COVID-19 treatment and vaccine update thread

[Blackhawk]

Mmm.... floor food. Gets that ol' immune system pumpin!

[Blackhawk]

Thanks. I'll just treat it as an overstressed tendon for now and give it a couple of days.

I kept it raised and iced yesterday and it seems a lot better today. Probably just mild strain. I'll give the squats a pass for a couple of days.

Anyway, back on topic. I woke up about an hour and a half early this morning (so about 19-20 hours post-shot) with moderate chills and a feeling of general mayonnaise. It was enough that I couldn't get back to sleep, so I'm dead tired today, but the chills and whatever was making me feel blah passed after just a couple of hours I'm now just over 24 hours post-shot.

(Yes, I know it isn't mayonnaise. It just how we choose to say it in my family. It's sort of like a herd of pronghorn cantaloupe.)

[El Guapo]

As of last Saturday I'm now fully immune or whatnot. I think this means that I can go around licking people again.

Most of us draw the line at doorknob-licking, but you do you, boo.

Hey, man, if you haven't gone around licking strangers before, then you're missing out.

[Zaxxon]

I hate feelings of general mayonnaise.

[LordMortis]

It's sort of like a herd of pronghorn cantaloupe.

So you're saying it's not really a jar o' General Mayonnaise but more a pack o' Admirable Melon Collie. (which I grew up reading as Meh-lan-sho'-lee for many years until the first time I heard someone say it out loud)

[Blackhawk]

You know what they say about people who pronounce hard words incorrectly all the time: they're accomplished readers. It isn't just a hyper-bowl.

[Zaxxon]

You know what they say about people who pronounce hard words incorrectly all the time: they're accomplished readers. It isn't just a hyper-bowl.

Thank you for eluckidating.

[LordMortis]

In other words, more proof that I am exceptional. Accomplished reader, I am not, which is odd because I used to love to read and even got a lit minor. While I loved reading and novels and I have always been slooooowwwww. You know those novels that everyone seems to kick out in a day? They took me a week or more. A 9th grade level, regular font 300 page novel might take me 20 hours to read or 2+ days of pretty much doing nothing but reading. My original college track was for law but the pace of reading that had to be consumed knocked my out of even attempting the run. I do consider myself a reasonably accomplished cartoon watcher though.

[Xmann]

My 18 yr old son got his second shot yesterday. He told his boss he was going to be 30 minutes late for work.

When he shows up, boss says, "Doctor visit go ok?"

Son says, "Yes, just needed my second vaccine shot."

Boss says, "That's stupid, why would you do that?"

Son says, "My dad almost died of Covid, there's no way I wasn't getting vaccinated."

Boss says, "Still sounds stupid."

Son says, "Protecting my father is not."

Pissed off he even had to have that conversation in the first place. Gave him a hug and told him "thank you" and how proud I am of him.

[El Guapo]

Good lord. At least your son learned precisely how stupid his boss is, if he didn't know already.

[LordMortis]

My God. At 18 (without the handcuffs to a job that generally come later), I'd be weighing the importance of that job. I'd be hard pressed to not find a reason to walk out the door at that very moment. The wage, benefits, or experience he is getting for an 18 YO would have to be fantastic. What that says about a boss giving a shit about his employees and the bubble that surrounds them (much less the people that pay him to provide whatever he provides and the vendors that make that possible)

[El Guapo]

It also says something about the attitude towards Covid / the vaccine in Tennessee. The boss not only thought that getting vaccinated is stupid, he also seems to be operating in a world where it's so widely regarded as stupid that the boss didn't even think twice about saying so.

[stessier]

It also says something about the attitude towards Covid / the vaccine in Tennessee. The boss not only thought that getting vaccinated is stupid, he also seems to be operating in a world where it's so widely regarded as stupid that the boss didn't even think twice about saying so.

I can attest that this isn't exclusive to Tennessee.

[Rumpy]

He should of told the Boss he was protecting him from keeling over or possibly having an early retirement.

