I need a pep talk

[Elizabeth86]

19 minutes ago, happi duck said:

Good job making the decision and making the appointment!  Pandemic stress is no joke and following through on stuff is hard!

Don't be surprised if going to the appointment feels hard.  It can be surprisingly emotional!  Also, don't panic if you feel cruddy.  Stay hydrated and rested.

(hugs)

Thanks.  Luckily, my mom is coming along to keep my kids in the car, so she'll make me follow through just like I made her follow through.

[Pen]

7 hours ago, MercyA said:

During January 26, 2020–February 27, 2021, an estimated 545,600–660,200 more persons than expected died in the United States from all causes. The estimated number of excess deaths peaked during the weeks ending April 11, 2020, August 1, 2020, and January 2, 2021. Approximately 75%–88% of excess deaths were directly associated with COVID-19. 

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7015a4.htm

thank you

 

what about the next two questions?

[Pen]

16 hours ago, happi duck said:

Me too!  It wasn't until covid that I even noticed the number of flu deaths.  I don't want our country to be fine with tens of thousands of deaths every year.   I really didn't know.

End death from all causes?  
 

 

[Elizabeth86]

12 minutes ago, Pen said:

End death from all causes?  
 

 

Is there somewhere else you all can go to discuss all this? I'm just needing encouragement from pro-vaccine friends.  That is all.

[Spryte]

32 minutes ago, Elizabeth86 said:

Thanks.  Luckily, my mom is coming along to keep my kids in the car, so she'll make me follow through just like I made her follow through.

Yay!  So glad you made your choice, and you will have support, too.  
 

I’m excited for you! 

[Pen]

10 minutes ago, Elizabeth86 said:

Is there somewhere else you all can go to discuss all this? I'm just needing encouragement from pro-vaccine friends.  That is all.

probably could just let it end?
 

It sounds like you have your decision fully made and are about to follow through with it.  
 

Also it could possibly help even now to edit the title to add  “pro-vaccine comments only” right in the title.  And perhaps explicitly again in the opening post.  
 

Also, from my POV, if you do a follow up thread at some point about dealing with relatives and friends who are against the vaccine or deciding about the vaccine for your children, it might likewise help to be very explicit that you only want pro-vaccine comments.

 

(ETA: I am more often at this stage of a thread only returning to read and perhaps to reply if I get a notification that I have been quoted or tagged, so something explicit in title would be more likely to be noticed. Here of course you did tag me. But whether I will remember for some subsequent thread that you only want pro vaccine responses is uncertain. ) 

Edited April 20, 2021 by Pen

[Sneezyone]

10 minutes ago, Elizabeth86 said:

Is there somewhere else you all can go to discuss all this? I'm just needing encouragement from pro-vaccine friends.  That is all.

Wishing you the best of luck. All three of the over 16s here got sore arms and nothing more after dose #1. DH had no symptoms after dose #2. The peace of mind that comes from knowing you have some protection against the worst COVID symptoms has been immeasurable for me.

[wathe]

Congrats on booking.

It's a double good choice - protect yourself and protect others.

[Happy2BaMom]

I had a strong reaction (3-ish days where I slept a lot more) to the first shot & almost nothing at all with the 2nd. With the first shot, it really felt like my body was saying, "What the h*ll? What *IS* this?" and then it would go to sleep to try and figure out how to fight it. Like, "whhhhoooooaaaaa, I'm not really even sure what to do here......"

Maybe it was all in my head, but I'm really, really glad that I got the shots and that I never got Covid before that. Because if that's the reaction to the non-live version, I really don't want to know how a much stronger live version would have played out.

And, as for research, I've mentioned before that I am fortunate to have in my extended circle of contacts an infectious disease researcher, a man with a PhD in microbiology, who has worked in research and public health for nearly 40 years, and has been part of the vaccine research pipeline for other viruses (so he is knowledgeable about vaccine develoment). He was also one of the original AIDS researchers, and he's also worked with the Chinese on AIDS & SARS. IOW, he actually knows what the eff he's talking about. 

