Have you been stabbed yet?

I've been registering everywhere I've heard that Covid vaccines are being offered since January. In two states! And not hearing back from any of them.

The distribution system is so scattershot and willy-nilly; there seems no master plan. I finally walked into my local Walgreens monday and asked to register. The clerk started to offer the website address; but I asked if I could just do it in person. Oh, sure. I was given an appointment for today. There were half a dozen people there, but no one behind us this morning. Called everyone I know in town and sent them over.

I got my first shot Feb. 12, and my second last Friday.

I'd been waiting for my health care provider to notify me that it was my turn, when Walgreens announced that they were vaccinating. So I went on their website and, after a few glitches, was able to get an appointment very quickly.

One of sisters is also fully vaccinated, and my other sister will be by the end of the month.

No news yet of when vaccines will be available for anybody except front line health workers here in Kenya, I'm afraid.

Got my first and second and today marks two weeks since my second. I am supposed to be bullet proof. We'll see. Since my second shot, I have been contacted by my county health dept, St Thomas Ascension and Vanderbilt Hospital to tell me I can get on their lists. I got mine in a neighboring state that was "behind" schedule but ahead of my state.

My husband got his in another county that had more than they could use since the folks in that county didn't believe in the vaccine or wearing masks.

Good luck and be persistent and aggressive if you want the shots.

First Feb 11, Second Mar 11. Our state is now vaccinating anybody aged 40 and over who desires the vaccine.

>3 John5918: John, the production of vaccines has been exponential, it seems. Here’s a prayer that governments share the wealth quickly. If I could step aside to make it more equitable, I would.

My husband got his second shot last Thursday. I got my first shot last Monday. I have another appointment 3 weeks from then (Pfizer). I didn't go out of state, but I did sign up for a waiting list at one university when I became eligible (as university faculty). I also signed up at my place of work and at a local health center as well as keeping track of Walgreens. Based on reports from my neighbors on NextDoor, Walgreens has really opened up in our state in the last week. People with preexisting conditions (Group 4) are allowed to register today. Yay! Otherwise, they are still in the 65 and older group. Haven't lowered the age limit.

Got my first on March 1. This coming Monday, I'm supposed to be notified to fill out some electronic paperwork to schedule my follow-up shot.
"We'll see," said the Zen master.

Texas vaccinations has been notoriously mismanaged. I suspect the people in charge of managing distribution were also the ones in charge of our power grid. The first scheduling notice I received for the first one was sent to me three hours after the appointment time, while I was still filling out forms (of which I could not save copies.) Yet the governor says Texas is the model to follow. Of the fifty states, we rank 47th in the number of vaccinations that have made it into someone's arm.

>8 WholeHouseLibrary:

Considering the need to have the second shot within a specific window of time, you'd think they'd schedule it when you scheduled the first, or at least at the time you got the first. I was able to schedule my second when I scheduled the first. In fact, Walgreens' website pretty much made you do that.

>9 lilithcat: Hey there!
Hate to bring politics into the discussion, however ...
In reality-world, it works like that.
But I live in Texas, and there is no real organization to anything except how to gerrymander districts and prevent people from keeping healthy or educated. Lots of fools running around without masks now.

I live in a rural county in Georgia, and am trying to be patient. Yesterday was the first time I really made an effort to just get an appointment, and I wouldn't have cared if it was a month out, as long as I had a date on the calendar.

There's simply nothing available. I went to the Walgreens website to make an account, since it seems to be a requirement. The closest Walgreens is half an hour away, not an issue. But after making the account I still got a big red notice of zero availability.

It's getting pretty nerve wracking.

>11 terriks: I strongly recommend walking in and asking to register at the pharmacist’s booth. It’s a real person with control of the local list; not a program.

I registered at seven local distribution sites in Michigan and managed my first one March 9. They made my second appt at the same time, so no fuss once I was able to find a spot.

Sometimes I am inclined to bellyache about the fact that I know younger people without cancer who were able to game the system or jump ahead in the line. BUT, having a vaccine less than a year after COVID appeared in the U.S. is pretty amazing, especially considering that polio was killing children for decades before they were able to get something to eradicate that. The estimates here were that the elderly would be vaccinated by late spring (June), so having it three months before I expected was something to be happy about.

I truly hope that ALL countries will be able to get vaccines quickly. Pandemics don't recognize borders, and they require a global response.

Some states have been more efficient than others. I hope there will be many post-mortems on what when right/wrong with the rollout for the next pandemic. Epidemiologists predict that we can expect more of these diseases as global warming progresses and populations increase.

>1 2wonderY: Negative, Ghost Rider. The pattern is full.