Still waiting on my age group to be available, but it's expected to happen this week. They did a one-day pharmacy drive-through clinic for my age group yesterday using Moderna and while it happened nearby, I could see I stood no chance of getting it that way since it was very... crowded.

[Unagi]

Still waiting on my age group to be available, but it's expected to happen this week. They did a one-day pharmacy drive-through clinic for my age group yesterday using Moderna and while it happened nearby, I could see I stood no chance of getting it that way since it was very... crowded.

Sounds like you guys over there are way way behind our 'schedule' here... I hadn't heard of problems over there, but it seems late for you to still not be in an age-group (I assume you aren't 12).

[Daehawk]

Got my shot at 10:30. I think it was a different shot girl as the first one I didn't feel a thing. This one tossed it into my arm like a dart board. Right before the plunger went down I felt a stab of a nerve being hit. Most likely will be more sore this time.

After that I spent 2 hours food shopping......then I went to Walmart and thats when things got weird. Hahah Walmart and weird..shouldn't even need to say it.

The store was a mess. Stuff all over, shelves empty . Some stuff they only had 5 or 6 of and they were all opened or torn. Some kinda hoarder tornado came through it looked like. As I checked otu I mentioned the state of the store to the cashier and she says "Haven't you seen the news?"...Im like uh oh now what..I dont watch the news lol. She said some conspiracy lvl stuff...said the pipeline had been cut and trucks were held for ransom and there was no gas and nothing much shipping.....OOooook I thought. Well sounds Mad Max'ish. I had half a tank of gas but considering I may have missed some news and the store was awful looking and lots of it empty I decided to fill up on the way home. Turns out something is going on. Every one of the 10,000 pumps at my local place were out of unleaded and mid grade. Nothing but the best baby. So I filled up on it just in case. Hoep I have enough to pay to fix my car next week now. Probably big oil being greedy.

[Rumpy]

Sounds like you guys over there are way way behind our 'schedule' here... I hadn't heard of problems over there, but it seems late for you to still not be in an age-group (I assume you aren't 12).

Way behind doesn't even begin the cover it. It's been frustrating seeing how slow we've been. A lot of it is due to circumstances out of our control, such as shipment delays, and then the EU cutting out supply in half after it decided it would focus supplying the vaccines to EU Citizens, despite the fact that we'd already been promised. We simply haven't had enough to cover two doses for everyone, which is why they've been focusing on giving as many people their first doses before getting on to the 2nd, which means the second ones are much further apart than any other country. I'm in the 40+ category, and while you'd think we'd be further along, it's only now getting to the point where it will open up for my age group, and these are all just 1st doses. My Dad had his first in late March, and he's scheduled to get his second in late July. It's why I say it feels like we're in a space-time bubble, where everything outside of it appears to happen quicker while everything inside is happening slower. It's also been frustrating when I have friends south of the border who've had both of their shots and are starting to get back to normalcy, such as dining in, etc. Meanwhile, we're in a province-wide lockdown and have been since early April, even earlier if you consider the local grey-zone from the end of February, and by May 23rd, it's expected to be extended into June.

[Lorini]

Good lord. At least your son learned precisely how stupid his boss is, if he didn't know already.

Apparently according to some there are jobs everywhere, I'd find one where I had an intelligent boss myself.

[Daehawk]

With any luck that boss's thinking will take him out of the population running.

[Max Peck]

Still waiting on my age group to be available, but it's expected to happen this week. They did a one-day pharmacy drive-through clinic for my age group yesterday using Moderna and while it happened nearby, I could see I stood no chance of getting it that way since it was very... crowded.

Sounds like you guys over there are way way behind our 'schedule' here... I hadn't heard of problems over there, but it seems late for you to still not be in an age-group (I assume you aren't 12).

To be on the same schedule as the US, you need to have similar supplies of vaccine as the US. Most of the world does not.