He's given a few friends-and-family webinars, and in his last one he discussed the vaccines. I won't murder his presentation by attempting to replicate it here, but I was firmly in the "we'll wait & see" camp before & firmly in the "I'm gettin' vaxxed as soon as I can" after. 

And now, with my county now Level 4 / Purple again (the worst it can get), I'm very relieved I went that route.

HTH.

[Happy2BaMom]

13 minutes ago, Pen said:

probably could just let it end?
 

It sounds like you have your decision fully made and are about to follow through with it. 
 

Also it could possibly help even now to edit the title to say “pro-vaccine comments only” right in the title.  And perhaps explicitly again in the opening post.  
 

Also, from my POV, if you do a follow up thread at some point about dealing with relatives and friends who are against the vaccine or deciding about the vaccine for your children, it might likewise help to be very explicit that you only want pro-vaccine comments.

Her title literally was "I need a pep talk", and part of her OP was, "tell me, I'll be fine."

What part of "I need a pep talk" or "tell me I'll be fine" indicates "talk me out of it"?

[Scarlett]

Yah!!!!  I think you are going to be happy you did it.  My husband had the Phizer and his second shot knocked him down with chills for an evening.  I had Moderna and only had a sore arm and an then for the second shot a little mild unsteadiness for an hour or so.  I still went to work.  

We are shouting it from the rooftops here.  

[Pen]

11 minutes ago, Happy2BaMom said:

Her title literally was "I need a pep talk", and part of her OP was, "tell me, I'll be fine."

What part of "I need a pep talk" or "tell me I'll be fine" indicates "talk me out of it"?

I did not try to talk her out of it in my own opinion.
 

Did you read my post to mean I was trying to talk her out of it? 
 

My recollection is I had a number of “if you are decided and ready to do it go for it!” type comments. 

But no, it was not totally clear to me that she was totally decided and ready to go for it. When that is clear to me I do not normally comment at all about people getting vaccinated. I think if you look at other threads about getting vaccinated you will find that to be true. 

 

 

 

Edited April 20, 2021 by Pen

[BeachGal]

21 hours ago, Elizabeth86 said:

So, the time has finally come for the "everybody else" category people to get covid vaccines.  I was feeling pretty sure about getting it.  .  I just went online to sign up and I kind of froze up.  Like, tell me, I'll be fine.  Please? 

You will be fine!

They have worked out a solution to the blood clotting/bleeding that occurred in a miniscule number of vaccinated individuals, mostly with the J&J/J. They plan to use a different blood thinner and IV immunoglobulin. At this point, they just want to be sure HCWs know what to look for and how to treat.

[Elizabeth86]

18 minutes ago, Happy2BaMom said:

Her title literally was "I need a pep talk", and part of her OP was, "tell me, I'll be fine."

What part of "I need a pep talk" or "tell me I'll be fine" indicates "talk me out of it"?

I know, right? 🤣

[Elizabeth86]

1 minute ago, BeachGal said:

You will be fine!

They have worked out a solution to the blood clotting/bleeding that occurred in a miniscule number of vaccinated individuals, mostly with the J&J/J. They plan to use a different blood thinner and IV immunoglobulin. At this point, they just want to be sure HCWs know what to look for and how to treat.

I'll be getting Moderna, but good to know.

[Spryte]

1 minute ago, Elizabeth86 said:

I know, right? 🤣

Just because I think this thread needs more of it:

You will be fine!  You can do this!

And if I were you, I’d plan a special lunch or activity with my mom for exactly two weeks after the second shot, to celebrate.  We have a Chipotle date scheduled with the 17 yr old here... it’s tomorrow!  Wheee!

If you need even more encouragement, wathe’s recent thread had a lot of comments about ICU docs saying they are not seeing fully vaxxed people in the ICU.  I found that reassuring.

Please keep us posted on how it goes.

