I was talking to a friend in Calgary, Canada today and he brought me good luck. I've been trying to get a Covid-19 vaccine for several weeks now. Austin Public Health has an online sign up system that's torturous to navigate and fraught with issues. It crashes more regularly than it stays up. The system demands that you jump through many hoops for (literally) hours before sending you to a final page which lets you know that your session has crashed and you need to re-load. Refresh. And start again.
Today I spent an early morning hour trying to lock in an appointment for this week. I gave up and went to swim practice. When I was talking to Eric a bit later I was sitting in front of my computer and I would refresh the page of the APH site from time to time. We finished our call and I reached over to try my luck one last time. Almost like playing the slot machines in Las Vegas. And finally, I hit the jackpot.
I have an appointment across town at 5 pm tomorrow and I'm excited to finally be moving forward on something. Anything. While I have an abject fear of needles and injections this is one instance in which the fear of NOT getting the shot is actually greater.
The syringe above is not the one I think they will use. This is a special, lead lined syringe for injecting radioactive (medical) material. It sure looks sinister... Used only by radiologists. Yikes.
If everything goes according to plan I should get a second dose in early March and, if it's protective against some of the newer virus variants I'll be a happy camper. I have heard that the body's reaction to the second dose can be uncomfortable for 24 hours or so. It's got to be better than having a full blown infection.
I was going to document my experience with a camera but my friendly, favorite doctor reminded me of the HIPA rules and suggested that the new Leica be put to a better use. I concur. I'll have my hands full trying to keep myself from fainting.
It's a good start. I hope we get to finish strong.
22 comments:
Do you know which one you are getting? YMMV, but the Moderna second shot is more reactive than others.
Good luck
Tom Devlin
Kirk,
Glad you got your appointment finally. Williamson County was a little better than your experience; had my 1st shot already and scheduled for next one in two weeks. Hope they have enough for our 2nd shots!
Dick
Hi Kirk:
Good for you!!! Though getting vaccinated is not a license to party or stop safe practices (wear a mask, social distance, wash hands, eat at home:), etc.) it will lower your anxiety and blood pressure and give you that feeling of pitching in to the greater good.
As for swimming afterwards, plan to take a day off after each shot. The injection stimulates the arm muscle to produce cells that trigger an immune response. This causes a sore arm that will make swimming (freestyle, breaststroke, etc.) uncomfortable from about five hours after injection to about 36 hours afterwards.
You might also have a sore neck a day or two later. Post injection day is a good day to catch up on reading and blogging!
I wish you well.
CDC
Tom, I'm pretty sure it's Moderna. I swim with an O.R. nurse who got her second dose of Moderna a couple of weeks ago and she did say that she felt like "hammered shit" for 24 to 36 hours afterwards. But it passed quickly.
She encouraged me to stay the course since she's at a large hospital and has seen a number of the worst outcomes (deaths). A day of headaches, chills and feeling like something the cat dragged in are much, much better than the other option.
Dick! I'm jealous. I've tossed a lot of time at getting this set up. Best wishes that your next dose in on time and not very uncomfortable.
I got the Pfizer second shot yesterday. Both vaccines were as painless non-events as you could imagine. Very small bore needles, I didn't feel either.
Felt tired and a little headache after the first. 2 hours after the second dose I started Tylenol every 6 hours, will do for 2 days. I had a similar reaction after the second dose but the Tylenol (NO ASPRIN) left me feeling fine the day after, that is today.
From Mayo Clinic (and many other sites like CDC) Tylenol is fine after the vaccine but NOT as a preventative taken before the shot. Also if so inclined CBD gummies or otherwise are not to be taken before, between two shots or for 2 weeks after the second shot.
And like many others have said, there is a great sense of relief after the second shot but it is no time to let our guard down.
Thanks Jim, Those are all good things to know. My doctor did tell me I could take a small dose of Xanax just before getting the jab to help allay my needle anxiety. Not recommended for anyone with an addictive personality....
I am glad to read your post and know that it is not just New Hampshire who has a convoluted, nonsensical, stupid, etc. system for getting an appointment. The process was truly byzantine.
My wife and I got our first dose last Friday. The good news is that everyone at the vaccination site was pleasant and friendly and, the process was, dare I say it, painless! We were in and out quickly... actually we never left our vehicle.
Side effects were as others describe.
Then it was back to the den of inane-ity to try and make an appointment for the second dose within the requisite time frame... just crazy!
As for the "lead-lined syringe", I trust that that is just a literary device and not a statement of reality. I'm quite sure that I would not want anything that was to be injected into me to have been in contact with lead before heading into my body!!! ;-)
I am with you on needles and the uselessness of the online processes to schedule a vaccination.
