Just got my vaccine but the pharmacist was not happy...

[PittBlue&Gold]

We are in PA and signing up to get vaccinated has been a nightmare. I asked him how many shots he gives a day. He said right now 22 but next week it will be 44. He said if this had been handled properly he could give 1000 a day it's so simple.
He also said so many people are canceling because they are signed up on so many different sites. I wish I would have asked him what they do with the vaccine if someone canceled . We are in a small town in SW PA and he said the majority of the people he has vaccinated are from Pittsburgh and other areas.
I know a lot of people in this wretched town are refusing the vaccine and they do not wear masks. 🤬

[marlakay]

1. The place we signed up with and have appt

Wednesday said to let them know if we get vaccine somewhere else.

Considering how hard it is to get one people should be more responsible.

I am having a terrible time getting my 93 yr old mom set up, she is falling through the cracks. Lives in a senior home that doesn't do medical just food and housekeeping and free shuttle.

In her town they had a drive up clinic but she doesn't drive, I am out of state and not traveling, they also have at Kaiser appts but she doesn't belong.

She is on list at doctor, you would think being 93 would give her a step up. I guess they expect someone that age to be in rest home. She is older and uses a walking chair so not like she can take a bus! She rarely goes out except to doctor. I sent her stuff with Amazon and people at her place help her with boxes. They have been trying to get vaccine but no luck.

[lunatica]

4. If they have Uber where she lives

maybe you could coordinate with one of her caretakers to ride with her and you pay it?

Just a thought.

Or you could pay a caretaker to take her.

[marlakay]

9. If it was just a ride i would set that up

It's getting appt. Her doctor told her she should call soon so hopefully.

[TheFarseer]

2. I just can't figure out

Why people won’t get the shot. They want this to go on forever? I know really they want us all to ignore the pandemic, but that’s NOT going to happen!

As to the actual point of your post-it’s hard to imagine this being a more disorganized mess.

[PittBlue&Gold]

5. It is absolutely disgusting.

We set up a network to help people here in our area sign up for the vaccine. People have spent hours and days trying to get appointments....many get up in the middle of the night to search for appointments.

[OnDoutside]

11. I know but as long as you and yours get the vaccine, that's all you

can worry about. A neighbor of mine down the road, has been receiving cancer treatment for oesophageal cancer. He got chemo etc. I met him last week out walking with his daughter and he is doing well. I mentioned that because of his health challenges, at least he will be an early recipient of the vaccine. Not a bit of it, he said wouldn't be getting any vaccine as he had heard too many bad things about it !!!

Can you imagine the crap he has ingested for his cancer treatment, and he is listening to all the lies about vaccines !!! I tried to rationalize it with him, to no avail. His daughter was throwing his eyes up at him. An otherwise lovely guy, but a severe lack of critical thinking.

[PittBlue&Gold]

15. He must be a trumper (and I never wanted to write that word again)..

All of the hillbillies around here are refusing to get the shot because they don't want to be chipped. Their ignorance has no limits.

[OnDoutside]

19. Not a Trumper, but impressionable that he'd miss the obvious.

As I said in my other post, I reckon Facebook had an influence.

[TheFarseer]

16. I wonder what he heard?

If you get the Moderna, you DO get aches and chills for a day on the 2nd dose, but it's well worth it. And, like, 6 people had an allergic reaction that wasn't life threatening, at all. I have no time for those who think Bill Gates micro chipped you or it makes you gay. How the f()@k could anyone seriously believe that? Yeah, not to mention chemotherapy literally is poison that is just worse poison for the cancer. Unfortunately, 30% of us think a life saving vaccine is bad!

[OnDoutside]

18. My guess is Facebook, and all the crap he's reading there. He

mentioned something about "researchers" (quacks is my guess) and one in Germany drawing tens of thousands to their meetings. I was switching off at that stage. It's Darwinian really.

[wryter2000]

3. I'm signed up at two places

The first rescheduled me from yesterday to March 12. The second place is supposed to give me my first shot tomorrow. If I do get the first shot tomorrow, I'll cancel the other appointment. They ought to be able to fill it by March 12.

[PittBlue&Gold]

6. Yes, they certainly should and I hope you get yours tomorrow!

[AnotherMother4Peace]

12. I've got 2 appts for my 2nd vax, just in case one gets cancelled, w/the county & w/Kaiser.

I feel like I'm "doctor" shopping except for the vaccine. I told Kaiser the situation and they said that's fine but to make sure I cancel as soon as possible if I need to.