[Elizabeth86]

11 minutes ago, Spryte said:

Just because I think this thread needs more of it:

You will be fine!  You can do this!

And if I were you, I’d plan a special lunch or activity with my mom for exactly two weeks after the second shot, to celebrate.  We have a Chipotle date scheduled with the 17 yr old here... it’s tomorrow!  Wheee!

If you need even more encouragement, wathe’s recent thread had a lot of comments about ICU docs saying they are not seeing fully vaxxed people in the ICU.  I found that reassuring.

Please keep us posted on how it goes.

Thanks so much for your kindness.  This is what I needed. I mean, I was 100% set on making my parents take the vaccine (they wanted too, but I would have pressured if I would have needed to)  I cried actual tears when they got vaccinated. It would be selfish of me not too, but I just got scared for a second.  Good idea.  I think my mom and I will have a day out.  Thrift store shopping is our favorite, so I can see that being a future date followed by a nice lunch.

Edited April 20, 2021 by Elizabeth86

[Innisfree]

Thrift store shopping sounds like fun. I'm so excited for you. It feels great to know we can get out and do more soon.

[Innisfree]

Also-- I'm awfully glad your parents agree with you about the vaccine, so they can provide moral support and in-person cheerleading. 

[kbutton]

11 hours ago, SKL said:

And personally, I don't think anyone should be asking other people about their vax status.  Do you ask people when they had their last pap smear or brake job?  Why do people think it's OK to ask such a personal question (other than really close people who would actually share about pap smears etc.)?

It opens up one's social life quite a lot if you can get together with vaccinated friends. Some of us have at least one child too young to be vaccinated, and we aren't willing to expose them. Why would we continue to be MORE careful than we need to be if asking a question would solve the problem? 

5 hours ago, Elizabeth86 said:

I don't feel I need to tell anyone I had the vaccine.  I am worried about the thought of *if* something went wrong, the reaction everyone would have and how stupid I would feel. 

I identify with this, though if I had some super rare reaction, I would not feel stupid, but I would assume that it would give people more ammo to be anti-vax, and I would hate that. I would struggle with how to handle those people and their talk, but it would work out.

I am glad you're getting the shot. I've been so excited about it for so long, but I did have a lot of thoughts like this pop into my head, and I had to work through them. My needle-phobic teenager was so excited about this vaccine that it might have solved his trouble with needles permanently, lol! 

Congratulations, and thank you for deciding to get it. 🙂 

[MercyA]

28 minutes ago, Elizabeth86 said:

Thrift store shopping is our favorite

This is the first fun thing I am planning on doing two weeks out from my second shot!!! So very excited (not just to shop, but also to empty my very full closet of donations!). I have my thrifting "wish list" all ready to go. 🙂 

[Pam in CT]

re differential vaccine uptake by race

11 hours ago, calbear said:

...I can also tell you intended vax uptake among Asian Americans is estimated somewhere around the 80-85%. Miles away higher than any other demographic in the US. Why? We know about coronaviruses. The vast majority took Covid seriously and early. Asian countries have outperformed the rest of the world in controlling the pandemic. Lots of us have many family and close relationships with frontline HCWs (lots of Asians in this space) so we believed what they were saying that Covid is no joke, and you don't want it. I do know people who have died and plenty living with long term Covid. It's sobering and a reality check.

It took me a while to figure out how to read this chart, but it packs in a huge amount of fascinating comparative data.  This is a screenshot, but each one of the dots represents a state and if you go to the live link (scroll down for this chart) you can hover and see which dot is which state.  The dotted line represents the exact proportion of each race within the respective state population, so dots exactly on the line mean that the proportion of vaccines into arms is exactly proportionate to the percentage of that group within the larger state population.  Dots in the purple shaded region above the line mean that population segment within a given state is proportionately "over-vaxxed" and dots in the white region below the line mean that the segment is "under-vaxxed" proportionate to population within the state.

