Newest Vaccine

[lydamorehouse]

 I'm scheduled to get the newest COVID vaccine and TODAY!  I was able to find a Walgreen's within driving distance that had a 2:15 pm slot available.  Whoot!

I had scheduled my flu shot at the same time, but Shawn reminded me that that decreases the efficiency of the booster. I tried to update the appointment to reflect that I only wanted the one, but it flaked out and acted like the slot I have secured suddenly isn't available if I change anything. So, I'll just have to tell them no when I'm there. No biggie. 

I am excite!

Comments

[the_siobhan]

Ours is supposed to be available by the end of the month. Where did you see that the flu shot reduces efficacy, I wasn't aware of that.

[lydamorehouse]

I will ask Shawn? I'm not seeing anything on the Googles. Perhaps I can get both!

[satsuma]

yay for getting boosted! Am hoping to be able to get mine Thursday (I do have an appointment, but some people locally have reported successfully making appointments and then the pharmacy cancelling unexpectedly)

[lydamorehouse]

Oh no! Well, I will cross fingers that that doesn't happen to me.

[satsuma]

i think if its an appointment for today and you havent gotten called yet, they probably have enough shots for all the appointments scheduled and you should be fine? it seemed to be mostly our shipment was delayed / we got fewer vials than we expected stuff as far as i could tell

[lydamorehouse]

Well, they did make me wait until 3 pm (even though my appointment was at 2:15 pm.) I have no idea why? There was some murmuring about needing to prep. But, like, isn't that why I had an appointment? It made me grouchy, but I waited.

And am boosted.

So, it was worth it.

[satsuma]

yeah that wait seems v unnecessary, ugh (did they make you wait inside the whole time or was it a “come back in 45 minutes” situation? either way seems annoying but the first option is particularly obnoxious in the context of getting vaccinated against the ongoing spread of an airborne disease….)

glad you were able to get the shot eventually though!

[rachelmanija]

Excellent! I'm holding out for the new Novavax - I get horrible side effects from the mRNA vaccines.

[lydamorehouse]

I think Naomi K is too. So you're in good company.

[pameladean]

I started to type that the CDC recommends getting both shots at once, but then remembered what else the CDC has done and not done. I need to look into this, as I had planned to get both shots at once too.

I'm very glad you can get the new shot so soon! I'm waiting for HealthPartners to get its act together. They are always very slow.

P.

[lydamorehouse]

I ended up asking the pharmacist and he thought there was wisdom in doing them one at a time. I decided to postpone the flu shot. Given how hard the COVID booster have knocked me out in the past, it's probably just as well to do them one at a time.

So long as I remember to GET the flu shot. (I forgot last year and my wife and best friend will never let me live it down.)

I would wait for my clinic, but I swear that I'd still be waiting on the first vaccine, if I did. Allina must be even slower than HealthPartners.

[sabotabby]

Yay!

[lydamorehouse]

I am so happy! In fact, even though it's been years since that first one, I still have this brief burst of euphoria after getting the shot. I think without realizing it, I still feel a lot of stress and anxiety around COVID.

[kore]

GO GO GO VACCINE!

[lydamorehouse]

Go!!

[dreamshark]

There are several reasons not to get both vaccines at once, but I don't think reduced efficacy is one of them. The most obvious reason not to get multiple vaccines at once is side effects. If you just get the typical sore arm, your arm will be twice as sore, or both arms will be sore if you do it that way. But if you get an unexpectedly bad side effect you won't know which vaccine caused it. And I don't know about you, but if I had an anaphylactic response to a vaccine I sure would want to know which one it was. If you have had both shots often enough that you are sure that isn't going to happen, it's probably not a huge risk. But it just seems like bad practice to get two vaccines at the same time unless it really is the only way you can or will get them both.

But the main reason not to get these 2 shots together right now is that it is simply too early to get the flu shot. The flu vaccine is not a very effective vaccine in the first place, and the effect wears off pretty quickly. If you get the vaccine 3 months before the flu season actually starts, half the efficacy will have dissipated by the time flu actually appears. Anyway, that is what Dr. Osterholm says, and he is not only a great epidemiologist, he has been specifically working with the flu vaccine for decades. He says he usually gets his flu shot in late November unless there are indications of an early flu season (which is what happened last year, but not this year).

[lydamorehouse]

I love Dr. Osterholm. Seriously. So, yay, I made the right call.

[oracne]

WOO!!!