My husband's 2nd one got cancelled & rescheduled for 9 days later. We were able to find a more timely one, and cancelled the other.

I'm in San Diego County.

[TwilightZone]

7. 1000 a day isn't realistic. That's one every 36 seconds for ten hours straight.

That, in itself, isn't realistic, plus they have to fill out paperwork and vaccine cards for each one.

He could certainly do more, but he's wildly exaggerating if he said he could do 1,000.

[PittBlue&Gold]

14. He was just trying too make a point about how he could be doing more everyday.

[brush]

8. IMO having large sites like high school gyms or arenas...

is the way to go as there's plenty of space, there's parking and the site is prioritized to do just that one thing, whereas pharmacies still have their primary business to do.

In smaller communities that may not have a large, easily accessible site, sure, used other places to get people vaccinated.

[MyMission]

17. Smaller communities aren't getting enough shipments

They are being diverted to larger cities and venues. Many retirement communities and assisted living places in the area have gotten their residents vaccinated. We've also used the community college and several rural high school parking lots as vaccination sites, but aren't getting enough vaccines to satisfy the need.

At first we had a good supply, but that's not the case now. My boss, age 73, tried to register several weeks ago. She got a number, which was 5970. Her husband went on line within 15 minutes and his number was 6014. That's 44 people in 15 minutes unable to get an appointment, only a number. A day later I met a woman who told me she was #2200. None have gotten to schedule the vaccine. I know of several people who had appointments that got rescheduled due to lack of vaccine. A friend who is a healthcare worker in a larger neighboring county is 59,000 on that wait list.

Meanwhile, my neighbor, 77, was vaccinated and suggested I tell my friend to register in our county or consider trying to register in a large city 2 hours away. Many people who want the vaccine here can't even get an appointment. And here in NC we are not prioritizing teachers.
Our pharmacies do not have the vaccine.

I'm under 60, and not eligible yet. But hearing stories, here on DU and in my community of people unwilling or unable to get an appointment or registering in 2 places shows me how messed up and unequal this whole vaccine process is.

[brush]

20. Wow! I sympathize. There's a lot to sort out that should've...

gotten started in the previous admin...including ordering enough vaccine supply. I hope once the increased and regular delivery of vaccine gets online it'll get to everyone, including in smaller communities.

IMO teachers all school staff should be a priority to get kids back in school so parents, especially women, can be freed up to go back to work. That's a no-brainer.

[MyMission]

28. I agree teachers and school staff should be a priority

And I don't understand why some states have refused to do that.

If they are added it will increase the demand, so they need to have doses available to meet those needs. See my post #27, where I responded to someone else about county populations and vaccine availability.

I figure we'll start getting much larger shipments several months from now, and then hold larger vaccination events and have them available in pharmacies too.

Thanks for sympathizing.

[ProfessorGAC]

22. The County To Our West Ran Out

The school systems provided a count because system employees are Phase 1b. One of the schools put me on their list.
Got an email Thursday saying the county ran out, so until early March the schools would be delayed in vaxxing folks.
This is only a county of 50,000.
But, the county I live in (pop. 700,000) is chipping away day by day. They're slower because they're so much bigger, but not because they ran out.
So, local info says your concern is well-founded.

[MyMission]

27. Thanks for confirming my observations

My county in NC has about 118,000 and the neighboring larger county has about 262,000.

Our county "ran out" of vaccines too, and had to reschedule many people. Many in the over 75 group they started with got vaccinated, but when they opened it up to people over 65 they got smaller shipments and larger demands. I suspect doses were diverted to Charlotte, county population 1.1 million, which held huge clinics at the motor speedway there. They have 10 times our population, but are getting well more than 10 times the doses we are. People get appointment dates there, not numbers.

And as I mentioned, the state has not put teachers on the list. I hope they do, but when that happens we will have even larger demands for vaccines.

I figure by the time I'm eligible things will be more streamlined. I'm thinking it could be 5 or 6 months, and that's optimistic. We'd need around 4000 a week to get it done in 6 months. If we only get 1000 doses a week it would take 110 weeks, which is 2 years! We'll probably get larger shipments in several months, and then schedule mass vaccinations at that time.

I hope you are able to get your vaccine in early March, as promised. I've got a good supply of reusable masks, and am double masking. That's my plan for now.

[spinbaby]

10. I'm in Washington

So I’m familiar with the situation. I’ll be getting mine at the Rite Aid on Thursday.