 

 

re the Awkward Re-entry Dance, and what might in other circumstances be an intrusive question

11 hours ago, SKL said:

Why is there a need to tell people if you decide to get vaccinated?...

...And personally, I don't think anyone should be asking other people about their vax status.  Do you ask people when they had their last pap smear or brake job?  Why do people think it's OK to ask such a personal question (other than really close people who would actually share about pap smears etc.)?

Because unlike cervical cancer COVID is a communicable disease. 

Now that my husband and I are fully vaxxed, we are eager to have indoor visits with my fully-vaxxed mother and FIL and aunt and uncle and other fully-vaxxed adults.  Before we go indoors with other friends, we want to sound out if they're vaxxed too.  My COVID-cautious brother, who lives less than 40 minutes away and whom I've not seen outdoors more than a handful of times over the last year, has kids who are not yet eligible.  Because we are vaxxed, and he and his wife are half-vaxxed, they were comfortable to come over for dinner last weekend.  But outside with heaters blasting, because their kids still are not.

That's the dance some of us will be living over the next few months, or perhaps years God help us all.

It is awkward.  Some folks will surely be unwilling to answer, which is fine, that is their perogative.

But it is indeed akin to

2 hours ago, ktgrok said:

Probably more accurately, it's like asking about STD testing before sleeping with someone new. 

which -- I believe your girls are a bit younger than my kids -- is something I've tried hard to convey to mine, is critically important to do, despite the awkwardness.  ("If you're not old enough / mature enough to navigate uncomfortable conversations about birth control and STDs.... consider the possibility that you're not old enough / mature enough to have sex.")

 

 

2 hours ago, ktgrok said:

A pep rally needs music, right?  

https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article249981119.html

OMG.

THANK YOU.

(There are too many awesome aspects of this to count, but my personal favorite is perhaps how they had to dial down the tempo speed to about 1/5 the original, LOL)

[MercyA]

1 hour ago, Pen said:

thank you

what about the next two questions?

You're welcome! I only noticed one other question in your post, and I didn't know the answer to that one.

It's enough for me to know we've had about 500,000 excess deaths directly associated with COVID in the past year. 

[Catwoman]

2 hours ago, Elizabeth86 said:

Well, I signed up y'all.  I go on Monday! At the site I am going to, there was only 1 less appointment than there was 2 days ago.  Well 2 less, now that I signed up.  😢

 

1 hour ago, Elizabeth86 said:

Thanks.  Luckily, my mom is coming along to keep my kids in the car, so she'll make me follow through just like I made her follow through.

 

Congratulations on making your decision!!!

[Catwoman]

42 minutes ago, Elizabeth86 said:

Thanks so much for your kindness.  This is what I needed. I mean, I was 100% set on making my parents take the vaccine (they wanted too, but I would have pressured if I would have needed to)  I cried actual tears when they got vaccinated. It would be selfish of me not too, but I just got scared for a second.  Good idea.  I think my mom and I will have a day out.  Thrift store shopping is our favorite, so I can see that being a future date followed by a nice lunch.

There’s no shame in getting scared and second guessing yourself — we have all done it at one time or another! I’m so glad your parents are already vaccinated, and that very soon, you and your mom will be able to have a fun day out together. 

Even if you’re feeling a little apprehensive now, I’ll bet you will be nothing but RELIEVED once you are vaccinated. 

YAY FOR YOU!!!!!!

[bolt.]

I was about to book my shot when I got to this info on the booking page:

"The Covishield / AstraZeneca vaccine has been shown to be 60 – 70% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 (compared to 95% for Pfizer and Moderna). All COVID-19 vaccines approved by Health Canada are highly effective at preventing severe outcomes like hospitalization and death. If you receive Covishield / AstraZeneca now, you will NOT receive the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine later this spring.

If you choose not to receive the Covishield / AstraZeneca vaccine, you will be eligible to receive a different available vaccine later this spring (supply permitting)."

And now *I* need a pep talk!

I want to be vaccinated.

