Booster for teens wwyd?

[sbgrace]

My teens are about 9 months out from Pfizer.

They have a very important event coming up in July. 

Now that boosters have opened for their age, I'm not sure what to do!

Do I booster them now and hope it will still be helpful in July (and/or that they will be able to do another vaccine if needed--they will be 18 by then) or do I advise them to wait a few months so we're a little closer to July? 

I'm leaning toward now. But I know they would much rather get COVID now than miss that July event.  

[HomeAgain]

That's a hard one.

I'd lean toward doing it now, but that's because when I look back over numbers in my area, the summer is drastically different than the winter.  We're in an uptick now due to being inside so much.  Both Julys have been as low as possible, due to so much going on outside and spread out.  I'd rather get the extra protection now, see if a booster is needed in the summer, than skip now to take the chance.

[Miss Tick]

Don't you think that in 6 more months the CDC will approve another booster if they think it is warranted? My card still has an open space or two ...

[kristin0713]

My opinion is different than a lot of people on this board. We are all fully vaxxed, but I'm not big on the boosters right now. We are waiting until...I don't know when. What if they come out with another booster that actually targets the newer variants? A lot could change between now and July. Personally, I'm not getting a booster now, and then ANOTHER one. My antibodies were high in August. I'm planning to get them tested again in January or February and then go from there. If they drop off, I'll consider a booster sooner. But I can tell you that I am not just going to keep getting booster after booster and especially not for my low-risk teens. 

[KSera]

If omicron takes over in the US, and every indication is that it will, and I expect that’s likely to happen by the end of January, it doesn’t appear that two doses does anything to prevent infection with omicron. It’s still expected to be protective against severe illness, but the most recent numbers I’m seeing look super poor for two shots versus omicron neutralizing the virus. Three looks much, much better, though not as good as they were with Delta. That said, currently Delta is still predominant and three shots works very well against disease with Delta, so that alone would be reason for me. 

Edited December 12, 2021 by KSera
Clarifying

[Corraleno]

Considering that the most recent data out of Israel shows that 2 doses of Pfizer have waned so much in 5-6 months that they offer no protection at all against omicron, I'd do boosters ASAP. If it turns out that protection from the booster also wanes in 5-6 months, they should be able to get another one (perhaps a better targeted one) before July.

[prairiewindmomma]

21 minutes ago, KSera said:

If omicron takes over in the US, and every indication is that it will, and I expect that’s likely to happen by the end of January, it doesn’t appear that two doses does anything to prevent infection with omicron. It’s still expected to be protective against severe illness, but the most recent numbers I’m seeing look super poor for two shots versus omicron neutralizing the virus. Three looks much, much better, though not as good as they were with Delta. That said, currently Delta is still predominant and three shots works very well against disease with Delta, so that alone would be reason for me. 

This is my thinking also.

My gut feeling has been all along that covid is going to continue to mutate, just like influenza does, and we're likely to be looking at yearly boosters from here on out.  I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think we're done. 

Like KSera, I'm greatly concerned about the lack of protection one has 6 months after that second dose. I think we're a handful of weeks away from omicron becoming dominant here.  I also am greatly encouraged by Pfizer's third dose numbers.  If you can get a shot in arms now, I'd go for it, especially as it takes a couple of weeks to take effect. 

 

[kristin0713]

23 minutes ago, KSera said:

omicron neutralizing the virus

Is it, though? I’m asking genuinely, not being combative. 

[Spryte]

I would booster now, based on CDC advice, and depend on them to advise in June or July if another is needed then.

YMMV.

My 17 yr old was 8 mos out today, exactly, and got his booster. I’m glad, based on waning immunity and omicron.

Edited December 12, 2021 by Spryte

[Starr]

I'm going with booster now. Keep as healthy as you can as we go. There's no way to second guess what things will be like later.

[desertflower]

I would do it now because of omicron.  It's starting to take over.  And who knows what will happen in another six months.  By the time they will have a booster for Omicron and your kids are eligible for it, that could be another six months.  I think it takes a little over three months just to make the vaccine for omicron, then it goes to the elderly and front line workers (which it should) and then hopefully it's open for all.  But who knows.

[Syllieann]

Booster now.  Omicron is a rfn problem.  Worry about July in June.  Delta will probably be gone and there will probably be another booster.  If not, worst case scenario, they get an under the radar booster in June.