[PittBlue&Gold]

13. Mine was at our local Rite Aid.

[Ms. Toad]

21. Any idea how to sign up from out-of-state

I know PA has vaccinated a number of Ohioans (except for Philadelphia, since it is even excluding other PA residents), but every time I try to sign up the online systems boot me out because my address is in Ohio. I'd risk running into a bunch of yahoos not wearing masks to get my vaccine earlier than a month from now (the earliest I'll be eligible in Ohio).

Second question - was it Moderna or Pfizer?

[PittBlue&Gold]

24. Rite Aid is using Moderna.

I know people from PA have been going to Ohio to be vaccinated. Try looking up Allegheny Health Network, I know several people have been having luck there. All of my Ohio friends had no problem getting vaccinated through their County Health Departments. PA has been no help to its residents and I am shocked this has been handled so poorly here.

[Ms. Toad]

25. Ohio has very strict rules about who is eligible.

Currently:

65+

Under 65 you are only eligible for vaccination if you have one of about 20 diseases that originated in childhood, or if you are a health care worker or school employee (even if you aren't personally working on site).

Our local county health department gets roughly 400 vaccinations/week. Its waiting list of people eligible under the criteria is 10,000+

While the vaccination program has been run well as to long term care facilities, health care facilities, and primary/secondary educators, it stinks as to everyone else. I am not personally aware of anyone who has gotten a vaccination through the local health department (except those in the list in the first sentence of this paragraph).

People in Ohio have to sign up at multiple pharmacies, hop online repeatedly to see if any new slots are available, and you can't even get on a waiting list unless you are in the 65+ or childhood illness categories.

I have 2 cancers (likely 3 - but the third is in the suspected; we'll let you know within the month category) and diabetes. I will not be eligible in Ohio for more than another month. (And, as I explained in another thread) I have a spouse who repeatedly eats/hangs out inside with people who do not live with us - so I am forced to wear my mask 24/7 and sleep in the living room in a recliner. I'm looking for a solution - and I meet the criteria for a vaccination in Pennsylvania.

It sounded like you were saying that your pharmacist couldn't give the stuff away since no one in your county was willing to be vaccinated. If that's the case, I'd be glad to take some off of his hands.

[PittBlue&Gold]

29. He has been vaccinating mostly people from the Pittsburgh area and beyond. We are 45 miles South of

Pittsburgh. My friends in Ohio are all 72 years old and were vaccinated in their counties with no problems. Try to sign up on the Rite Aid site and choose some places in Western PA. Also look up Fayette County, PA...they seem to have a lot of vaccine and were taking anybody 65 plus. Also try the Allegheny County Health Network.
In many cases here in PA it has been "who you know"....our local hospital has had the vaccine for a while and they were calling friends of employees...no matter what age...and giving them the vaccine. Also people say they are obese or they smoke and they are getting the vaccine. We know several young people have done that and have been vaccinated.
This is pure bullshit the way it is being handled. With your health issues you should not have to chase after the vaccine. I wish that I could help you some way.

[Ms. Toad]

30. The Rite Aid Site is one of the ones that boots me,

unfortunately. It chooses the state and boots me because of my address - I've searched around to see if I can sign up via the local store.

PA rules are 16+ as long as you have a condition that puts you at risk (which includes both smoking and obesity)

I'll keep looking.

[PittBlue&Gold]

31. Just on the Pittsburgh news...

UPMC...University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is setting up a portal for people to register to get the vaccine. They urge you to go to their website or call 844-876-2822. They stressed you do not have to be a patient to register.

[Ms. Toad]

32. Thanks! n/t

[kskiska]

23. I got mine at University of South Carolina

in a huge gymnasium-type room and it very orderly, taking groups at a time and directing you to sit in various sections until called. No problem at all. I'm fully vaccinated (no side effects) and feeling a measure of relief.

[wishstar]

26. Good to know since SC has had many more deaths per capita than NC

I just noticed the stats today that SC has had over 8300 deaths while NC which has over twice as big a population has just gone over 11,000 deaths so seems obvious that Repub Gov McMaster's failure to put in place mandates the way Gov Cooper did for NC has caused many more needless deaths in SC.

[Bonn1997]

33. What town? What pharmacy?

I’m not too far away and I have older family and friends who haven’t been able to get vaccinated. I’d appreciate any info you can give me.

[misanthrope]

34. Similar stories all over

https://www.thedailybeast.com/covid-would-kill-me-but-i-live-in-a-vaccine-hellhole-called-alabama?ref=home