I don't know whether I should be vaccinated as soon as I can (now) with this two-thirds efficacy vaccine -- knowing that I could wait for a more effective shot later. Or I could wait?

The health advice is to take whatever is available... but the 'disclaimer' style info I quoted just threw me for a loop. I don't just want protection from severe outcomes. I want to help halt the spread. Is it more helpful to take a two-thirds chance of taking myself out of a transmission chain 'sooner', or stay in the transmission chain for now and get 95% out of it 'later'?

[kbutton]

4 minutes ago, bolt. said:

The health advice is to take whatever is available... but the 'disclaimer' style info I quoted just threw me for a loop. I don't just want protection from severe outcomes. I want to help halt the spread. Is it more helpful to take a two-thirds chance of taking myself out of a transmission chain 'sooner', or stay in the transmission chain for now and get 95% out of it 'later'?

The big picture answer is to take it, I think. The individual benefit answer probably depends on how much risk you have now vs. later.

I determined ahead of time to take whatever I could get, but they were giving out Pfizer, so I ultimately didn't have to work through any disappointment. 

 

[Jean in Newcastle]

Good job, Elizabeth.  🙂

[wathe]

23 minutes ago, bolt. said:

I was about to book my shot when I got to this info on the booking page:

"The Covishield / AstraZeneca vaccine has been shown to be 60 – 70% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 (compared to 95% for Pfizer and Moderna). All COVID-19 vaccines approved by Health Canada are highly effective at preventing severe outcomes like hospitalization and death. If you receive Covishield / AstraZeneca now, you will NOT receive the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine later this spring.

If you choose not to receive the Covishield / AstraZeneca vaccine, you will be eligible to receive a different available vaccine later this spring (supply permitting)."

And now *I* need a pep talk!

I want to be vaccinated.

I don't know whether I should be vaccinated as soon as I can (now) with this two-thirds efficacy vaccine -- knowing that I could wait for a more effective shot later. Or I could wait?

The health advice is to take whatever is available... but the 'disclaimer' style info I quoted just threw me for a loop. I don't just want protection from severe outcomes. I want to help halt the spread. Is it more helpful to take a two-thirds chance of taking myself out of a transmission chain 'sooner', or stay in the transmission chain for now and get 95% out of it 'later'?

Yes, since the AZ age limit was lowered to 40 in many provinces, lots of us have decisions to make.

I think it depends on your age and exposure level. 

FWIW:  My late 40's family member will be getting his AZ today.  We are in a seriously ugly 3rd wave (and I think you said in another thread that your cases per population were really high too?) and he won't be eligible for mRNA vaccine until probably July.   Less good protection now is more  important than better protection later.  Less good protection now is MUCH better than no protection now.  By July, we will have a much higher proportion of the population vaxed, case rates will be lower, and we won't be in healthcare system overload - full protection won't matter as much then.

If he were in his 20's and never left the house, then maybe we'd wait (higher VIPIT risk, lower covid morbidity and mortality risks, less impressive risk/benefit), though that's a moot point really since AZ isn't available for that age group anyway, but just as an example.

Also FWIW, all my MD colleagues have come to the same conclusion wrt their 40's spouses.  All will get getting jabbed with AZ in the next day or two.

Edited April 20, 2021 by wathe

[Ottakee]

21 hours ago, SeaConquest said:

She asked for a pep talk and you gave her this anti-vax       ? As a healthcare worker, this boils my blood. What absolute nonsense! California has the lowest infection rate in the nation because our governor has done absolutely everything to get shots in arms asap. And it is working! Not like the sh*t show I am seeing here in Texas, where rates are rising again. 

Oh how I wish people could walk around a Covid ICU and see what the public doesn't see -- 40 year olds on ventilators, parents not able to say goodbye to their kids. It's always no big deal until it happens to you. Over half a million American lives lost and we still have to deal with these anti-vax Covid deniers. I just can't anymore. Take a look at Israel if you want to know if the vaccine is safe and effective. And, for the love of G-d, stop spewing antivax  on a thread that asked for a pep talk. Sheesh.