The supply situation here in Canada has been improving over the last couple of months. As things stand, if shipments from Pfizer et al arrive on schedule, all adults here in Ontario will be eligible to be vaccinated by the end of May and at the national level it is expected that all adults will be able to receive their first dose by the end of June. Due to the lack of vaccine availability, the interval between first and second doses is typically 16 weeks (e.g. my first dose of Pfizer/BioNTech was on 6 May and my second dose is scheduled for 26 August). This may tighten up if supplies allow, and the Ontario government has just stated that some healthcare workers caring for COVID patients will not be waiting that long for their second doses.

[Daehawk]

I took a look at the shot today. Its tiny. Tiny little 1cc syringe only 3/4 full....if that big.

[Kraken]

She said some conspiracy lvl stuff...said the pipeline had been cut and trucks were held for ransom and there was no gas and nothing much shipping.....OOooook I thought. Well sounds Mad Max'ish.

If the pipeline can't be reactivated within a week or so, gas prices in the Northeast could spike temporarily as high as $3/gal. Nobody here is panicking.

[LordMortis]

To be on the same schedule as the US, you need to have similar supplies of vaccine as the US. Most of the world does not.

The supply situation here in Canada has been improving over the last couple of months. As things stand, if shipments from Pfizer et al arrive on schedule, all adults here in Ontario will be eligible to be vaccinated by the end of May and at the national level it is expected that all adults will be able to receive their first dose by the end of June. Due to the lack of vaccine availability, the interval between first and second doses is typically 16 weeks (e.g. my first dose of Pfizer/BioNTech was on 6 May and my second dose is scheduled for 26 August). This may tighten up if supplies allow, and the Ontario government has just stated that some healthcare workers caring for COVID patients will not be waiting that long for their second doses.

The last mile for production is just a couple hour's drive from Windsor. Of course it's in my state and where the virus has been the worst for quite some time now and we still couldn't shipments and reliable scheduling, so...

Games people play, you take it or you leave it
Things that they say, just don't make it right

[Daehawk]

She said some conspiracy lvl stuff...said the pipeline had been cut and trucks were held for ransom and there was no gas and nothing much shipping.....OOooook I thought. Well sounds Mad Max'ish.

If the pipeline can't be reactivated within a week or so, gas prices in the Northeast could spike temporarily as high as $3/gal. Nobody here is panicking.

I had to get top line gas at $3.50 a gal today. I still remember the 2000s when we had to pay $5 a gal. We didn't go much.

[LordMortis]

Almost broke the $3 mark today. I'm guessing that barrier gets busted this weekend. Because no matter where gas problems are, we feel it. Can't get gas delivered in South Carolina this week because of a preventive shut down from a hack? You can bet gas here is going up $.40 a gallon. And it did. It always does. Food price spike (on top of the one we already have) to follow from transportation cost increased to follow. Soon that $12 an hour is going be worth less than $9.50 an hour was. I feel for those who struggle to make ends meet. And worry for my own savings and how I'm probably doing it wrong, again...

[hitbyambulance]

got 2nd Murderna dose four hours ago. the medical staff at Harborview are consistently super nice - this has been a constant whenever i've had to go there (see also: bad bicycle accident i had two years ago)

arm is in pain, so i rolled an icepack into my sleeve

[gbasden]

She said some conspiracy lvl stuff...said the pipeline had been cut and trucks were held for ransom and there was no gas and nothing much shipping.....OOooook I thought. Well sounds Mad Max'ish.

If the pipeline can't be reactivated within a week or so, gas prices in the Northeast could spike temporarily as high as $3/gal. Nobody here is panicking.

$3 a gallon. That's so cute.

[Blackhawk]

My side effects have been off and on all day (shot was yesterday at 10.) It's like a mild cold at best, mostly just periodic chills, fatigue, and being a little woozy. My eldest, who got his second about 30 seconds after me, got no side effects. All in all, I'm not complaining. Being a little tired and woozy for a day isn't a big deal, and a lot of people got it a lot worse. Besides, I managed to plan so that other than taking and picking up my son from school, I didn't have anything that needed done today.

All in all?

