Weekend discussion topic: jumping tiers for CV vax UPDATED: appointments releasing in ten minutes!

[ELemenoP]

I think it is important not to make a snap judgement, because we don't really know their situation. My husband and I were able to get vaccinated even though we are young (33) and healthy in January, when the official tier for our state was only 75+. We live in a very rural area with a lot of vaccine hesitancy,  and our county is moving quicker through the tiers than most of the rest of our state. They have large clinics that are first come-first served (where tiers don't come into play), and they have sign up events where they are strict about the tiers and go in order to fill all appointments in order of tiers (and usually get to the "everyone" tier for every clinic because most of the elderly/immunocompromised individuals that wanted to be vaccinated here already have). If they do not use their vaccine up every week, they do not get more the following week. They are being very careful to use (and not waste) any. Honestly, I've been so impressed how smoothly our town has done it- while a large city near us sat on thousands of doses of vaccine for TWO months because they "weren't sure" how to run a large scale clinic, our small and rural county healthcare system had everyone working (from the deputies to animal control to school nurses- until the national guard arrived) and delivered 45k doses in the same time that the nearby cities were trying to figure it out and had delivered NONE. People were actually crossing state lines to try to get their vaccine in our county, because the word spread so quickly.

I know many people in other states that have waited and received waste vaccine (that would otherwise go in the trash) at the end of a busy clinic when it is shutting down. There are many ways to receive vaccine if it's not your tier yet, and it doesn't mean you're "stealing" vaccine from those more vulnerable. 

 

[Pam in CT]

re age segmentation of who's received the vaccine so far

8 hours ago, Bootsie said:

More Than 312 Million Shots Given: Covid-19 Vaccine Tracker (bloomberg.com)

This is an interesting map that shows the percent vaccinated by state.  It does not show, however, what the age breakdown by state is.  For example, over 20% of Maine's population is 65 or older and they have given vaccines (first dose)  to just over 21% of the population.  Only 15.2% of the residents of Texas have had the first dose, but only about 12% of the population is over 65.  

CDC is reporting the raw data here... but it's not in a nice user-friendly graph.  The national data is aggregated in the top-line chart, and you can click on a state in the map below to see (similarly not-graphically-presented) data by state.

 

re using pharmacy program vs state/municipal and hospital network portals to try to find appointment slots

21 minutes ago, TheReader said:

has he tried going through CVS, HEB, Walmart, etc? So many pharmacies are offering it now, and they all refresh their appointment availability each morning (earlier is better). 

CVS in particular has availability all over the state, and especially if you are willing to drive a little ways (for instance, my mom had to drive about an hour to get hers), there are appointments to be had if you are in the currently authorized groups. 

 

Amplifying this.  CT has a hot mess of 8 separate portals (the CDC VAMS from whose allocations which the state pop-ups, community health centers, and municipalities are deploying -- here is CT's section of VAMS, but each participating state has its own); 4 hospital health networks (who get a portion of that same allocation but have established their own portals); and 3 pharmacies participating in the (separate from the VAMS-allocated) federal pharmacy program. The pharmacy portals are YUGELY more user-friendly; both CVS and Walmart have a Spanish edition; and there is now a crawler program, vaccinefinder.org , that "scans" all participating pharmacies and lets you one-stop-shop to find pharmacies near your zip code that have open appointments before you click through to find out the dates.  It is *vastly* more efficient than the VAMS mess.

[ELemenoP]

2 hours ago, Pawz4me said:

I'm really surprised that so many here report being able to get leftover/unused vaccine. The slots around here all seem to get taken. From what I can tell it's relatively easy to get a slot, but there don't seem to be any extras left.

Where I've heard it happening, it's more unorganized- there is no official way to sign up in most cases. You show up and wait at the very end of a clinic- be it a health department or CVS- and ask if they have leftovers. I have had many friends vaccinated doing it this way. 

Edited March 9, 2021 by ELemenoP

[Soror]

5 minutes ago, ELemenoP said:

Where I've heard it happening, it's more unorganized- there is no official way to sign up in most cases. You show up and wait at the very end of a clinic- be it a health department or CVS- and ask if they have leftovers. I have had many friends vaccinated doing it this way. 