 

THIS.  A good friend of mine is an ICU doctor.  She put out a plea again yesterday to get people vaccinated.  She said she has had ZERO Admissions and ZERO deaths from covid from people that are fully vaccinated.  She said that 3-5% of the vaccinated people that do get covid are only mildly ill.  

She has stories of people in their 40s and 50s struggling to breath and walk across the room.

[bibiche]

15 hours ago, Pen said:

 

 I am still a very good person with a very kind heart

not having the same opinion as you does not change that

 

 

Good people with very kind hearts don’t spread misinformation that can literally cost lives. It’s not a matter of opinion.

[Catwoman]

21 minutes ago, bolt. said:

I was about to book my shot when I got to this info on the booking page:

"The Covishield / AstraZeneca vaccine has been shown to be 60 – 70% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 (compared to 95% for Pfizer and Moderna). All COVID-19 vaccines approved by Health Canada are highly effective at preventing severe outcomes like hospitalization and death. If you receive Covishield / AstraZeneca now, you will NOT receive the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine later this spring.

If you choose not to receive the Covishield / AstraZeneca vaccine, you will be eligible to receive a different available vaccine later this spring (supply permitting)."

And now *I* need a pep talk!

I want to be vaccinated.

I don't know whether I should be vaccinated as soon as I can (now) with this two-thirds efficacy vaccine -- knowing that I could wait for a more effective shot later. Or I could wait?

The health advice is to take whatever is available... but the 'disclaimer' style info I quoted just threw me for a loop. I don't just want protection from severe outcomes. I want to help halt the spread. Is it more helpful to take a two-thirds chance of taking myself out of a transmission chain 'sooner', or stay in the transmission chain for now and get 95% out of it 'later'?

I would get it now.

If it could be months before you can get one of the other vaccines, that’s a lot of time for you to potentially contract Covid. 

[wathe]

2 minutes ago, Ottakee said:

THIS.  A good friend of mine is an ICU doctor.  She put out a plea again yesterday to get people vaccinated.  She said she has had ZERO Admissions and ZERO deaths from covid from people that are fully vaccinated.  She said that 3-5% of the vaccinated people that do get covid are only mildly ill.  

She has stories of people in their 40s and 50s struggling to breath and walk across the room.

I can raise her one and tell the same stories about people in their 20's.  Seriously, covid is no joke.

OP, congrats again on your decision.

 

[Catwoman]

1 minute ago, bibiche said:

Good people with very kind hearts don’t spread misinformation that can literally cost lives. It’s not a matter of opinion. You’re either terribly misguided or not a good person. 

I’m voting “terribly misguided.”

At the beginning of this pandemic, as well as for years before then, @Pen has always gone out of her way to try to help people, especially when it came to things like vitamins and supplements, but also just on general personal topics and educational stuff. And even though we haven’t always agreed on every issue, I always felt that her heart was in the right place and I respected her opinions.

I don’t know what happened to make her change so much, but even though I am shocked that she has fallen prey to conspiracy theories, I think she is still trying to help people in her own way. 

I don’t see any intentional malice in her posts, although I absolutely agree with you that the information she is sharing is very dangerous and harmful. That’s why I brought up the thing about Biden’s ears in this thread — it wasn’t a change of topic and it wasn’t to be snarky; it was just to add some context to the information she was posting, to let unfamiliar readers know where she was coming from in terms of her worldview so they could interpret her posts accordingly.

 

[Pam in CT]

@bolt.  that is a hard and frustrating choice, and I'm sorry you're facing it.

 

If it were me, I would weigh

• current cases / positivity in my surrounding area
• degree of COVID-cautiousness (both policy and compliance with it) in my immediate area and social circle
• the ability (employment circumstances, schooling circumstances, degree of mental health / isolation / weariness) of my personal household to remain buttoned down
• complicating medical conditions of people in my household
• whether or not there are elders in my circle who really need to resume contact

To put it into algorithmic terms, If three or more of those indicators are going in the "wrong" direction -- pointing towards a real imperative to reduce contraction and/or transmission risk NOW -- I would take the less-desirable vaccine now, move toward Cautious Re-Entry now, and maybe re-up with one of the mRNAs in 6-18 months.