[KSera]

38 minutes ago, kristin0713 said:

Is it, though? I’m asking genuinely, not being combative. 

I'm trying to decide what your question is, because you quoted just part of the sentence. Do you mean does the data show that two doses of Pfizer is ineffective at neutralizing omicron? So far, that's what it's looking like. First we had the studies showing dramatic drop in neutralizing antibodies with two doses (with three doses having much better numbers), and now Israel has new serology data out showing that in their sample, the antibodies in the blood of people who had had two Pfizer doses was unable to to neturalize omicron. However, it was able to do so in the majority of those with three doses. Still, there's good reason to be optimistic that two doses will be very protective against severe protection (though there's no way I would trust it for anyone in the over 65 age group or with other major risk factors). I keep hearing doctors saying they have no one in their ICU with omicron who has been vaccinated. That is encouraging for the vaccines protecting most people from severe illness (again, I expect that very at risk people will continue to be at risk with just two shots).

[gardenmom5]

Dudeling had chest pain after his 2nd dose.  I was ready to take him to the ER. Nope. not doing a booster for him.

[Farrar]

We're doing it. I get the idea of protecting a future moment that's important, but with omicron so transmissible and the teens not really willing to limit activity, we're going on Monday and hoping they give it to them. It's absolutely impossible to get an appointment for a booster in a reasonable time frame, but the city here holds massive vaccine clinics that rove around the city and pop up in new places every day. There's nearly always one in walking distance. They haven't been clear about whether they're doing the 16/17's yet, so we're just showing up Monday.

[madteaparty]

3 hours ago, kristin0713 said:

My opinion is different than a lot of people on this board. We are all fully vaxxed, but I'm not big on the boosters right now. We are waiting until...I don't know when. What if they come out with another booster that actually targets the newer variants? A lot could change between now and July. Personally, I'm not getting a booster now, and then ANOTHER one. My antibodies were high in August. I'm planning to get them tested again in January or February and then go from there. If they drop off, I'll consider a booster sooner. But I can tell you that I am not just going to keep getting booster after booster and especially not for my low-risk teens. 

Same. I’m actually forbidding my vaccinated teen to get a booster. But he turns 18 soon.

dH will get a booster. My daughter will not be vaccinated for a long while yet. 

[Moonhawk]

3 hours ago, kristin0713 said:

...My antibodies were high in August. I'm planning to get them tested again in January or February and then go from there. If they drop off, I'll consider a booster sooner. But I can tell you that I am not just going to keep getting booster after booster and especially not for my low-risk teens. 

May I ask what "high" antibodies are? As in, what number are we saying, "Yeah, that's good" or "Hmm, need to booster it up." I haven't seen too many numbers associated with the words and my Googling doesn't make me confident I understand what numbers are acceptable.

[Sneezyone]

DH and I are already boosted and DD will get hers over Christmas break if allowed. She’s a grocery store cashier  and basketball cheerleader (small gym, big crowds, only half masked) so very public-facing.

[Pawz4me]

6 hours ago, Moonhawk said:

May I ask what "high" antibodies are? As in, what number are we saying, "Yeah, that's good" or "Hmm, need to booster it up." I haven't seen too many numbers associated with the words and my Googling doesn't make me confident I understand what numbers are acceptable.

I'm interested in that, too. My understanding is that nobody really knows. And that holds true for antibodies to anything, not just a very new illness. I have my dog titered for a couple of viruses that have been studied for many, many decades (he's had reactions to both vaccines). It's a costly test that gets sent off to a university vet school lab. And the report still comes back with verbiage along the lines of "we really don't know, this is just our best guess." For my dog, for a couple of illnesses he's at very, very low risk for due to our lifestyle, I'm willing to take the chance and rely on the "we're not sure" antibody report. I personally wouldn't rely on it for a person during a pandemic. Absolutely no way. 

As far as booster now or not, FWIW -- I'm immune compromised and had a third dose in August. On MyChart it lists me as due for a booster in February, six months after that third dose. So somebody is already assuming those of use who are immune compromised will need at least four jabs. I don't recall hearing about that from the CDC/FDA, but I guess maybe it's a thing for it to be in my record. And I'm okay with that. And I figure if somebody's already counting on a fourth jab for immune compromised people the same will be offered/recommended for everyone. If I had teens now I'd encourage them to get boosted now (mine are in their early 20's and have already received their boosters). I'm a believer in dealing with the trouble in front of you first, then worrying about what trouble you might have down the road. Good luck with the decision.