I got vaccinated from leftovers. The event was highly organized but they didn't have all the slots filled (small county- conservative area) and there is an issue with people registering and not showing up that leads to excess doses. 

They were allocating based on population but are switching that up because we have greater vaccine hesitancy in the rural areas so demand has not been meeting supply here. I hope that uptake continues improving. 

[Lanny]

Hello from Colombia. We have a Winner who may become a Loser. She is not a Medical or Health worker but apparently works for some kind of Medical/Health facility in the city of Bogota.

https://www.elpais.com.co/colombia/funcionaria-de-subred-norte-ese-en-bogota-no-priorizada-habria-recibido-vacuna-anticovid.html

She is not in Group 1 (Medical/Health people and people 80+)

She got vaccinated with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

Then, she put one or more photos on Instagram.

I believe I read recently the maximum penalty for that is 5 years. It will be interesting to see what punishment, if any, she receives

[Bootsie]

3 hours ago, TheReader said:

has he tried going through CVS, HEB, Walmart, etc? So many pharmacies are offering it now, and they all refresh their appointment availability each morning (earlier is better). 

CVS in particular has availability all over the state, and especially if you are willing to drive a little ways (for instance, my mom had to drive about an hour to get hers), there are appointments to be had if you are in the currently authorized groups. 

 

Currently the only CVS location is in Borger, TX--which is 360 miles away.   The HEB site says there is a limited supply in Odessa--but then you click through and there isn't any.  Same type of issue with Walmart.  

 

[Bootsie]

3 hours ago, ELemenoP said:

I think it is important not to make a snap judgement, because we don't really know their situation. My husband and I were able to get vaccinated even though we are young (33) and healthy in January, when the official tier for our state was only 75+. We live in a very rural area with a lot of vaccine hesitancy,  and our county is moving quicker through the tiers than most of the rest of our state. They have large clinics that are first come-first served (where tiers don't come into play), and they have sign up events where they are strict about the tiers and go in order to fill all appointments in order of tiers (and usually get to the "everyone" tier for every clinic because most of the elderly/immunocompromised individuals that wanted to be vaccinated here already have). If they do not use their vaccine up every week, they do not get more the following week.

 

But what I do not understand is why some parts of the country are getting so much vaccine that they are vaccinating in large clinics where tiers don't come into play and then get more vaccine the following week when there are other places that have not bee able to vaccinate ll of their first tier, not because of lack of places to administer shots, but because of inability to get adequate vaccine.

[TheReader]

8 minutes ago, Bootsie said:

Currently the only CVS location is in Borger, TX--which is 360 miles away.   The HEB site says there is a limited supply in Odessa--but then you click through and there isn't any.  Same type of issue with Walmart.  

 

 

Keep trying; CVS/Walmart both update availability each morning pretty early -- a friend looked at 9/9:30 am, and had to drive an hour away; I looked the next day at 7:30 am and was able to get my local (15 mins away) stop. My mom looked at about 10 am and had to drive an hour......etc. It really varies, but it is there. 

5 minutes ago, Bootsie said:

But what I do not understand is why some parts of the country are getting so much vaccine that they are vaccinating in large clinics where tiers don't come into play and then get more vaccine the following week when there are other places that have not bee able to vaccinate ll of their first tier, not because of lack of places to administer shots, but because of inability to get adequate vaccine.

I whole-heartedly agree with this. Why we were able to schedule in a county a few hours away, for everyone in the family (not the 16 yr old, b/c they only have Moderna, not Pfizer), with no restrictions.....because they are getting 3000 vaccines a week and can't get enough people to take them.....but our very large county in the beginning got only 1000 vaccines, then 6000, and I don't know the rate now of how many they are getting, but......it definitely should have been/should be distributed based on population or something, not just all willy-nilly like it is. 

I believe *why* these places are giving it to everyone is so that they *can* keep getting it....but yes, why not let it go and get sent instead to places where the vulnerable are still waiting? that would certainly make sense.  (says I, even as I have appointments for some of my family at one of these places.....hmmm. Will think on that some before their appts come up on Friday......)