For example, I had this friendly associate. His life choices included a lot of crazy things. He weighed about 415 on the hoof. His alcohol-, sugar- and recreational chemical intakes were the things of legend. He had genetic challenges. When he died the first thing they wanted to do was print he "died of Covid"; because there is money in that ink. There is power in taking away rights that millions have died to save. Once one can excise an All-Powerful Creator from the dialogue, the populace can suckle on the State's life-giving rhetoric. 1984 is here.

>15 smirks4u:. You want the Pro & Con group for that kind of rhetoric. Most other groups don’t appreciate it in their spaces.

I got my second shot better than a week ago. Iowa seems to have a pretty seamless production line going for shots...at least here on the cusp of Omaha.

No side effects either, except for a tiny bruise the second time through, and a bit of fatigue. But then I take a nap nearly every day anyway.

>16 2wonderY: Ms. Ruth, I consider your response to be confrontational. "(W)hat (I) want" is for people who are not me to stop telling me what I want. Second, I recoil at your impression that a true life, factual posting of a man's death was somehow "rhetoric"; or "often regarded as lacking in sincerity or meaningful content", if you follow the Gospels of Google or the Wiki as your true north. There was sincerity. There was content directly relevant to 'your' topic. America's health is not some sham power grab. When the freedoms bought with millions of deaths are steamrolled by people who are not comparing one virus to another; that is wrong. There are more people dying today of HIV virus than any Covid-19-20-infinity virus. They did not shut down freedom of assembly (First Amendment), Freedom of Religion (First Amendment), or freedom of Expression (First Amendment) for HIV. There were no DOT signs on the highways telling people to stay home. No one closed all of the gay bars and Turkish baths; much less stores, churches or restaurants. It is entirely antithetical to logic. No one is using a scanning electron microscope in their analyses or autopsies. It is all hokum, and one might expect educated people to use granularity of thought.

>12 2wonderY: Thank you. I am trying to wait out another week to get closer to the flood of vaccines that I'm confident is coming. It would be awesome if I didn't have to drive half an hour when there are pharmacies in my little town. They've just been inundated.

Well, glory hallelujah. I decided to get back online at Walgreens and check for vaccine availability - and lo and behold, I am scheduled for my first dose this Wednesday at 10:45 am.

I was able to schedule the second dose, as well, and got a confirmation number. Encouraged my husband to quickly make an account. By the time he did, the day was full, so he's scheduled for Thursday now.

Our hopeful plan is to have him accompany me on Wednesday and see if they'll squeeze him in- but if not, he's happy to go back there on Thursday.

My relief is palpable at the moment.

Last night I managed to find an appointment at Walgreens for Wednesday too. Then this morning my husband found one for Friday. Late at night and early in the morning seems to work. And the second doses are scheduled as well.

>21 hailelib: Look at us go! :)

>18 smirks4u: There are more people dying today of HIV virus than any Covid-19-20-infinity virus

I haven't seen the figures recently but my understanding was that since the advent of ARV treatment, HIV has generally become a treatable chronic disease rather than a fatal one, and that deaths are now relatively rare, so I doubt whether your statement is correct. I know quite a few people who are HIV-positive and who have led normal lives for many years.

There were no DOT signs on the highways telling people to stay home. No one closed all of the gay bars and Turkish baths; much less stores, churches or restaurants.

Because HIV is transmitted by contact with body fluids, not through the air. Referring to gay bars perpetuates the myth that HIV is about gay people, which is untrue. The main precautions against HIV, such as practising safe sex, not sharing needles, and testing blood before transfusions were given, were widely publicised and implemented, and even before the advent of ARV the spread of the virus had slowed in many places.

>18 smirks4u: Not sure where you got your figures, but:

690 000 500 000–970 000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2019 (no newer stats, yet) (New Scientist)

2.71 million in 2020 died of Covid-19 (The New York Times via John Hopkins)

>24 Tess_W: I’m reading your numbers as 690,000; with a possible range between 500,000 to 970,000. Yes?

>25 2wonderY: Yes, that is correct

Just checking in with the group. We live in Indiana and had to drive 30 miles one way to a vaccine clinic in another county to get our vaccines, since there were none available in our small rural county. Both my husband and I have gotten our first and second doses.

Everything here is very organized. We had to make online appointments and were able to walk right in and get our shots when we got to the clinic. The second appointment was scheduled for each of us at the time of the first appointment. Last time I checked, people age 40 and older, as well as health care workers, educators, first responders, and some people with co-morbidities could get the vaccine in Indiana.

>23 John5918: Excellent scientific explanation of the difference between the 2 viruses. Thank you.

Good luck to everyone with their vaccines! Thank you for making the world a safer place.

>27 LadyoftheLodge: Our state (Georgia) just did lower the age requirements for eligibility - still not as low as your state, but at least we were able to start the hunt. Lol. After a couple of nerve-wracking weeks, we got our appointments.