[kristin0713]

8 hours ago, KSera said:

I'm trying to decide what your question is, because you quoted just part of the sentence. Do you mean does the data show that two doses of Pfizer is ineffective at neutralizing omicron? So far, that's what it's looking like. First we had the studies showing dramatic drop in neutralizing antibodies with two doses (with three doses having much better numbers), and now Israel has new serology data out showing that in their sample, the antibodies in the blood of people who had had two Pfizer doses was unable to to neturalize omicron. However, it was able to do so in the majority of those with three doses. Still, there's good reason to be optimistic that two doses will be very protective against severe protection (though there's no way I would trust it for anyone in the over 65 age group or with other major risk factors). I keep hearing doctors saying they have no one in their ICU with omicron who has been vaccinated. That is encouraging for the vaccines protecting most people from severe illness (again, I expect that very at risk people will continue to be at risk with just two shots).

My question is, does a third dose actually neutralize omicron. Is there any data on that? Nobody I know who has had covid has been told what variant they have. They told my mom over the summer that there was no way to tell her if it was delta. I’m skeptical at this point that we are getting accurate information. And do they even know. I’m PO’d that there are all these breakthrough cases and variants and we really don’t know if boosters will help. And they have not updated the vaccine to account for the variants. Why not?? 

7 hours ago, Moonhawk said:

May I ask what "high" antibodies are? As in, what number are we saying, "Yeah, that's good" or "Hmm, need to booster it up." I haven't seen too many numbers associated with the words and my Googling doesn't make me confident I understand what numbers are acceptable.

Re: antibodies, mine were over 100. Is that high enough? I don’t know. Yet another piece of the puzzle that would make a huge difference in helping people know if they are protected or not, from vaccine immunity or natural immunity. China was requiring people to show proof of antibodies over 50 for travel. My family was exposed to another outbreak in October. So a household member in July, then an outbreak at church in October. We have not gotten sick. With the way viruses work in general, my guess is that these exposures have been “natural” boosters of sorts. To be clear, we did not go looking for them or knowingly get exposed. 

Don’t misunderstand- I am not anti-vax. I’m glad we all got vaccinated. I believe the benefit was worth the risk and I believe that our vaccines have protected us so far. But to jump on this booster train, I’m not there yet. 

[kristin0713]

8 hours ago, KSera said:

I keep hearing doctors saying they have no one in their ICU with omicron who has been vaccinated

This could also mean that omicron is resulting in less severe illness. 

[Mrs Tiggywinkle]

Cornell university is 100% vaccinated and reported yesterday that several new cases, their largest amount yet, and announced that some are the Omicron variant.  Fortunately it sounds like nobody actually is very sick, more like a mild cold.  Interestingly none of the transmission was from on campus events or classes where everyone is masked, but off campus and in-dorm parties and gatherings.

[MEmama]

Get them boosted now. It’s not even a question, really.

You're concerned about an event that (might, let’s be honest) take place in 7 months. Do you really want your kids essentially defenseless against covid all winter and half way through summer for something that might not even happen? If we've learned anything in these covid times it’s that we have to stay vigilant and flexible, and that nothing is guaranteed. That’s not how viruses work, it’s not how science work, and explanations for that should be obvious on an education board.

Get them boosted now, so they’ll be alive in July. 
 

Sorry to blunt. I’ll remove if you wanted a JAWM.

[Ausmumof3]

49 minutes ago, kristin0713 said:

My question is, does a third dose actually neutralize omicron. Is there any data on that? Nobody I know who has had covid has been told what variant they have. They told my mom over the summer that there was no way to tell her if it was delta. I’m skeptical at this point that we are getting accurate information. And do they even know. I’m PO’d that there are all these breakthrough cases and variants and we really don’t know if boosters will help. And they have not updated the vaccine to account for the variants. Why not?? 

Re: antibodies, mine were over 100. Is that high enough? I don’t know. Yet another piece of the puzzle that would make a huge difference in helping people know if they are protected or not, from vaccine immunity or natural immunity. China was requiring people to show proof of antibodies over 50 for travel. My family was exposed to another outbreak in October. So a household member in July, then an outbreak at church in October. We have not gotten sick. With the way viruses work in general, my guess is that these exposures have been “natural” boosters of sorts. To be clear, we did not go looking for them or knowingly get exposed. 