Distribution has been crazy, for sure. There are so many places giving it, and finding/tracking down all the possible ways/places to register, sign up, get on a wait list, find an appointment, etc. is nearly a full time job. 

[rebcoola]

6 hours ago, Pawz4me said:

I'm really surprised that so many here report being able to get leftover/unused vaccine. The slots around here all seem to get taken. From what I can tell it's relatively easy to get a slot, but there don't seem to be any extras left.

I haven't heard why but our mass vaccination clinic has had on average 10% no shows. So the appointments are full but they have shots left at the end of day.  

 

 

[Pam in CT]

12 minutes ago, Bootsie said:

But what I do not understand is why some parts of the country are getting so much vaccine that they are vaccinating in large clinics where tiers don't come into play and then get more vaccine the following week when there are other places that have not bee able to vaccinate ll of their first tier, not because of lack of places to administer shots, but because of inability to get adequate vaccine.

Each state determines the tier priorities and the distribution between counties/municipalities of the direct state allotments.

And other than a handful of federal set-asides for the military and Native American lands, the states are getting doses proportionate to their respective population.  At this point the national pharmacy partnership program is *also* receiving doses proportionate to respective state population.  Until last week, pharmacies under the pharmacy program was following whatever state proritization and tier guidelines in the state they were operating (ie, CVS in MA followed MA tiers, CVS in TX followed TX tiers); but as of last week Biden gave guidance to ALL partner pharmacies to open eligibility to K-12 teachers whether or not they were otherwise eligible within the states, as part of a national goal to get schools re-opened. 

At this point the discrepancies between how available vaccines are between different states is not that some state are receiving "more" doses -- I mean, they are in absolute terms; big population states get more doses than small population states, but on a per capita basis it's the same -- the doses are going out proportionate to population.  But some states are actually managing to get a much higher % of the doses received all the way into arms (if you click the slider over to the "% of Supply Used" on the map here you can see that variance).  That's due to a number of factors -- a big one is that some states have opted to "hold back" second doses to be sure all first-dose recipients have access to a second dose, whereas other states are Trusting in the System to have sufficient doses available by the 3- or 4-week mark.

 

I do expect at some point, states that continue to actually deploy the doss they receive all the way into arms will start getting proportionately more doses than states where they're piling up in warehouses... due either to inefficiency in deployment or to comparative vaccine hesitancy. At some point, it becomes silly to keep sending proportionate doses to states that are not using it when demand > supply in other states.  But we having yet reached that decision juncture.

[Bootsie]

1 minute ago, Pam in CT said:

Each state determines the tier priorities and the distribution between counties/municipalities of the direct state allotments.

And other than a handful of federal set-asides for the military and Native American lands, the states are getting doses proportionate to their respective population.  At this point the national pharmacy partnership program is *also* receiving doses proportionate to respective state population.  Until last week, pharmacies under the pharmacy program was following whatever state proritization and tier guidelines in the state they were operating (ie, CVS in MA followed MA tiers, CVS in TX followed TX tiers); but as of last week Biden gave guidance to ALL partner pharmacies to open eligibility to K-12 teachers whether or not they were otherwise eligible within the states, as part of a national goal to get schools re-opened. 

At this point the discrepancies between how available vaccines are between different states is not that some state are receiving "more" doses -- I mean, they are in absolute terms; big population states get more doses than small population states, but on a per capita basis it's the same -- the doses are going out proportionate to population.  But some states are actually managing to get a much higher % of the doses received all the way into arms (if you click the slider over to the "% of Supply Used" on the map here you can see that variance).  That's due to a number of factors -- a big one is that some states have opted to "hold back" second doses to be sure all first-dose recipients have access to a second dose, whereas other states are Trusting in the System to have sufficient doses available by the 3- or 4-week mark.

 

I do expect at some point, states that continue to actually deploy the doss they receive all the way into arms will start getting proportionately more doses than states where they're piling up in warehouses... due either to inefficiency in deployment or to comparative vaccine hesitancy. At some point, it becomes silly to keep sending proportionate doses to states that are not using it when demand > supply in other states.  But we having yet reached that decision juncture.