>23 John5918: From 2010, HIV deaths worldwide are reportedly dropping. Yes, it is largely a fluid transmission; since the HIV virus is relatively fragile. It does last a longer time in human feces. Male on male transmission was the leader proximate cause of death for decades; so no mythology there. It was a CDC-published fact, if you believe the CDC's government site. Further, the stigma of gay sex caused some cases of pneumonia, malnutrition, and other causes to be used to shield the reputations of the dead. Thus there was underreporting of HIV; whereas there is rampant over-reporting of Covid. It is a money- and power grab.

>30 smirks4u: Conspiracy theorist art thou!

Where is the money and power grab with Covid? How is it over reporting? The people doing the reporting are not making any money. Over 540,000 people dead from COVID in the U.S. and you deny them and their relatives your compassion. Very sad.

That does it. I'm red x-ing this thread.
I am sick to death (a cliche, not intended as a pun) of arguments relative to COVID-19. I'm eligible for my second shot (as of today) and I'm in the queue for having an appointment scheduled. Yeah, Texas is stooopid about how these things get managed.

Just block that user, I just did.

>33 Crypto-Willobie: I did, as well. Thanks for the reminder!

>30 smirks4u: Male on male transmission was the leader proximate cause of death for decades; so no mythology there

Globally I doubt whether that is true, particularly in Africa.

Edited to add:



"Male on male" transmission - 17%

Link

Back on topic, I've just learned that over-55s are being vaccinated in Nairobi, but there are huge queues out in the street. We're trying to find out now what the process is, and whether it will also happen in our own county.

I've had both (Pfizer) shots and my younger wife (late 60s) has just left the house to get her second. We live in Inverness (Scotland) and the doctor's surgery phoned to arrange appointments at short notice.

My wife got hers today at a large hospital in Nairobi. I'll leave home before dawn tomorrow and drive to Nairobi and see if I can get mine too.

>39 John5918:. That is such good news.

I just got back from my first dose. Seems OK so far.

>31 krazy4katz: There is money for hospitals if they report heavy Covid infections. New York and Los Angeles are the two biggest purveyors of welfare awards in this country. People actually migrate from one to the other to get those continuing benefits. Do you think the same two states involved in that fiasco are not topping the list for Covid relief? We parked huge, medical, naval transport hospitals outside of those two cities. They did not fill up with Covid patients. Why? It is like people who falsely report damages on insurance. Same fraud. Different magnitude. It's not rocket surgery.

>35 John5918: Your citation shows "Source UN AIDS Data", in the faintest of grey scale fonts. Thank you for playing.
The United Nations has been pockmarked with fraudulent activity in Yemen, France, Somalia, ... Oh my goodness! Now, let's try that mean, nasty, biased, old Center For Disease Control site I mentioned to start with: "In 2018, men accounted for 30,691 (81%) of the 37,968 new HIV diagnoses in the United States and dependent areas. Most (86%) new diagnoses among men were attributed to gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men.
https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/group/gender/men/index.html
I know that report and yours are a year off, but 17% and 86% is not just a little scientific margin of error. It is intentional, calculated, premeditated, wanton, callous misinformation and propaganda. It is being slapped out there for a agenda. Did we treat these two demographic groups, especially the "asymptomatic but infectious" male homosexual the same way we did others? Are there old people locked away and going mad in retirement centers from this? Did we do the same to potential/likely HIV infected people? Not remotely. To the contrary, I have a governor-former-attorney general, who is a valiant protector of people who are unsure they have gonads or not. He wants people in both bathrooms to aid in cross-contamination.

>42 smirks4u: >43 smirks4u: OK, this is incomprehensible. At least the one addressed to me. You are talking about the early days of the pandemic where there was much more chaos. Let's move on.

And HIV? I can believe the primary source might be different in different countries. Especially now.

Maybe just give up since this is not the original topic? You won't convince anyone or solve anything here.

Best wishes,

k4k

Got my first dose today- Pfizer. No symptoms beyond my arm being sore, and that is to be expected. I'm really happy to finally be moving ahead with this!

I did ask if my husband could be worked in, as he had his paperwork ready and was out in the car. His appointment was for tomorrow. I got a pleasant smile and the equivalent of, "Bless your heart," which, in my part of the work, is code for "Sit down and be quiet." 🤣 So, tomorrow it is!

On topic: I got up at 4 am and drove into Nairobi and got my astrazeneca vaccine today, after my wife got hers yesterday. Second dose in eight weeks.

Off topic: >43 smirks4u:

If you look at my first word in my post >35 John5918:, you'll see the word "Globally". I have no idea what the figures are in the USA, but globally male on male sex is only a small contributor to the spread of HIV. Heterosexual sex is by far the greatest channel. Interesting that you disparage the US CDC and then you quote them.