If regional cases were low, AND community measures were high, AND my household were able to endure a few more months, AND I weren't responsible for elders... I'd probably try, myself, to endure a little longer so as to get my preferred vaccine.  But there are definitely differences, both external and internal, between different individuals' capacity to keep on hunkering down.

And better is better.  There's nothing noble in holding out for Perfect.  This is the real world; there is no such thing as perfect, only different degrees and dimensions of imperfect.

 

[Pen]

The original poster requested to stay on the topic of giving her pep.
 

I wish to respect that.

 If any of you wish to discuss me could you please start a completely separate thread for that  - and where I can reply if I choose without violating @Elizabeth86 ‘s request. 

 

[wathe]

12 minutes ago, Pam in CT said:

 

And better is better.  There's nothing noble in holding out for Perfect.  This is the real world; there is no such thing as perfect, only different degrees and dimensions of imperfect.

 

I agree with Pam's entire post, but the bolded sums it up.

The other thing to consider is potential exposure risk that's outside our control, like an unexpected non-covid medical emergency or other situational emergency or urgency (critical house repair, emergency travel).   Partial protection now gives some insurance against that (ETA esp. now while cases are raging).

ETA, I forgot the pep talk part.  Yay OP!

Edited April 20, 2021 by wathe

[rebcoola]

Congrats you got this.  I always wanted the vaccine but their was definitely a moment of fear when the time came.  I could hear all my anti vac friends voices in my head.  But once I did it I felt nothing but euphoric. 

[Rosie_0801]

Keep this on topic, please, or I'll shut the thread down.

[VickiMNE]

3 hours ago, bolt. said:

And now *I* need a pep talk!

I want to be vaccinated.

Do it!  

Where we live, our options (not that we got to actually choose but were amongst the ones to be purchased/gifted to the country) were AZ, Sputnik V, and the Sino one.  We were very relieved when our turn came, that we got our #1 choice:  AZ!    (There are quality issues with Sputnik and the Sino one)

70% protection is GOOD.  Near 100% prevention of severe illness and hospitalization?  Woohoo!  The UK, which has relied heavily on AZ, is greatly improving!  The more people who take the vax, the less chance of anyone catching Covid, spreading it, and allowing for more variants.  It's a win-win.

 

Edited April 20, 2021 by VickiMNE

[bolt.]

Thanks guys. I'm booked for next Tuesday.

[Catwoman]

2 minutes ago, bolt. said:

Thanks guys. I'm booked for next Tuesday.

YAY!!!

[mommyoffive]

37 minutes ago, bolt. said:

Thanks guys. I'm booked for next Tuesday.

Awesome!  So exciting!!  

[wathe]

@bolt.

I don't know if you've seen this University of Cambridge risk/benefit decision aid .  I found it really helpful for putting the risk/benefit in perspective.

[SeaConquest]

My post was edited for saying the phrase "anti-vax nonsense" while I am working in an ICU in a hospital filled with Covid patients at this very moment? Seriously? Talk about tone policing. It is absolute nonsense. Nothing she said (in a post that asked for a pep talk) was factual and I have no clue why anyone would censor my post for calling that out. We have really gone off the deep end as a nation if someone 5 weeks away from being an ICU nurse is censored, but anti-vax nonsense is allowed to run amok. 

[SeaConquest]

And my supposedly "Covid-free" ICU had two false negatives this week (quick test said negative, they showed symptoms, and PCR later came back positive) that had to be transferred to the Covid wing. So, I am exposed here right and left because Covid is everywhere. I have a diabetic patient right now in his 20s that came in in DKA and he refuses to get a Covid shot. Why? Likely because he has been exposed to the same anti-science nonsense that is being spewed all across this nation. If this kid gets Covid as a T1 diabetic, he is likely to get very very sick -- perhaps even die -- but he is refusing the vaccine. Breaks my heart. People's lives are being needlessly lost. 20 year old kids like him. Gone. 