One of the issues in the DFW metropolitan area is that when FEMA set up a site, the vaccine to the local health departments dropped significantly (to zero in some cases).  So, Tier 1 people who have been on the county waiting lists since January are still on the county waiting lists.  But, FEMA is restricting vaccines to particular zip codes.  This in effect has changed the allocation to those who live in certain zip codes away from the tiers.  

[Lecka]

44 minutes ago, Bootsie said:

But what I do not understand is why some parts of the country are getting so much vaccine that they are vaccinating in large clinics where tiers don't come into play and then get more vaccine the following week when there are other places that have not bee able to vaccinate ll of their first tier, not because of lack of places to administer shots, but because of inability to get adequate vaccine.

My understanding is that here, there are a lot of logistical issues for elderly people who are not in a nursing home.  People my mom's age (late 70s) are trying to help people in their 80s and 90s and giving them rides and things.  They have a hard time logistically getting to a vaccine appointment.  

From what I hear -- at this point, it is not super-hard to get a slot if someone has help with the Internet part.  

But anyway -- basically, the tiers are continuing to open up even though there are people in higher tiers who are not vaccinated.  But it is not like -- people having a really difficult time being able to schedule an appointment, but still logistical issues.  

My parents and their friends are driving people who do want it, but they wait until someone offers them a ride, they don't want to have to ask.  If that makes sense...  

But basically -- having lower tiers opened up doesn't mean everyone in the higher tiers has been vaccinated, and my understanding is that the oldest age group is having a hard time.  

 It doesn't make a lot of sense to me, because one person I heard about -- I do not understand how she lives alone in her own apartment!   But she does.  

Edited March 9, 2021 by Lecka

[Pam in CT]

Yeah, the sheer complexity of all the possible ways to get an appointment... deters some population segments (the elderly, the less tech-savvy, folks with limited English proficiency) from getting an appointment.  Rolling out to 75+ who live in long term care or congregant living facilities is a LOT easier than getting it to 75+ who don't... and may not be internet-savvy or may not drive or may be fearful about going in themselves without someone with them in the event they have even a mild reaction, etc.

And to @Bootsie 's experience -- that complexity has got to make it harder for the counties and municipalities as well.

It's a massive undertaking.  All things considered, the US is doing pretty well compared to the rest of the world in getting vaccine out and into arms (scroll down to the map and click specific countries for relative per capita metrics).  This ONE FACET of COVID management, we're outperforming other nations.

[teachermom2834]

I have an appointment upcoming at a Walmart pharmacy and that was pretty easy to make directly through Walmart. However, dh and I have really struggled with the state and county health department process. He is very tech savvy and I, while not savvy, am very comfortable with conducting basic business like filling out forms and making appointments online. I also have good reading comprehension and I am struggling to understand the process and directions. So I can see how some people have hit a dead end with the health department and if they don’t know how or that they even can schedule directly through a pharmacy I can see them missing out as new tiers are open. 🙁

Edited March 9, 2021 by teachermom2834

[Pawz4me]

1 hour ago, Bootsie said:

One of the issues in the DFW metropolitan area is that when FEMA set up a site, the vaccine to the local health departments dropped significantly (to zero in some cases).  So, Tier 1 people who have been on the county waiting lists since January are still on the county waiting lists.  But, FEMA is restricting vaccines to particular zip codes.  This in effect has changed the allocation to those who live in certain zip codes away from the tiers.  

Wow. A FEMA site is supposed to open tomorrow in a neighboring city, but the media is reporting that the vaccines administered there will NOT affect the state's regular allotment. I hope that's correct, as they're saying the FEMA site will be able to administer 3,000 vaccines per day, seven days a week, for the next eight weeks. To take that many vaccines away from the state's regular allotment would be nuts, even though according to media reports anyone who is in a currently eligible group can go there to get one (no zip code or any other restrictions).

[ktgrok]

 

1 hour ago, Pam in CT said:

Yeah, the sheer complexity of all the possible ways to get an appointment... deters some population segments (the elderly, the less tech-savvy, folks with limited English proficiency) from getting an appointment. 