Don’t misunderstand- I am not anti-vax. I’m glad we all got vaccinated. I believe the benefit was worth the risk and I believe that our vaccines have protected us so far. But to jump on this booster train, I’m not there yet. 

There is a preliminary study from Israel showing 75pc with a third dose. The explanation I’ve seen is that vaccines produce a range of different antibodies.  Many of those have been effective against previous variants but with this newest variant only a couple of the types of antibodies are actually working so you need them at a really high level to work.  Probably someone else can explain that better or correct if it’s not quite right.

At this stage Pfizer is saying they will have an update in 100 days, so in relation to the original question I would boost now and assume that there will be a variant specific one by July.

Some public health people in Aus are saying it should never have been a two dose vaccine - it always should have been three doses but we didn’t study it for long enough to figure out maximum effectiveness.

[ktgrok]

Booster them. It looks like this is a vaccine that needs 3 doses, similar to Hep B and a lot of other vaccines. If that turns out to be right than immunity will stay strong. If not, and worst case you need a booster every 6 months they will STILL be eligible for another booster in June if they got one now, which would give great protection for July. If you wait a bit they will be say, 4-5 months from booster at the time of big event and potentially not eligible for another booster and with more waning immunity. 

And watching my sister deal with long covid...you don't want one of them dealing with that. 

[Carrie12345]

I just pushed my 18yo to get her booster and will take my 14yo when approved. July is far away, has already had 2 years of super low transmission and, in my climate at least, there’s still a long winter ahead. We (here) have already hit record numbers these past 2 days.  AND we just saw our 19yo struggle with covid. She had not gotten her booster.

We’ve been having a lot of discussion in our family these past few days about how it isn’t just about “Oh, it’s not so bad if you’re regular vaccinated”*. For us, it’s also about not continuing to swirl it around and feed future variants. This winter will have a big impact on what summer looks like.

*Yeah, we know it’s generally ‘not so bad’ for most people. But not all people are most people.

[catz]

I am boostering my teen tomorrow.  Unless you all can live like a shut in, the chance for exposure is high for that amount of time.  My teen and young adult have had multiple known exposures and have not had covid.  Delta is still a HUGE problem where we are.  So this may not be ideal for omicron and omicron may prove to be milder etc.  But I personally still have Delta on the brain.  While this is still a pandemic, we're likely to be exposed multiple times.  I'd personally rather get my exposures through booster.  The data is pretty clear.  We will see on omicron.

If I had a kid that had chest pain with the vaccine I would be following up with a cardiologist.  Or had any possible severe reaction that might have us decide not to continue the series.  I had a nephew that had covid who had pretty severe heart and artery inflammation and was hospitalized for 6 days with MIS and pneumonia.  He was following up with a cardiologist constantly for months and couldn't do his regular sports and activities.  I'd want to know one way or another what the problem was and what follow up should be and how much we should be avoiding covid.  That kid was later successfully vaccinated with close supervision without issue.

[Ausmumof3]

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-study-finds-pfizer-covid-19-booster-protects-against-omicron-2021-12-11/
 

link to an article about the study I referenced above in case you want to check into it.

[Dmmetler]

Boosting now. L lives in a college dorm, and needs the protection. I literally had an appointment made before L even got on the bus to come home, because it was #1 on our winter break to do list. If we need to boost again for summer, we'll do that. 

[KSera]

3 hours ago, kristin0713 said:

My question is, does a third dose actually neutralize omicron. Is there any data on that? Nobody I know who has had covid has been told what variant they have. They told my mom over the summer that there was no way to tell her if it was delta. I’m skeptical at this point that we are getting accurate information. And do they even know. I’m PO’d that there are all these breakthrough cases and variants and we really don’t know if boosters will help. And they have not updated the vaccine to account for the variants. Why not?? 

Ausmum answered the first part of the question. As far as being skeptical because nobody you know was told what variant, they don’t run typing on everyone, but they do for the people they are studying to learn about the variant. Israel is one of the places collecting a lot of data, which is why we have been tending to get a lot of early info on each variant and vaccine from Israel.  
 

I’m also PO’d about all the breakthroughs and variants. Sucks. We’ve always know the variants would keep coming as long as transmission rates remain high, which they have. If somehow we could have vaccinated the entire world by now (and everyone participated), the situation would be very different. 
 