Edited April 21, 2021 by SeaConquest

[Catwoman]

2 hours ago, SeaConquest said:

My post was edited for saying the phrase "anti-vax nonsense" while I am working in an ICU in a hospital filled with Covid patients at this very moment? Seriously? Talk about tone policing. It is absolute nonsense. Nothing she said (in a post that asked for a pep talk) was factual and I have no clue why anyone would censor my post for calling that out. We have really gone off the deep end as a nation if someone 5 weeks away from being an ICU nurse is censored, but anti-vax nonsense is allowed to run amok. 

Are you saying that your post in this thread was censored/edited without your consent and there is no note from a moderator on the post to say it had been edited and no information as to why it was done? Did you get any kind of warning?

 I haven’t been around for a while until very recently, but it always used to seem like the mods would post a little comment within the same post that they’d edited, even if it was just to say, “knock it off” or something like that, so readers would know it had been changed. I mean, maybe that didn’t always happen and I just never realized that I had been reading edited posts, but my impression was that there was some indication — and I know this isn’t my decision to make, but I think there should be a notation when anyone other than the original author edits a post. After all, we can’t even fix a typo in our own posts without it being noted underneath the text!

That said, I’m so sorry you are on the front lines of all of this and I hate knowing that dedicated health care workers like you and many other boardies are being exposed to Covid every day. I hope you can stay healthy — both mentally and physically, because you must feel so frustrated and exhausted.

Sending lots of hugs.

 

[Ottakee]

4 hours ago, SeaConquest said:

And my supposedly "Covid-free" ICU had two false negatives this week (quick test said negative, they showed symptoms, and PCR later came back positive) that had to be transferred to the Covid wing. So, I am exposed here right and left because Covid is everywhere. I have a diabetic patient right now in his 20s that came in in DKA and he refuses to get a Covid shot. Why? Likely because he has been exposed to the same anti-science nonsense that is being spewed all across this nation. If this kid gets Covid as a T1 diabetic, he is likely to get very very sick -- perhaps even die -- but he is refusing the vaccine. Breaks my heart. People's lives are being needlessly lost. 20 year old kids like him. Gone. 

This is exactly the same thing my friend who is a hospitalist (ICU doc in vivid wing) is seeing all the time.  It is saddening and maddening for her.   She posted the other day that she had zero patients in her ICU who were fully vaccinated.

[kiwik]

On 4/20/2021 at 7:46 AM, ktgrok said:

This is false. Verifiably, flat out false. On par with "the moon landing was faked" and "the earth is flat" false. 

As for boosters, we don't KNOW how often anyone will need boosters yet. It might be annually. It might not. We will be given that info when it is available - and there is NO WAY TO KNOW until antibodies start wearing off. They haven't done that yet. No one is hiding info on that - there just isn't info to give yet - other than at 6 months, they are working well and don't need a booster. 

 

I wish it was easily treatable but 3 million dead says otherwise.

[happi duck]

5 hours ago, SeaConquest said:

My post was edited for saying the phrase "anti-vax nonsense" while I am working in an ICU in a hospital filled with Covid patients at this very moment? Seriously? Talk about tone policing. It is absolute nonsense. Nothing she said (in a post that asked for a pep talk) was factual and I have no clue why anyone would censor my post for calling that out. We have really gone off the deep end as a nation if someone 5 weeks away from being an ICU nurse is censored, but anti-vax nonsense is allowed to run amok. 

I'm upset that this happened!

You certainly are a primary source of information!  (hope I have that term right). A pep talk from someone on the front line versus someone who wouldn't even answer a question about their antivax post?  No contest!

These covid discussions have been a source of vital information.