They made our FEMA site no appointment needed for that very reason. You CAN and SHOULD preregister if you can, which makes it faster and more streamlined. But you don't have to, and can just show up and they will help you get registered and get your shot. Two separate lines, and run really well from what I'm hearing. 

[Lady Florida.]

On 3/6/2021 at 12:00 PM, Danae said:

I think anyone who qualifies, even “technically qualifies, but” should get vaccinated as soon as they can.  
 

And while I don’t think anyone should lie to get it, the liars and cheaters might actually be helping, in that they make the vaccine look like a good and valuable thing and might tip some borderline not-sure people into the yes column.  It won’t be long before willingness rather than supply is going to be the limiting factor in progress toward population-level immunity.

I agree with this. I think every shot in every arm gets us just a little bit closer to returning to normal.

[Bootsie]

29 minutes ago, kand said:

From searching online, it appears most places the FEMA sites have their own allotment and don’t take away from the local health department allotments. I see that something different happened in Texas, though. I’m not sure I’m fully understanding, but it sounds like perhaps FEMA and the health department pooled doses? And that meant that there was such an abundance of vaccine in certain parts of the state due to the number of doses at the mass vaccination sites that they chose to send more doses to other areas of the state that have been under served. Which did have the side effect of reducing doses in some locations that had previously had them. Does that sound right according to this article?

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/coronavirus/state-cuts-vaccine-allotment-to-zero-at-dallas-tarrant-county-run-hubs/2560153/

It hasn't been quite clear what has been going on.  We did get messed up in the DFW area due to the winter weather last month.  The net effect has been that those over 65 who signed up on a waiting list in January have not been able to get an appointment yet.  And, if they do not live in certain zip codes they can't get a shot at the FEMA location.  So, it is somewhat like they got in line at the grocery store and were patiently waiting, but another cashier opened up allowing others who weren't on a wailist to get in line, but those in the queue don't qualify to move to the other line.  

[ELemenoP]

6 hours ago, Bootsie said:

But what I do not understand is why some parts of the country are getting so much vaccine that they are vaccinating in large clinics where tiers don't come into play and then get more vaccine the following week when there are other places that have not bee able to vaccinate ll of their first tier, not because of lack of places to administer shots, but because of inability to get adequate vaccine.

Vaccines were distributed by population to each state, and the states decide how to distribute from there. Unfortunately, some states seem to be an absolute cluster. And even within individual states, the distribution can be wildly different in its efficiency. My county partners with a health system that takes care of 7 counties total. They have been insanely professional, organized and rolling out vaccines as soon as they get them. Their goal is to use all vaccine they receive each week, and they have been successful in doing so thus far. Anyone who wants a vaccine and is over 18 has had the opportunity at this point to wait in line to get it. Anyone in the higher tier who wanted theirs has gotten theirs. They are not delaying moving onto new tiers here- our entire population of the 7 counties is under 150k (adding to this that many rural areas received more vaccine than they are supposed to get population-wise because of our lack of access to adequate healthcare- the hospitals here (and many rural areas) aren't equipped for COVID patients with a severe case) . I just checked the stats and here, 35% of our entire 18+ population has been vaccinated with the first vaccine and 25% have already received their second dose. My mom lives in the same state but a large city and is a nurse in an office where they have frequent COVID contact and only now has been able to receive her first vaccine. Rollouts of vaccine for larger populations seems to be much slower from what I have seen. 

Edited March 9, 2021 by ELemenoP

[ELemenoP]

5 hours ago, Pam in CT said:

Yeah, the sheer complexity of all the possible ways to get an appointment... deters some population segments (the elderly, the less tech-savvy, folks with limited English proficiency) from getting an appointment.  Rolling out to 75+ who live in long term care or congregant living facilities is a LOT easier than getting it to 75+ who don't... and may not be internet-savvy or may not drive or may be fearful about going in themselves without someone with them in the event they have even a mild reaction, etc.

And to @Bootsie 's experience -- that complexity has got to make it harder for the counties and municipalities as well.

It's a massive undertaking.  All things considered, the US is doing pretty well compared to the rest of the world in getting vaccine out and into arms (scroll down to the map and click specific countries for relative per capita metrics).  This ONE FACET of COVID management, we're outperforming other nations.