I have interacted with the UN for the best part of forty years, and I even did a couple of short peacebuilding consultancies for them about ten years ago. They have made some mistakes, and I have at times disagreed with them on particular technical and operational details, but to dismiss all UN reports out of hand, as you appear to do, is frankly ridiculous.

but 17% and 86% is not just a little scientific margin of error. It is intentional, calculated, premeditated, wanton, callous misinformation and propaganda. It is being slapped out there for a agenda.

No, it is the difference between figures for one single country in the Global North and figures for the entire world.

Did we treat these two demographic groups... the same way we did others?

Not sure what you mean by that. As HIV began to be understood, the same advice was given to all groups - practice safe sex, avoid sharing needles, test blood before transfusions. In the early years there is some evidence that the gay community took that advice more seriously than the heterosexual community. Many of the latter, perhaps lulled into a false sense of security by the right wing media which did label it a "gay disease", thought they were safe and ignored the advice, to their cost.

>46 John5918: Thank you.

>46 John5918: You bring compelling points. I know of six different gay men who married at some time in their life. I know of many more lesbian women who engaged in sex with men. The thing is, every act is cross-contamination (unless we're all going to wear the WHO TeleTubby space suits and have intercourse via remote control. Breathing on one another is only the beginning.) Infected 'gay', (practicing gay, bi-sexual, etc.) are able to take a virus and put it into their wives, unborn babies and others. They, in turn can infect others. The government enabled infected people then and now by providing new, clean needles. It is the equivalent of feeding the bears. Incidentally, "flu-like symptoms" are one manifestation of HIV infection. In our knee-jerk epidemiology 'in these trying times', that might be misdiagnosed. The problems, as I see them, are:
1) All viruses and flu-like diseases are not Covid. Why treat them all the same?
2) Politicians and subordinate medical personnel cannot explain why the total death rate did not rise contingent upon the added numbers of Covid dead. This is wrong.
3) Freedoms which were paid for by the deaths of many millions, to create a country that has become a lynchpin of freedom in the world; those freedoms have been abandoned with little more than a whimper.
4) I think it is presumptuous to say that gays in general respect the right wing media so much that they suddenly became automatons the that cause. Your word ridiculous comes to mind. All gays do not agree to roll over and let the big, bad Republicans tell them how it will be. In fact, I can state categorically the opposite is true. I am not out to disparage gays. I am talking about the math and procedures of cross contamination since about 1978. It has been apples and oranges, compared to Covid lockdowns.
5) Male on male intercourse is illegal in 87 countries. One side says this should prevent virus spread. One other contingent says the males infected will not test or seek treatment because of stigma or punishment. Thus, there are no true statistics, because of a Hobson's choice. Will we see totalitarian control of society 'in order to protect us from ourselves'?

>48 smirks4u:

Totally off topic:

1) False. These viruses/flu-like diseases are not all being treated the same.
2) This is not true. The average lifespan in the US is significantly lower this year.
3) Freedom is always contingent upon the principle of "do no harm". Ignoring masks, distancing and vaccinations goes against this.
4) Incomprehensible
5) I remember the HIV epidemic the way >46 John5918: describes it. Gay people got sick first, took it seriously first. Good for them! Ignorant others did not when the disease spread to the broader population. What other countries think or how they restrict homosexuality is not the point. It is a freedom in this country as it does no harm.

Yours truly,

k4k

>48 smirks4u:

Much of your post is incomprehensible, and I agree with >49 krazy4katz:.

You have not addressed my basic point, which is that whatever the experience of HIV was in the USA (and in other countries in the Global North), this was not the experience worldwide. Africa became the epicentre of HIV, and male on male sex is not only illegal in most African countries (as you mention) but there are very strong cultural imperatives against it. HIV did not spread in Africa by male on male sex, neither did it get spread amongst the heterosexual population by the occasional gay man sharing a needle or practising bisexuality. Where do you get these ideas? Sharing of needles may well have played a part, but in health centres where clean needles were not available, not due to narcotic use. Likewise bood transfusions, in places where there were no blood banks and no facilities for testing blood.

HIV almost certainly began in apes in central Africa and was spread to humans by the middle of the last century, through the consumption of "bush meat", a popular delicacy there. It initially spread very slowly by heterosexual contact because of the inaccessibility of areas such as Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) and the fact that people did not move far from their home areas. By the 1970s it was spreading further afield. I worked in Uganda in the mid-seventies and it was still not widely known, but I recall on a return visit to my old area around 1980 it had devastated that area, particularly around a place called Rakai. I'm thankful that I was a restrained and well behaved heterosexual young man and didn't dally with the local girls while I was in that area, otherwise I would almost certainly have been one of the early victims! It reached Haiti from Congo, and then the USA. It is sometimes said that HIV started in the 1980s in the USA, but in fact this was just when people in the Global North first became aware of HIV and it was officially recognised as a new health condition. While it's true that many of the early cases in the USA were amongst gay men, that does not define the disease.

