Vaccine or No Vaccine

[Gator]

Got my first dose of the Moderna vaccine a couple of days ago. Decided to wait to post as I had a few minor side effects and wanted include what they were and the duration of them. 
 

Got the shot at 9:15 am and waited the required 30 minutes before going home. About 3pm started feeling soreness at the injection site and had a slight fever. Also felt a bit more tired and fatigued then usual. By 10pm the soreness was quite annoying, still managed to fall asleep, albeit I wasn’t able to lay on my left side as it was too uncomfortable. Slept 9+ hours ( I mostly only sleep 5-7 )! Left arm was sore most of the next day and I felt fatigued most of the day as well.....took a few cat naps. The third day nothing except a bit of lingering soreness at the injection site. 
 

Now off the Krispy Kreme’s for my free donut! 

Edited March 26, 2021 by Gator

[GeoffH]

For reference I had my first shot of the Astra Zeneca vaccine yesterday (second is scheduled for 12 weeks time). 

I have some soreness in my upper left arm near the injection site (24 hours later) but nothing major and it didn't interfere with sleep or lying on that side.  No increased temperature.

Basically the same mild reaction I've had to the flu vaccination some years.

[JJReyes]

The Philippines vaccination program seems headed towards an interesting direction.  Even with all the political infighting, it seems there is now a willingness by the Philippine government to accept vaccines from China, Russia, India (manufactured under a licensing agreement), Europe and the United States.  The amounts of money available from the US federal government and a national focus on getting as many residents vaccinated as possible has created a new problem -- what to do with the surplus?  I suspect some of the excess production will be sent to the Philippines.  

 

 

 

[scott h]

51 minutes ago, JJReyes said:

an interesting direction. 

Yes, things are getting interesting. Now the Government is getting worried about being sanctioned by the WHO covax donation. As more government officials and celeberaties are jumping the line (but only for the astraventica jab ) Pres. D blew a gasket the other day

55 minutes ago, JJReyes said:

what to do with the surplus? 

It is my understanding, but your there in the US on the ground, that the USA will not directly send jabs to countries, but rather give money to the WHO to buy it from the manufacturers and distribute it IAW their guidelines. I don't see the USA playing V diplomacy the china and Russia

[JJReyes]

12 minutes ago, scott h said:

Yes, things are getting interesting. Now the Government is getting worried about being sanctioned by the WHO covax donation. As more government officials and celeberaties are jumping the line (but only for the astraventica jab ) Pres. D blew a gasket the other day

It is my understanding, but your there in the US on the ground, that the USA will not directly send jabs to countries, but rather give money to the WHO to buy it from the manufacturers and distribute it IAW their guidelines. I don't see the USA playing V diplomacy the china and Russia

The situation here keeps changing.  The new projection is anyone who wants the vaccine who is 16 years and older can make an appointment starting May 1.  Half of the 50 states claim they can open up even earlier, by April 15.  Vaccination for the 12 to 16 and 4 months to 12 years has to wait until completion of clinical trials and approval.  The manufacturing is continuing and ramping up.  What do you do with the surplus?  An online joke is President Duterte is waiting for a Made in the USA vaccine, not the Sinovac or Sputnik V version.

Interesting footnote.  A recent nationwide survey indicates that one reason for the reluctance in America to get vaccinated is the cost!  What?  It's free for consumers.  The federal government is paying the pharmaceutical companies for all the vaccines, supplies and distribution costs.  The federal government is also paying vaccinators through state government health agencies or reimbursing health maintenance organizations.  You know the reimbursement amount is sufficient to be profitable when the drugstore companies want to participate.  Latest group who want to join as vaccinators are dentists.  

[Explorer]

Here we go again, get your arms ready...

"Impressive as they are, these vaccines alone will likely not be sufficient to end the pandemic, experts say. Luckily, there are hundreds of other COVID vaccines under development"...

“I believe that the vaccines we have approved right now are just not going to be as effective as we think they are,” says Danny Altmann, an immunologist at Imperial College London."

"No vaccine for a coronavirus has ever been deployed in a public vaccination program. And mRNA vaccines such as Pfizer’s and Moderna’s—touted by many as the future of vaccinology—have never previously been brought to market. “We don’t know what we don’t know. We have no idea what surprises we might find in a virus that we’ve only been aware of for a year"

"What happens if somebody is vaccinated but contracts COVID anyway? Would they suffer an even worse case of illness, a phenomenon known as antibody-dependent enhancement?"

"The history of vaccinology—in which I’ve been involved for four decades—is amply littered with things we thought we knew.”

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-second-generation-covid-vaccines-are-coming/

[Dave Hounddriver]

3 hours ago, Explorer said:

"Impressive as they are, these vaccines alone will likely not be sufficient to end the pandemic, experts say. Luckily, there are hundreds of other COVID vaccines under development"...

So the vaccines are impressive.  That's nice.  The rest of your post reminds me of being a kid on the playground yelling at another kid "You ain't as good as you think you are" (knowing they could kick my ass).

Anyway, back to the topic.  The flu vaccine never eliminated the flu but I still take it every year.

Anyone who expected the Covid vaccines to end the epidemic has not been paying attention.  People who have been vaccinated can still get Covid, just not bad enough for hospitalization and death.

[Explorer]

42 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

So the vaccines are impressive.  That's nice.  The rest of your post reminds me of being a kid on the playground yelling at another kid "You ain't as good as you think you are" (knowing they could kick my ass).

Don't shoot the messenger... None of the statements in the post are mine, I just quoted what immunologists from Imperial College London and Mayo Clinic are saying in the Scientific American article.

[scott h]

3 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

People who have been vaccinated can still get Covid, just not bad enough for hospitalization and death.

Spot on Dave. (at least to my understanding). When they say 95% effective it means there is a 95% chance you wont die or be hospitalized with covid, a person might still get the "flu". Even if your have the jab you might still carry it. That is why I suspect there will still be an incoming quarantine here even if a person has be immunized. At least until the program here gets established. 

[Mike J]

1 hour ago, scott h said:

Spot on Dave. (at least to my understanding). When they say 95% effective it means there is a 95% chance you wont die or be hospitalized with covid, a person might still get the "flu". Even if your have the jab you might still carry it. That is why I suspect there will still be an incoming quarantine here even if a person has be immunized. At least until the program here gets established. 

I think your definition of effectiveness is not correct.  If the vaccine is 95% effective, there remains a 5 % chance you may still get corona if vaccinated, but an almost zero chance of it causing hospitalization or death.

<snip>

Vaccine efficacy is the percentage reduction in a disease in a group of people who received a vaccination in a clinical trial. It differs from vaccine effectiveness, which measures how well a vaccine works when given to people in the community outside of clinical trials.

<end snip>