I totally agree with this. The only reason my elderly father with multiple health issues got his first vaccine is because I went through the (ridiculously complicated) process to get him an account, search for appointments, etc. Neither of my parents could figure it out on their own and almost all slots were gone by the time I was able to attempt it (which was about 10 minutes after the vaccine appointments were released). It really is too complicated in some areas. 

[Lecka]

Where we are — the online part has gotten a lot easier, people who aren’t savvy can get appointments now. 
 

But it’s gone from — people needing someone young to do it, to people who are 60+ helping schedule people 80+ (my parents’ friends).
 

And they are just having people ask around to see which of their friends and their friends’ friends haven’t been vaccinated yet.  
 

One person is someone who lives on my parents’ street, who is at least 85.  I know that she has grandkids that come and check on her, and I know she has rides to doctor appointments, so I don’t know why they didn’t help her.  And then nobody helped her sister who lives in an apartment.  Or one of her other friends.  But I know for the neighbor — it’s not like she is neglected, but she doesn’t drive, either. 
 

My parents also don’t know why her kids or grandkids didn’t arrange it, but they didn’t ask.  
 

One of my mom’s neighbors is over 80 but she and her husband still drive.  They are very social and know a ton of people and are taking people now.  The original couple had their shot scheduled by an adult son, but they could drive so not a big deal for them.  

[easypeasy]

I've now checked the state where my daughter goes to college (trying to gain an idea of when she will be eligible to get her vaccine there). Wow - that state is SO different from ours! They are still only vaccinating a *very* specific portion of the population. I then went to a site to alert her if there were any "extra" doses at the end of the day - and she can ONLY sign up if she's 70+ years old. 🥴 (the same people who can already make a regular appointment, so I'm not sure what that gains?)

Wow @ the differences in states/counties/etc. Our state didn't divvy anything up by counties, thank goodness. Everyone I know has been trying to avoid those appointments that are obviously set up in rural or lower income areas and they've all been successful at gaining appointments reasonably close to their own home areas.

Then, I had to determine if I should fly DD home to get a vaccine now - or just wait til she's home in late April. 🤷‍♂️ She'd have to fly back/forth twice - but at least after that first vaccine she'd be more immune than she is now.... but she's made it this far through her freshman year Covid-free... so... determined it's not worth the effort & she'll just wait til she's back home I guess unless her college state surprises me and leaps into action before late April.

[Swimmer1112]

It’s amazing how each state is divvy up the vaccines. I spoke to dd today and she was telling that the UC she is at is vaccinating students who 5 hours or more for the university. Which seems wrong considering all the seniors and minorities having problems getting appointments in our state.

[Katy]

https://hidrb.com
 

Have you seen this?  There was an article in the NY Times about this service today. You sign up to be notified if a pharmacy thawed too many doses or had too many no-shows so you can get a shot that might otherwise be wasted. 
 

They will text you if there are extra doses in your area, you have 15 minutes to respond. You do need to transportation to get the dose, and they do try to prioritize based on jobs & health conditions. It’s free for both patients and providers. 

[sassenach]

On 3/7/2021 at 8:40 AM, sassenach said:

I'm still pissed that my HIGH risk disabled young adult isn't qualified but every other person in my house is. Why? Because they live and care for my high risk son. You read that right- the young disabled do not qualify but everyone who lives with a young disabled does. That's four vaccines to protect one person, while still not protecting the one person. It's the most asinine thing I've ever experienced. I legit feel bad that my 16 and 18yos are getting vaccinated before my parents (who are under 65). But it's the best way I have to protect my son right now, so that's what we're doing.

Miracle update. Dd was walking by her high school gym that is being used as a vaccination site and a nurse called out to her asking if she wanted the vaccine or knew anyone who did because they had leftover doses. She called home, we got ds there lightning fast and he was vaccinated.  Praise Jesus!

[ktgrok]

I'm So glad!

 

[Guest]

Update: I just got a text that appointments are opening up in ten minutes. What to do, what to do...I am not legitimately in this tier. I would be stretching the truth beyond recognition. But I’m reaaaallly tempted to just see if I can possibly get an appointment. Is it wrong? Is it wrong but forgivable? I’m really conflicted, y’all. My state has been a stupid-head about getting vaccinations out. 