Edited to add: I think it is presumptuous to say that gays in general respect the right wing media so much that they suddenly became automatons the that cause.

Indeed it would be. I agree with you 100%. So it's a good thing that's not what I said, isn't it? If many gay people followed the prevailing medical advice, that's a good thing which has nothing to do with the right wing media. If some members of the heterosexual community ignored the medical advice because they believed the media's characterisation of the disease as one which didn't affect them, that's another issue.

PLEASE OH PLEASE STOP THE DEBATE! THIS DISCUSSION IS: DID YOU GET YOUR COVID 19 VACCINE AND WHAT SIDE EFFECTS, IF ANY DID YOU HAVE? IF THE DEBATE CONTINUES I WILL DELETE THIS DISCUSSION! IF YOU WANT TO CONTINUE THIS DEBATE, PLEASE JOIN PRO AND CON!

>51 Tess_W:

Thanks, Tess. My apologies. Will comply.

I had my first jab 5th February,AstraZeneca at my local surgery.Due to the policy of waiting up to 12 weeks for the second dose,I still could wait up to 5 more weeks for that.
I have been shielding since 15th March 2020 and Boris is finally letting us out of jail on 1 st April - if its not just an April Fool's hoax.:0). But I will still stay at home till May when most restrictions will be gone.
I had a horrid reaction to my jab.It seemed fine all day then around bedtime the fever and chills, aching joints etc generally like the flu kicked in.12 horrible very painful hours and then it all cleared up miraculously!.People say that reactions to a second jab are worse than the first so not looking forward to that.lol
Actually I am used to fevers and chills,I have a dire immune system. I catch a cold,and it is like other people's flu and I can suffer nasty mucus filled lungs for up to 3 months. Just the very thought of getting covid horrifies me,it would probably carry me off in a matter of days.
We live in an area of the North East of England that has been ravaged by covid 19. I lost a brother in law,a cousin and a lifetime friend within the first 2 months. On the map it was only yesterday that we moved out of the most dangerous zone.And for the first time no one died in my area on that day. That's progress indeed.
I live on the major street leading into town,and everyday we see ambulances with blaring sirens rushing into town.A little later we see them returning even faster to get on the motorway rushing some poor soul to hospital. We literally can gauge whether we are in a surge or new wave or a fall back just by traffic outside our door.Including the hearses,two yesterday alone. Pre covid we would see an ambulance with sirens blaring perhaps once a fortnight.
Every day I thank God that modern medicine discovered a vaccine so amazingly quickly.Being in the same situation as during the Spanish flu of 1918 with no vaccine would be horrendous.
Damn,that generation,which included my mother and father were tough and endured so much.

>53 dustydigger: Thanks for sharing, Dusty. I, too, have been sheltering since March 10, 2020, when the schools closed. I only went out to the grocery and the doctor's office (which were scary!). Both hubby and I have had both shots, Moderna vaccines. He had no symptoms from either, I just had a terribly sore arm with the 2nd one, swollen, hot, and a goose-egg the size of a golf ball-for almost two weeks. Even now, one month post, I still have a red rash about 2 inches around the injection site. Being a teacher/professor, every year, I was exposed to every germ imaginable. Each year I had one good case of the flu and/or bronchitis, which required an anti-biotic to shake. However, since March 10, 2020, not one cold, not one flu, etc. I retired in August 2021, so I'm no longer exposed to the plethora of germs I once was; except through my 7 grandchildren. But, I have learned, it's become habit, to wash my hands about 3 times more than I did previously. I keep a bottle of hand sanitizer in my car and each time I leave the grocery, post office, etc., I clean my hands. My husband and I are going to venture out on April 9, travel about 6 hours, and go to a concert (tickets limited to 300). We will stay overnight and go to a museum on Saturday morning before returning home. We will also eat out! (Have not done that since 2020). I'm as excited as a kid! (We will still be masking and washing our hands frequently!)

>53 dustydigger:, >54 Tess_W:

36 hours on and so far I don't seem to have any adverse reactions, but my wife was bad for 24 hours. My brother in UK was bad for two days, and his wife for one day. So it seems very variable. I've had literally dozens of vaccinations over the last few decades for just about every tropical disease one can think of, as well as rabies, tetanus and common flu, and I've never had a bad reaction to any of them. Just lucky, maybe.