I am utterly stumped that with an entire year to plan the rollout of a vaccine we have a 50 state re-creation of the ACA website fiasco.
The ACA was predictable in that the job goes to the bidder who can navigate the process rather than the company that can actually deliver. However, we had plenty of warning.
For me, I turn 65 in April though my wife is eligible now. Of course sitting at a screen all morning to take a stab at a site that returning errors for an hour is scarcely an inspiring way to spend a morning.
I am hoping the lines die down just like the first wave of iPhone hysteria. Just hoping it is soon.
Hey Kirk,
Don't take their poison. It hasn't been tested adequately and people around the world are having adverse reactions and there are even deaths being reported.
Regards,
Karel
Karel, The testing information is widely available. The results are on par with most other vaccines. The safety standards are the same. Millions and millions of people have already been treated with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and the side effects and incidences of death are no larger in scope than any other recent vaccine. The effects of the illness are much more certain and much more devastating.
I prefer to believe in science and not anecdotal hysteria.
Kirk:
One reason I read your blog is I really appreciate your polite but firm response to unfounded comments.
You wrote:
I prefer to believe in science and not anecdotal hysteria.
Well Done!
Stay Well,
I hope the arm soreness is mild and that you can return to the pool promptly!
CDC
Got my second shot a couple of hours ago (Moderna), waiting to see how it affects me. Most of my friends had little or no reaction but a few have been pretty sick for a few hours, maybe for a day.
The system in Amarillo is simple: They announce the hours they will be open, based on their supply, and those eligible show up and stand in line. Works well for folks like me who have flexible schedules, transportation, and are healthy enough to get there and wait. (They do have wheelchairs available, and plenty of help for those who need it.) I hit the line at 1, was out the door by 2:15.
It worked well for me, but must not be so great for those with jobs, children, no transportation or unable to drive -- and so on. As said, the country had months to work on this and it's at best a marginal success.
Congrats. Let me know how it progresses. Happy to hear you're all the way through the gauntlet. In Austin they like to make things as unwieldy as possible. Maybe the powers that be think we'll all have a greater sense of personal achievement if we can actually navigate the system. Who knows?
You won't feel the needle. My only reaction to the first dose was a very sore arm--like someone slugged me. Others in the household had sore arms but mine was a bit more intense. Parents had second does and felt a bit of tiredness.
APH did a good job in administering the vaccine. Lines that moved fast, friendly staff. I was grateful for the folks there.
Crikies! That looks like the syringe from that scene in The Right Stuff, where they jam it into the base of Scott Glen's thumb and hook it up to some electrodes. I'm still playing the lotto for an appointment, but people I know who've had the jab say you really don't feel the needle. After effects vary.
That's great, Kirk! I got my first Moderna shot from Austin Public Health on Jan. 14 (barely felt the shot) and am due to hear from them via email in a day or two to schedule the second shot. I hope scheduling it will not be another Kafkaesque experience because I will be instructed to go back to that same vaccination registration page where a new second dose button has magically appeared that will supposedly let me schedule a date for the second shot.
Update, the day after the second jab.
Got the shot about 2 yesterday afternoon so it's just about 24 hours since. About 3 or 4 hours after the shot I began feeling tired, finally went to bed a couple of hours early. Felt a little feverish and achy in the night and woke up feeling semi-miserable -- like a mild flu. If there was anything that really needed doing I'd have gotten up and done it, but as it was I ate breakfast and went back to sleep. Woke up around noon feeling pretty good overall, just a little ache in the arm and shoulder.
We've had a couple of days of freezing fog and things are really pretty outside -- but cold. I'm feeling perky enough to head out and look for photos.
Just amazing that the web access is so difficult with all the techies in Austin that could help - or maybe it's because there were too many fingers in the pie. Got my second shot yesterday with just a bit of soreness in the injected arm. Our local hospital system, Shannon Medical Center has done an excellent job in organizing and administering the injections.
Just got my first shot. Very smooth on the ground here. No lollipop or Pokémon band aids 😕
No pain. No reactions. No sweat. The sign up process is daunting but once you have an appointment the city did a great job making the actual process as smooth and easy as possible. In and out in 28 minutes and that includes 15 minutes of chilling out after to make sure there were no allergic reactions. Nice. Well done. And my shot was done by an actual doctor. She was sweet. Can't wait to get my second dose. Even if it doesn't materially change my lifestyle it will change my attitude.
Kirk, thanks for your polite but firm response to Karel Donk. I've been seeing similar opinions on social media and the writers always avoid telling us where they got their info, even though they all seem to be saying the same thing.
Meanwhile, I'm 62 and in the UK. I expect I'll get the jab by the end of March; I'm looking forward to it and I'll be taking a camera.
https://twitter.com/ashishkjha/status/1359722601304711168?s=21
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