[Guest]

14 minutes ago, kand said:

This is amazing! So happy for your family!

is your area having trouble finding enough people to fill vaccine slots, or is the shot still pretty highly sought after? If people who are eligible are still trying to get it, I wouldn’t line jump. I was having this discussion with a sibling today. Her partner is trying to pressure her to say she’s eligible when she’s not. Partner is already vaccinated. In our area, there are still some elderly people who are struggling to find appointments, so it doesn’t seem like the right thing to do here. Much as we all badly want things to be going faster, and frustrated as I am with how long it seems like it’s going to take to get to my tier. 

Yeah, I can’t do it right now. There are still lots of eligible people who don’t have the vax and don’t have an appointment yet. Not to mention I can’t find an appointment anyway, even though they supposedly just released more. I can see where it is allegedly in stock but they all say Fully Booked. 

[Bootsie]

50 minutes ago, kand said:

This is amazing! So happy for your family!

is your area having trouble finding enough people to fill vaccine slots, or is the shot still pretty highly sought after? If people who are eligible are still trying to get it, I wouldn’t line jump. I was having this discussion with a sibling today. Her partner is trying to pressure her to say she’s eligible when she’s not. Partner is already vaccinated. In our area, there are still some elderly people who are struggling to find appointments, so it doesn’t seem like the right thing to do here. Much as we all badly want things to be going faster, and frustrated as I am with how long it seems like it’s going to take to get to my tier. 

I am not sure how much people are aware of whether or not individuals who qualify in their area are having trouble getting vaccines unless they specifically know people.  I know in my area there are mass sites and lots of people who just "happened to get a dose that would be thrown out."  So, there is the perception that it is easy to find a vaccine but for many who are at the cusp of the older age demographic it has not been.  After two of us spending three days checking every few mintues for appointments at CVS (and other pharmacies) for DH who is over 70 we found a location in a small town over 80 miles away. Today I found out that all of the CVS  sites we kept trying in our county and the neighboring counties were not giving  the vaccine yet.  They kept saying "fully booked" and "check back" but a big news story today said they MAY start taking appointments next week.

[Arcadia]

This is so maddening 

Covid vaccinations are free — but they're taking a toll on local pharmacies' bottom lines https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/covid-vaccinations-are-free-they-re-taking-toll-local-pharmacies-n1260717

“NBC News spoke to 10 community pharmacists in five states: Georgia, Pennsylvania, Florida, New York and Illinois. Seven obtained the vaccine despite the hurdles they faced, while three said the difficulty of securing a regular vaccine supply, billing issues and low reimbursement rates, particularly from private insurers and state Medicaid programs, discouraged them from participating in the nationwide effort.

All who had a vaccine supply emphasized that, despite the excessive paperwork and financial hardships, vaccinating their communities remained one of the most rewarding experiences of their lives

Pharmacists' vaccination efforts have already been huge: The Federal Retail Pharmacy Program has tapped more than 40,000 pharmacies nationwide and accounted for hundreds of thousands administered vaccines. A large and particularly effective portion of that number are independent pharmacies.

But at this point, they have mostly vaccinated people covered by Medicare, the federal insurance for those older than 65 that has set the standard for vaccine reimbursement rates. Still, even Medicare has had issues in providing payment because it still does not fully recognize pharmacists as providers that deliver medical services, drawing attention from lawmakers and trade groups.

Pharmacists said they were steeling themselves for further problems. As more states expand vaccination eligibility to those younger than 65, providers will treat a greater number of people with private health plans. While the vaccine is free for the patients by law and receiving the shot takes minutes, pharmacists say trying to get payment for delivering the service is hours of work unto itself — and sometimes not worth the effort.

Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., who owned an independent pharmacy in his home state until last year, roundly criticized the billing nightmares pharmacists have undergone at the hands of private insurers during an Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on expanding access to vaccinations in late February.

He said during the hearing that he had received complaints that independent pharmacists were undergoing billing audits more frequently for the vaccine than they typically faced, creating hours of additional paperwork after a day of inoculations.“