>55 John5918: Lucky you! I'll never forget my obligatory yellow fever jab to go and live in Uganda.My arm swelled up enormously and was a strange shade of bluey grey.Resembled an elephant's leg. My sister had to dress me for well over a week as I couldnt bend the arm at all - and it hurt. Thank heavens it was a 20 year jab and i returned to UK 12 years later and never needed the form again. It finally disintegrated a couple of years ago,it was so brittle with age!Rather like me......
>54 Tess_W: - Have a lovely jaunt,Tess,it sounds delightful My last outing was for my birthday,Jan 31st 2020. The whole family.Mr Dusty,our 4 kids and sundry partners, 6 grandkids,and and 1 great grandkid went for an all you can eat buffet in a massive place with probably a hundred people there. I feel a bit faint now just at the thought of being with 100 people.:0)

My Golden Wedding celebration in April was very different. A lot of the family had been set to take us on a weekend in London (we always flock together!) but we were shielding by then,no visitors allowed. We have been unable to celebrate the births in 2020 of another grandchild plus 3 greatgrandkids,only seeing them through car windows or at the door in the wind and cold. Looking forward to May when I can once more meet indoors in groups of six. The difficulty will be not offending family members who cant all meet at once. Most weeks in the old days we had 8 to 12 people in the house every weekend. Not having the family visiting has been a major sadness in the pandemic.

It really upsets me to think what a hard lonely time very old shielders living on their own have undergone.
I have been on the verge of strangling Mr Dusty on many occasions this year,but having company is a lifesaver,so I have refrained.....waiting for my medal to come through the post.

>56 dustydigger:

Where (and when) were you in Uganda? I was teaching in a small village a few miles outside Masaka from 1976 to '78. A great experience. I've been back to my old school once only, but I've been in Uganda many times since then, Kampala, but also in the north - Gulu, Arua, Koboko - in connection with my work in South Sudan and also the Lord's Resistance Army conflict. Yellow fever was one of those many vaccinations which had no adverse effect on me.

>57 John5918:. My husband (we met in college in Newcastle) is a Musoga,we lived in Jinja throughout the 70s,came back to UK in 1982 to take care of my ailing mother - and get away from the continuing strife in Uganda. Idi Amin 's overthrow of Obote6 occured as i was in the air flying to join my husband who had gone ahead on November 1970 to get us accommodation etc. I had my 3 month old baby with me. We had to stay n Cairo airport for 3 days till Uganda reopened. Lived through all the horrors and turbulence of Amin ( my 3rd child was only 3 weeks old when the Tanzanians fought with him in Jinja in 1979) and it was hoped things would improve,but Obote got up to all his old tricks and Uganda had years more of turmoil.
It was heartbreaking to see that beautful little country destroyed. I have a LOT of hair raising tales to tell of those times. Sadly I havent been back,though Mr D saves every penny he can find and goes home every few years. We have an extended family there of course,african style

My husband just got back from getting his first shot and so far no reaction but he never reacts to vaccines. After mine Wednesday I got really tired and slept part of the afternoon and went to bed early. Yesterday the arm was sore and a little swollen but I feel pretty good today.

Had a yellow fever shot in 1971 for travel to Bahrain but no reaction. However, I fainted both times with the cholera shots!

>58 dustydigger:

Indeed Uganda is a beautiful country, and Ugandans are great people. I was in Jinja quite often, but not recently. My two years there were during Idi Amin's time. I met him in 1976 after the Entebbe Raid and the withdrawal of the British High Commission, when he summoned all the remaining Britons to come to meet him at a posh hotel - I went with a crowd of British Catholic missionary priests. Maybe you were there yourself? He was in charming mood that day and plied us with booze and good food. I finished my contract in 1978 so I missed the Tanzanian invasion, although when I came back to visit for the first time they were still in control. Back at my old school the teachers showed me where a long-range gun had been sited on our hill to shell Masaka, operated by foreigners who were almost certainly Israelis. Interesting times, but tough for the country and its people. And still tough with Museveni clinging on to power.

>60 John5918: >60 John5918: Interesting times indeed,John. We lived in a posh part of Jinja,within 5 minutes walk of Amin's house when he was in Jinja. The first we knew of his being attacked was when we saw a huge number of Amin's soldiers packing the trains,dozens precariously sitting on the carriage roofs, running away from Kampala,going north to Mbale and then on to their tribal areas. I saw several tractors with small trailers packed to the gunnels with heavily armed soldiers going to Amin's house. That last week they were methodically looting every house in the estate. This was while Western Province was under fire from Tanzanians.We decided to move away from our home into the town,to the compound of my husbands cooperative union.
It was a difficult time. Boarding schools had just told the kids to go home! Apart from me and Mr D,our 3 kids and a stepson and stepdaughter and a cousin who turned up somehow we had more people. Mr Ds boss had run off to the village,so we took in his 2 daughters who had found a locked up empty home when they got to us Their home was barely 4 houses away from Amin.
Reading came in handy,I knew all about stores for emergencies etc,and got together rice maizemeal and beans salt and oil.
It took 2 trips via back streets or gardens (to avoid our car being confiscated by desperate soldiers) to get everyone and the stores into the compound. Then we had the askari guard also to add to the gang!. We were there for several days,and it was hard.