Your last question about why haven’t they updated the vaccine yet, they are in the process of doing that. They can make the change pretty quickly (much faster than they could in the past with other types of vaccines), and then they have to test it against omicron to make sure it really does work better, and then they have to manufacture enough. Pfizer has said they have already started, and they need 100 days to make, test and manufacture. They did the same for two previous variants, including delta, but then it was found the existing vaccines were protective enough that the modified ones weren’t needed. There’s a benefit to sticking with the more general vaccine, if it still works. Omicron is looking like the game changer on that one perhaps, though. 

3 hours ago, kristin0713 said:

This could also mean that omicron is resulting in less severe illness. 

The point they were making was that they have unvaccinated patients in ICU with omicron, but not any vaccinated ones. Indicating the vaccines are continuing to be protective against severe disease for most people. 

3 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

 

Some public health people in Aus are saying it should never have been a two dose vaccine - it always should have been three doses but we didn’t study it for long enough to figure out maximum effectiveness.

I have heard that from many, including much earlier in the process. It’s pretty typical that two shots given close together doesn’t provide immunity that endures the way more widely spaced doses do. But, in the middle of a pandemic, we didn’t have the luxury of putting six months between doses. Two doses close together, followed by a third at 6 months would match the typical schedule for several other standard vaccines. 

[SKL]

Personally I would do the boosters if my kids were old enough, in time that the effects could make the upcoming holidays safer for at-risk contacts.  However, I admit that this might not have the best long-term results, depending on your risk profile.

[Innisfree]

29 minutes ago, Dmmetler said:

Boosting now. L lives in a college dorm, and needs the protection. I literally had an appointment made before L even got on the bus to come home, because it was #1 on our winter break to do list. If we need to boost again for summer, we'll do that. 

Ditto this. One teen got a booster yesterday, other is under 18, so the booster just got approved and scheduling it is one of my top priorities today. We'll get whatever updated boosters become available when they're available.

[strawberries]

I made DS17 a booster appointment for this Friday afternoon. I would have preferred to do it earlier, but he has finals all this week and doesn't want to risk missing any with post-vax fever (he ran a low one after initial doses). He is 8 months out from his second dose. July is too far away and the variant situation changes too frequently for summer plans to be part of our decision making process right now. The situation in front of us is rising cases, relatives wanting to gather for holidays, and the memory of a really bad spike in our area last winter - oh, and the school board currently making noises about removing the mask mandate after Christmas break.  We would not be comfortable waiting. 

[Ditto]

I would definitely get the 3rd dose now.

I was able to schedule my teen for her 3rd shot!   She gets it Wednesday afternoon, and it can't come quickly enough for me.  She was every bit as excited as I was which I find very cool.  

[MEmama]

DS is coming home next week (!!!!!) and I’ve scheduled his booster for early the following week. He can’t get it sooner because he will still have one online exam to take from here, and can’t risk any side effect ickiness. I’m so thankful I found him an appointment nearby. 

[KSera]

I’m envious of those of you who are able to find appointments for boosters! My loved one I’m most concerned about we have not been able to find an appointment without a long wait. It’s still a couple weeks out, and we scheduled a couple weeks ago.  (Although, I guess the flip side is that it’s good so many are booking boosters where I am.) I will feel much better when it’s finally done though and in the meantime will be worried they will get it before that appointment comes. 

[Corraleno]

7 hours ago, kristin0713 said:

Nobody I know who has had covid has been told what variant they have. They told my mom over the summer that there was no way to tell her if it was delta. I’m skeptical at this point that we are getting accurate information. 

The point of genotype testing is to track the spread of variants; it's largely irrelevant to treatment so it's not a routine test. It's a separate process from PCR testing, and it's expensive, so they only genotype a small sample of PCR tests for epidemiological purposes. Omicron has mutations that cause an unusual pattern on PCR tests (called an "S dropout") and it was originally thought this might be a good way to track it without having to send samples off for actual genotyping, but then they found out that there is an omicron strain that does not have the S dropout, so unfortunately genotyping is necessary to track it.
 

7 hours ago, kristin0713 said:

I’m PO’d that there are all these breakthrough cases and variants and we really don’t know if boosters will help. 

We know that boosters definitely increase neutralizing antibodies, we have data from manufacturers' trials as well from independent studies in the UK and Israel. Boosters are extremely effective against delta, and are partially effective against omicron. And the Israeli data show that after 5-6 months, 2 shots of Pfizer with no booster offers zero protection against omicron.
 