[Daehawk]

8 hours into my 2nd Pfizer shot and nothing. My first shot was already sore by now. I am a bit tired and give out but I cant tell if thats the shot or just my lack of 2 days sleep and being up at 7 am each day catching up to me. I did a hell of a lot today too.

[hitbyambulance]

arm is in pain, so i rolled an icepack into my sleeve

iii ammm sooooooo tiiiirreddd dd d d

[Moat_Man]

Still waiting on my age group to be available, but it's expected to happen this week. They did a one-day pharmacy drive-through clinic for my age group yesterday using Moderna and while it happened nearby, I could see I stood no chance of getting it that way since it was very... crowded.

Sounds like you guys over there are way way behind our 'schedule' here... I hadn't heard of problems over there, but it seems late for you to still not be in an age-group (I assume you aren't 12).

To be on the same schedule as the US, you need to have similar supplies of vaccine as the US. Most of the world does not.

The supply situation here in Canada has been improving over the last couple of months. As things stand, if shipments from Pfizer et al arrive on schedule, all adults here in Ontario will be eligible to be vaccinated by the end of May and at the national level it is expected that all adults will be able to receive their first dose by the end of June. Due to the lack of vaccine availability, the interval between first and second doses is typically 16 weeks (e.g. my first dose of Pfizer/BioNTech was on 6 May and my second dose is scheduled for 26 August). This may tighten up if supplies allow, and the Ontario government has just stated that some healthcare workers caring for COVID patients will not be waiting that long for their second doses.

I am 50 and live in a suburb of Vancouver BC. I am getting my first shot tomorrow. Our government has failed pretty miserably. We outsourced our PPE and had massive supply problems last year. We outsourced our vaccine production and had massive supply problems this year. I hope we've learned our lesson that we can't rely on anyone else for mission critical infrastracture.

[Daehawk]

im still alive. Arm is starting to become sore now. Been almost 12 hours.

[Kraken]

She said some conspiracy lvl stuff...said the pipeline had been cut and trucks were held for ransom and there was no gas and nothing much shipping.....OOooook I thought. Well sounds Mad Max'ish.

If the pipeline can't be reactivated within a week or so, gas prices in the Northeast could spike temporarily as high as $3/gal. Nobody here is panicking.

$3 a gallon. That's so cute.

I caught the tail end of a radio report that said TN and some other states in that region would be the most-impacted, so I was initially misinformed. Panic is justified. Just not here.

I buy nine gallons of gas every other month, so the price doesn't even register with me.

[Max Peck]

I am 50 and live in a suburb of Vancouver BC. I am getting my first shot tomorrow. Our government has failed pretty miserably. We outsourced our PPE and had massive supply problems last year. We outsourced our vaccine production and had massive supply problems this year. I hope we've learned our lesson that we can't rely on anyone else for mission critical infrastracture.

The CBC recently ran an article that goes into the history of how we came to have no pre-existing vaccine production facilities that could easily be retooled to produce any of the COVID vaccines. It's an interesting read. I hadn't realized that there was once a time that the government actually was in the business of producing vaccines, by way of a Crown corporation that was nationalized by Trudeau the Elder in the 70s, but which was sold off/privatized by Mulroney in the 80s. But what it comes down to is that the reason that we basically need to start building a capacity from scratch (via the NRC/Novavax partnership) is that the companies that do have the capability have chosen not to manufacture their products in Canada. I guess we can blame "the government" for the regulatory environment that lead the pharmacorps to make that decision, but it isn't the result of some sort of current government failure. The die was cast decades ago.

Vaccine envy: Why can't Canada make COVID-19 doses at home?

With the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic raging on, the demand for vaccine doses continues to outstrip Canada's relatively thin supply.

Canada's domestic vaccine manufacturing capability has been hollowed out, leaving the country entirely dependent on foreign sources for the doses that promise an eventual return to normal life.

When the pandemic began, Canada — unlike many other countries — lacked a facility that could be retooled easily to produce the viral vector COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson, or the mRNA products offered by Pfizer and Moderna.

