The Coronavirus Panic Thread

[EricKei]

jedi - I'm glad to hear that

Where I am...Well, let's just say "At least it's not Florida" and leave it at that

[mhkohne]

Worse, someone who is now a *former* employee at a health center up in Wisconsin ruined over fifty vials of vaccine by leaving them out on the counter intentionally (50+ doses; they have to be kept near or below freezing, depending on the type). they have admitted to doing so, and the police have been called in to look into it formally.

That didn't take long - just heard he was arrested and they've got several charges ready.

[Seanette]

WHY would someone do that? OK, I'm not exactly elbowing my way to the head of the vaccination line, but I do not see any sanity to willfully destroying it.

As for why I'd prefer to hold off a little while, I do have some concerns about whether it could have been adequately tested for side effects, etc, in such a rush. Also, I have a history of adverse reactions to flu shots, so I am a bit concerned about a somewhat related vaccine. This is my personal assessment being applied only to my personal body, not general medical advice to anyone.

[NorthernZel]

As for why I'd prefer to hold off a little while, I do have some concerns about whether it could have been adequately tested for side effects, etc, in such a rush. Also, I have a history of adverse reactions to flu shots, so I am a bit concerned about a somewhat related vaccine. This is my personal assessment being applied only to my personal body, not general medical advice to anyone.

Mr. Zel has the same concerns. However, I could quote several scientists who claim that the research on this has been WAYYY broader than on other vaccines, and has been tested on WAYY more volunteers than usual before the vaccines were sent for approval to the various health agencies.

Also - on a more morbid scale, and I ask for forgiveness in advance - I mentioned that a lot of politicians and/or state leaders got the first jabs as a symbolic gesture, so we can always check how they are doing before it's our turn in the queue

Oh, and also to add: From what I've heard from our local vaccination centers is that ppl who get vaccinated are asked to stay 10 - 15 minutes after, to be monitored by a doctor just in case side effects occur.

[Ironclad Alibi]

WHY would someone do that?

For the same reason some pharmacists refuse to dispense birth control pills.

They believe it somehow violates their personal beliefs and freedoms.

And further discourse along those lines probably belongs in the Fratching forum.

[Kristev]

I agree with Seanette. I want the vaccine, but I don't want it quite right away. Give it a couple of weeks, a month or two, to see if it has any side effects. If almost everyone who gets it turns out okay, I'll take it. There's nothing wrong with caution.

[EricKei]

I'm of the same mind, though, being retired/disabled (but not elderly), I'm not exactly high on the list anyway.

The side effects that have been reported so far have mostly been mild, flu-like symptoms and things like injection-area pain, both of which make perfect sense to me. I've heard of a very, very small number of more severe symptoms for recipients with existing issues which the vax apparently aggrataved, but nothing actually harmful.

[notalwaysright]

I've heard that the vaccine can have a pretty strong flu like side effect, especially the second dose. I'm waaaay in the back of the line and I'm okay with that. However, when I do get it I hope I can plan to get them on Fridays, that way in case I do feel crappy I can recover over the weekend. Or maybe get it during the week and call out sick, if I want a couple days off from work.

Schools here will go back in person in two weeks. A lot of the call outs at my work have been parents who had to stay home with sick kids which is normal for any year, but whenever they come back I always feel like edging slowly away from them. On the plus side, I've found a space to eat lunch that's away from everyone. I started it mostly because of a coworker who has extremely loud phone conversations in the break room. Also chewing and talking with her mouth stuffed full of food. I can't stand eating or being around her at all. So I used this whole thing as an excuse to find my own space. Now I eat there every lunch because it's lovely and quiet.

[Buzzard]

The fun thing with most of the vaccines up for release is the fact that there's no actual viral material in them. It's a coding for that 'spike protein' on the outside of the all our little Covid-19 variants.
https://www.iflscience.com/health-an...nt-be-alarmed/
https://www.iflscience.com/health-an...-moderna-work/
The IFL Science guys are civilian science-geeks who generally have GOOD links to the sources.

[MadMike]

I'll get the vaccine as soon as it's available to me. Since I'm probably going to be in the last group that gets it anyway, that should give me plenty of time to find out about any side effects. Last I heard, my state was hoping to have everyone vaccinated by late spring, but "definitely" by early summer.

[Dreamstalker]

I plan to get the shot as soon as it's available, given my line of work (essential, dealing with the public, while I'm taking precautions some of our customers clearly aren't). I wouldn't be surprised if my store/company makes getting vaccinated a condition of employment.

Dealt with a few maskless assholes today. One got shirty when I refused to come right up to him; I answered his question, so there was no need for me to move closer. Another moron started off wearing a mask, but her response to a polite request to enunciate/speak up was to remove her mask entirely--not just pull it down, actually take it off--and get right in my face so I walked (leaped) away. She then went up to the service desk to "complain"...at which time she was turfed by the CDH for not wearing a mask I suspect/hope managers will get better about enforcing the mask order given this new more infectious variant.

[EricKei]

Buzzard - Yup. ^__^ The tinfoil hat brigade keeps repeating the same old nonsense, though. The fact that it's an RNA vax is something I see as a GOOD thing. My main concern is that, being diabetic, there's a reasonably good chance that any side effects will hit harder and last longer for me. Still better than getting COVID, however. No clue when it'll be properly available here, tho.

[Argus]

From what I've heard from our local vaccination centers is that ppl who get vaccinated are asked to stay 10 - 15 minutes after, to be monitored by a doctor just in case side effects occur.

Same as any vaccine, then.
(And if it's at a clinic in the back of a pharmacy, they generally seem to count shopping afterwards as staying close enough.)

[KuariKaydrith]

Well, today I found out that the owner of the small group of hotels/B&Bs I work for does not want us to ask incoming guests any COVID screening questions. Sure, the province is now in it's own little bubble but that does not change the fact that we have people routinely coming in from outside the province, and many of them are not disclosing that they have traveled outside of the province or have been in contact with anybody who traveled outside of the province in the last 14 days. The reasoning being that we can't afford to turn people away...what he's failing to grasp is that he can't afford to have any of us off sick because he'd lose everything in a heartbeat.

I may have made a few anonymous calls because this is crap.

[Food Lady]

KuariKaydrith, sorry you have to deal with that. I don't understand not protecting one's employees.

I feel ambivalent about the vaccine. I don't know what kind of issues it will cause and from what I understand, it might not keep me from getting others sick. If that's true, I'm not sure there's a point. I don't get sick but my concern has been the possibility that I'm a carrier. I don't really know how to proceed except I keep masking and hoping that protects people around me. Annoyed me that when I took my car in Thursday, half the staff had no masks at all and half of the ones that did weren't wearing them correctly. Yet they will put plastic all over my seat and steering wheel to protect...someone, not sure me or them. All I can do is hope they don't pick up something from my car, Covid or otherwise. I never know what I might be carrying. The only times I ever get sick it's non-contagious allergies or food poisoning. Green onions in the burritos? Check. Bacteria in batches of peanut butter? Check. Those were the last two. I'm not 100% certain but I believe those times were either food-borne, given the symptoms and time frames. The last time I had actual flu was 2013 or 2014? I don't remember the year but I remember spending Christmas alone.