&J destined to be given to lower SES and minority people? The timing makes me think so. It’s still a GOOD efficacy though, and still seems to be incredible at preventing hospitalization and deaths. But yeah. It gets the equity thoughts a churning, doesn’t it?

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Real weird moment today overhearing my partner on a work call and a meeting organizer saying, ā€œSo, we’ve had our first in person roundtable since we’re post-covid. Would your co-author be interested in an in person event?ā€

What world are you living in, organizer? Fucking seriously?

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Oh, I didn’t think of that - that maybe they’ll be sending all the J&J there. Because it’s more easily stored. I doubt the United Center has a superduper freezer.

It’s on 3 el lines which will certainly help people who don’t otherwise have transportation.

I somehow missed that this was even happening at all, much less in Chicago.

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Apparently the plan is to distribute each brand of vaccine to states proportionally, based on population, and then leave it to the states to distribute locally. So J&J might still go exclusively to local places that don’t have supercold freezers, which is good for expanded access, but for people with the means to travel they’ll at least have in-state access to Moderna and Pfizer.

…which seems imperfect but reasonably okay? I have no idea what an ideal solution would look like.

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I am trying to think what country this is

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It’s Florida.

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