7 hours ago, kristin0713 said:

And they have not updated the vaccine to account for the variants. Why not?? 

Both Pfizer and Moderna trialed boosters that were specifically targeted to delta and found that boosting with the original vaccine was just as effective as boosting with a delta-specific vaccine. And since delta isn't the only variant circulating, the consensus was that the original vaccine would likely provide better protection against other variants, as well as new variants that may evolve from some of the non-delta strains. 

The reason that omicron may require a specifically targeted booster is that it has acquired far more mutations than any of the other variants, and it seems to have evolved separately from the other circulating strains, so it's not like an offshoot of beta or delta or something. It's very very different, and vaccine manufacturers are now working on an omicron-specific shot.
 

7 hours ago, kristin0713 said:

Re: antibodies, mine were over 100. Is that high enough? I don’t know. Yet another piece of the puzzle that would make a huge difference in helping people know if they are protected or not, from vaccine immunity or natural immunity. 

You'd need to know the units to make sense of that  — 100 what? Depending on which vaccine you had and when you had the 2nd shot, the antibodies you had several months ago could have waned to virtually nothing by now. You may still have protection against severe disease from T and B cells, but that's harder to assess. A UK study recently published in the Lancet compared the effect of different boosters on people who had been vaccinated with either AZ or Pfizer more than 2.5 months prior, and found that antibody levels increased 1000% in people who were boosted with Pfizer or Moderna, with Moderna giving a stronger boost. As an example, a Moderna booster increased antispike IgG (measured in ELISA units/mL) from 3029 in unboosted Pfizer recipients to 33,768, and increased Delta-neutralizing antibodies (measured via pseudotype virus PNA assay) from 41.6 to 508.7.

 

Edited December 12, 2021 by Corraleno

[Lanny]

Because this involves Pfizer/BioNTech I suggest that they get their boosters now.  Here in Colombia the government purchased five (5) different COVID vaccines. They've received about 19 million of the Pfizer/BioNTech so far. At this time, the only vaccine that is administered to pregnant women is the Pfizer/BioNetch and only pregnant women are getting Pfizer/BioNTech now.  That suggests to me that it is milder and safer than the other 4 vaccines.

[73349]

4 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

We’ve been having a lot of discussion in our family these past few days about how it isn’t just about “Oh, it’s not so bad if you’re regular vaccinated”*. For us, it’s also about not continuing to swirl it around and feed future variants. This winter will have a big impact on what summer looks like.

*Yeah, we know it’s generally ‘not so bad’ for most people. But not all people are most people.

QFT. 👍

Friendly reminder that a "mild" case can be permanently injurious, as long as it falls short of hospital-worthy.

If DS were eligible, he would be getting the booster, because he's 6 months out and it looks like protection crashes alarmingly at that point. Meanwhile, he wears N95s & we continue to avoid most indoor stuff. If 14-15s aren't approved for the booster by March, he is once again going to be unable to attend scout camp in July. *sigh*

[Loowit]

My 16 year old will be getting his Friday.  I could have gotten it same day I made the appointment, but he had a lot of fatigue after he other shots for several days and he did want to miss his last chemistry class before break. I am guessing there will be another booster shot by next summer if it is needed for waning immunity and since DS has asthma and has been hospitalized previously for lung problems with the flu and croup, It think it is important to get all the shots he is eligible for.

My 18 year old is opting not to get boostered at this time.  He would get it if I asked him to; he isn't opposed really.  He just doesn't see the need to get one at this time, and he would need to talk to his recruiter before getting it anyway.  He will be leaving for boot camp in a month or two and will get vaccinations then.  They already checked his covid vaccine status at MEPS and said he was good.

[Kanin]

5 hours ago, Mrs Tiggywinkle said:

Cornell university is 100% vaccinated and reported yesterday that several new cases, their largest amount yet, and announced that some are the Omicron variant.  Fortunately it sounds like nobody actually is very sick, more like a mild cold.  Interestingly none of the transmission was from on campus events or classes where everyone is masked, but off campus and in-dorm parties and gatherings.

My biggest prayer right now is that omicron really ends up being milder than delta. 

[edelweiss]

My daughters (18 and 21) have already gotten their boosters. Their second shots were in April, so they were eligible. The second that the announcement came out opening the boosters to everyone, I made their appointments.  They were boosted the day after Thanksgiving.