btw,about the Israels. Amin was incandescent over his humiliation over the Entebbe Raid Sadly Mr Ds lifelong friend Gweddeko,head of the air force bore the brunt of Amin's wrath and was executed.
I never went near Kampale from 1973 onwards,stayed at home in Jinja.,so I didnt attend Amin's meeting. Every night his men were killing Langi and Acholi policemen and soldiers,and chucking their corpses over the dam.Awful.

Got my second shot this morning and Ow! my arm is sore! Someone here said moving the arm is supposed to help. So I babysat the 2 year old and we spent the day gardening.

Spending the evening on the couch with a hot pad at my back and another on the right arm, where I got the shot. I’m left handed and I have had a sore elbow and muscles there for more than a month. So, double Ow!

>62 2wonderY: Yes, I was told to rotate my arm in a circle forward to backward several times. It worked for me — at least I think so. My arm hurt less after my second shot when I did this than after my first shot where I didn't.

I hope you feel better!

k4k

My second dose is coming up next week sometime, I'll have to check the actual date. I'm ready to get this over with, but keep hearing about the last one being worse than the first!

I'll be doing those arm movements, that's for sure. Hoping that's it, no actual feeling bad from it.

I got up today, but found I don’t even have the interest to get dressed. Fatigue and achy joints. Crawled back into bed all bundled up because I can’t stay warm. Moving the heating pad around for relief of the various complaints.
It’s the kind of day to rue living alone. Would appreciate some TLC.

The sun is out and the yard work is calling; but I just don’t care.

>65 2wonderY: Well, this sounds crappy. I'm sorry. :(

Where are you with your Covid shots? Everything you described sounds like a reaction, or even the more common flu.

I see you wrote this several hours ago. Doing any better this evening??

Yes, fully recovered by late in the day. I’m done now. Safe!

>67 2wonderY: Oh, I'm glad.

Happy Friday!

I'm officially done with my Covid vaccine! *throws up a cheer*

I had it mid-day on Wednesday, and was warned about the second dose reaction being worse than the first, but it's been hours now and I'm fine. Sore arm, but that's unavoidable.

What has been in the news lately has to do with the probability of booster shots, and for now I'm hearing about a booster in 12 months or so. Can't say I'm particularly intimidated by that.

Right now, I feel grateful and hopeful. Bring on the summer, bay-bay!

Eleven weeks since my first jab. Supplies are so limited the NHS is stretching out the gap between jabs as long as possible.At one point in March we were doing 600-750 thousand jabs a day then dropped to less than 200000 for weeks. Seems to be an upswing now,so hopefully I'll get my second dose soon. I had an horrific response the first time,so not looking forward to that. :0(
The good thing here in UK is that there is little ''vaccine hesitancy''.An amazing 93% of over 75 yr olds have had at least one jab,and their being protected has broken that horrific progress of cases means hospitalizations means deaths.Incredibly,now only 2% of beds have covid patients,down from a massive 50% last year.And deaths are down from 35000 deaths in January to under 1000 total in the last six weeks.
Nothing like a strict 12 week lockdown and a huge vaccination drive to batter nasty old covid. Unfortunately letting all the idiots out to go anywhere do anything will probably have serious setbacks. I have shielded for a year - and was normally housebound for a year before that too - and I am doing a personal ''out of lockdown'' for mid July.I look across the road to the pub opposite and I see masses of young people,no masks,sitting in groups of 6-8 for hoursand have no wish to join them at all! lol.

>70 dustydigger: Our Covid rates are climbing drastically in the US. They attribute to the thousands of crazy college kids who still went on spring break and partied with restrictions. The paper said that on Miami Beach, on just one evening, there were near 10,000 students partying on the beach with no masks and no social distancing. Also, many school age children went back to school in March, making the rates go up. I'm of the opinion if everybody would just comply, we could kick this thing much quicker, but alas and alack the younger generation are screaming this violates their "rights."

Sadly,no vaccine available for me,maybe end of next week. Its so frustrating that Europe and India are hobbled in our vaccine production because the US has almost totally monopoly on certain production components,and put in export bans to ensure US kept all it needed.Natural enough of course.
The much vaunted globalisation of industries where components of a product are produced where it is cheapest,then put together somewhere has proved a very dodgy situation for medical emergency needs.Not having one component available can prevent the production of literally millions of doses per day.