The nation's vaccination campaign has improved in recent weeks after a slow start marred by production delays and missed deliveries. Canada is now performing better than most other countries in the G20 but it's still being outpaced by at least two other countries: the United Kingdom and the United States.

An estimated 231 million vaccine doses have been administered so far in the U.S. and 37 per cent of the American adult population has been fully vaccinated with two doses. Among people over the age of 18, 54 per cent of Americans have had at least one dose.

In the U.K., more than 47 million doses have been deployed and 64 per cent of all Britons have had at least one dose.

Canada has fully vaccinated just three per cent of its population — a low figure explained in part by the long interval between shots — while 30 per cent have had at least one shot.

The two countries that easily outpaced Canada's vaccination effort have one thing in common: they have homegrown pharmaceutical companies that make their own products at domestic facilities — a bulwark against the vaccine nationalism that has disrupted global supply chains.

By an odd coincidence, the two companies with major operations in Canada, GSK and Sanofi, co-developed a COVID-19 vaccine product but announced a "delay" last year after it failed to produce sufficient results in clinical trials.

Canada approached some companies — notably AstraZeneca — asking them to make their products here. Brown said those companies likely rejected Canada's appeals because of the country's "dicey" pharmaceutical landscape.

He said federal health policy typically favours generic drug manufacturers, which make cheaper varieties of products that are no longer patent-protected. As a result, he added, research-intensive pharmaceutical companies are reluctant to invest in Canada.

[Rumpy]

But what it comes down to is that the reason that we basically need to start building a capacity from scratch (via the NRC/Novavax partnership) is that the companies that do have the capability have chosen not to manufacture their products in Canada. I guess we can blame "the government" for the regulatory environment that lead the pharmacorps to make that decision, but it isn't the result of some sort of current government failure. The die was cast decades ago.

Yeah, I think it's quite complicated. Fact is, it really feels like we've been constantly let down by the companies we've relied on to get us what we need, which has led us into this miserable situation. Always some setback. At the same time, I'm not really sure we're set up to be self-reliant in that respect, although I thought there was a company in Montreal working on a vaccine? What happened to that?

My parents actually think Canada's doing really well, and that we're in a good place right now. And I don't really know how to respond to that.

[hitbyambulance]

very sore injection site, but now with light-headedess and feeling somewhat chilled - also had some weird joint pain, but i'm honestly not sure if it's related, since these were bothering me pre-second-dose. kept waking up, and couldn't go back to sleep after 5:30AM - only a few hours gotten. rather unable to focus, so it is PTO day

[Lorini]

Gonna say it again, I'm very happy all y'all are getting your vaccinations. It's a testament to Smoove too, as he told us exactly how all of this was going to play out and we supported him in getting our vaccines as soon as we could.

[Blackhawk]

Smoove has consistently kept me and mine one step ahead of the rest of the public when it comes to being ready for anticipated problems, and has cut through a ton 'public filters' that are designed to water down facts to prevent stupidity, allowing us to make informed decisions.

So, Smoove - you have successfully pulled off emergency management during a pandemic. It's just that it was a different kind of community you did it for than what you expected.

[Kurth]

My 18 year old gets his second shot tomorrow. My 13 year old and 15 year old get their first shots Saturday morning. On our way to being a fully vaccinated family! Unfortunately, I don’t think the younger kids will be the full two weeks out from their second shot when we head off to HI in June. That kind of sucks since it means they’ll have to go through the whole testing protocol (at least based on current policies), but, pretty psyched overall. The vaccine roll out in OR was a little slow at first, but it seems to be moving along nicely now.

[Smoove_B]

It does bring me genuine happiness to see so many here getting vaccinated - truly.

So, Smoove - you have successfully pulled off emergency management during a pandemic. It's just that it was a different kind of community you did it for than what you expected.

Definitely not the route I'd imagined but I'm grateful to have had the opportunity. That being said, I'd be ok with less opportunity for a bit.