They are both going to Europe in May, but I didn't hesitate to boost them now. I have no way of knowing how things are going to look several months down the line, so I am just following the best medical advice being given now. We will deal with whatever else comes this spring.

[Carrie12345]

1 hour ago, KSera said:

I’m envious of those of you who are able to find appointments for boosters! My loved one I’m most concerned about we have not been able to find an appointment without a long wait. It’s still a couple weeks out, and we scheduled a couple weeks ago.  (Although, I guess the flip side is that it’s good so many are booking boosters where I am.) I will feel much better when it’s finally done though and in the meantime will be worried they will get it before that appointment comes. 

I’m really sorry. 
I’m kind of semi-rural over here, but still have at least 10 CVS locations within a 30-45 minute drive. They’ve been pretty easy to get into. Dd had to wait a day for the specific location and timeframe she needed, but I was able to be a walk in at a different location while ds got his second shot. 
There doesn’t seem to be much *consistency between locations here, but enough variation that we can find something, somewhere. 

[vonfirmath]

4 hours ago, KSera said:

I’m envious of those of you who are able to find appointments for boosters! My loved one I’m most concerned about we have not been able to find an appointment without a long wait. It’s still a couple weeks out, and we scheduled a couple weeks ago.  (Although, I guess the flip side is that it’s good so many are booking boosters where I am.) I will feel much better when it’s finally done though and in the meantime will be worried they will get it before that appointment comes. 

Yeah I just tried to find a booster and I can't get an appointment with my doctor so I have to decide whether to go out of practice.

[Selkie]

4 hours ago, KSera said:

I’m envious of those of you who are able to find appointments for boosters! My loved one I’m most concerned about we have not been able to find an appointment without a long wait. It’s still a couple weeks out, and we scheduled a couple weeks ago.  (Although, I guess the flip side is that it’s good so many are booking boosters where I am.) I will feel much better when it’s finally done though and in the meantime will be worried they will get it before that appointment comes. 

Do you have a Walmart in your area? We've been able to get all our Covid shots there, including our boosters, very quickly and easily.

[MEmama]

44 minutes ago, vonfirmath said:

Yeah I just tried to find a booster and I can't get an appointment with my doctor so I have to decide whether to go out of practice.

You should be able to go to any pharmacy or clinic. Idk of any restrictions.

[HomeAgain]

51 minutes ago, vonfirmath said:

Yeah I just tried to find a booster and I can't get an appointment with my doctor so I have to decide whether to go out of practice.

Dh and I ended up at a county health site, and only got that because the organizer posted it in our town's Facebook page. The appointments were gone within minutes.  Our doctor wasn't doing shots, we couldn't find an appointment at CVS/Walgreens, and the only Walmart in our county was secret-squirrel, requiring us to make accounts before telling us none were available.  I went on our state's vax finder site every day to find something close.

[catz]

We had a wait for weeks for a booster at the local urban CVS and Walgreens options when I was just trying for the teen on Friday.  But I found a much quicker appointment (Monday!) at a local grocery store chain that has pharmacy built in, so we lucked out.  I have to drive a little and it took about 30 minutes of google-fu but I'm so glad.  

[KSera]

47 minutes ago, Selkie said:

Do you have a Walmart in your area? We've been able to get all our Covid shots there, including our boosters, very quickly and easily.

I just checked (I didn't know Walmarts even gave vaccines). There are a couple about half an hour away, but no appointments. I found a few over an hour away with appointments, but the soonest one is on Christmas Eve 🤦‍♀️. The appoinment we already have is sooner than that, at least.

19 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

Dh and I ended up at a county health site, and only got that because the organizer posted it in our town's Facebook page. The appointments were gone within minutes.  Our doctor wasn't doing shots, we couldn't find an appointment at CVS/Walgreens, and the only Walmart in our county was secret-squirrel, requiring us to make accounts before telling us none were available.  I went on our state's vax finder site every day to find something close.

I keep checking and rechecking my closest vax site, because occasionally cancellations do pop up, which just happened and I grabbed an appointment for this week. I think it may conflict with my kids' classes though, so we may have to wait anyway.

[Dmmetler]

My teen got it at Target's in-store CVS this afternoon and discovered a bonus about being at that site-a $5 gift card for each of the COVID booster AND flu shot :). 

 

Both DH and I feel a bit cheated. We haven't gotten anything for any of OUR shots!!