We're due for our second jab this coming week, but it appears that Kenya doesn't have any vaccines for it. I'm in regular contact with a professor at one of the largest hospitals in Nairobi and he says even the doctors won't be getting their second jab yet. News reports say that the Kenyan government is still trying to source vaccines from COVAX. Such is life.

>73 John5918: Hope you get your 2nd one soon. I had the Moderna (Feb & March). The newspapers told us that we were 65% covered by the first and 85% covered by the 2nd. The efficacy due to the new strains that have broken out.

Finally got my second jab,14 weeks and one day after the first. My last reaction was very bad,fever chills and aching bones for 24 hours. Much better this time. Only two short fever and chills episodes. I did feel really sleepy all day,dozing off repeatedly,but nothing as bad as the first jab.Two more weeks for the immunity to strengthen and after 15 months of shielding in the house I will venture out! :0)

>75 dustydigger: Congrats! It's a very liberating feeling, isn't it? :)

This morning, my husband and I are trying to set up an August trip to Michigan to visit my mom, at long last. Trying to look past the sticker shock on some of these flights. We may be doing a red-eye!

Got my second jab this morning, at Nairobi airport of all places, while waiting to fly to South Sudan. We tried at the hospital yesterday but they had run out, but I heard a rumour they were vaccinating at the airport so I came very early for my flight, queued for an hour and a half, and eventually got it. Just before I reached the head of the queue they announced that they had run out and everybody would have to come back on Monday, but I managed to convince them that I was flying today and couldn't come on Monday, so I got one of the very last doses. A great relief. Now I'm enjoying a well-deserved breakfast in the frequent flyer lounge!

>77 John5918: You win the prize for the most unique experience I've heard!

>77 John5918: Congratulations! That is amazing! I agree with >78 Tess_W:.

>77 John5918: Congrats on getting it done! You win the prize for the most unique place & time getting a Covid-19 vaccination.

Hope that breakfast was delicious, you certainly earned it!

And this morning my wife got hers in Nairobi. She went to the hospital very early in the morning, picked up ticket no 303, and found they only had 350 doses, so she succeeded in getting the jab after a long wait. It's a great relief that we are both now fully vaccinated.

>81 John5918: congrats!

>81 John5918:

But it's taken me nearly six weeks to get the vaccination certificate. As soon as I got my second jab I received a text message from the Ministry of Health confirming that I had had the vaccination, and incidentally confirming that I am in their system. However whenever I logged on to get my certificate it wouldn't let me in, I think because I have a Kenya alien ID rather than a Kenyan citizen ID, and the system was only set up to recognise the latter. Today I finally sent an e-mail to their help desk and within minutes got a reply saying they had reset it for me, and immediately I was able to download my vaccination certificate, with a nice QR bar code on it for verification.

I was at the pharmacy today and noted lots of people there to get their first vaccine shot. Walk ins accepted rather than making people make an appointment. And they had a choice as to which they wanted; Moderna or one of the others. (I didn’t catch which.)
This is rural Kentucky. I think the messaging must be getting through.

>84 2wonderY: Great news! Maybe more people with common sense will come out of the woodwork so we can stop this thing. I'm in NC. Although my county is doing very well, a lot of the state is a mess.

Edited for accuracy: county, not country

>85 krazy4katz: Most counties are red zoned here. We are at 52% vaccinated for those who are eligible. Perhaps the pediatric case stories are motivating people.
My daughter will be teaching at the high school level beginning next week, and grandbaby, age 3, will be in pre-school.

>84 2wonderY: Very good news, and hopefully a sign that this Delta variant is nothing to mess with.

Last year's waving off of the initial covid-19 was easier to sell, since people with underlying conditions and the elderly seemed the most vulnerable. Now we're seeing sickness among children, and younger people in general, from a stronger variant that's more easily spread.

I really hope to see an increase in daily vaccines across this country instead of new cases! At the peak we were around, what, about 3 million shots a day?

>86 2wonderY: I am teaching medical students once a week right now. Tomorrow is my second day. Everyone is masked and UNC is mandating that faculty, staff and students either get vaccinated or get tested once a week.

Undergraduates come back next week, so let's see what happens. Last year was an absolute disaster: 2 weeks into the semester, undergraduates had to go virtual because the increase in Covid cases used up all rooms that had been set aside in two dormitories for quarantining.

I have also heard of people falsifying vaccination cards. Another horror. What is it with these people?

In Florida, the governor is threatening to fire any official who mandates masks for public schools. Glad I don't have to deal with him. What a nutcase! Fortunately, he is being sued by parents and the school officials are willing to put their jobs at risk to do the right thing.

>88 krazy4katz:

Our governor has just mandated masks in all pre-kindergarten through 12th grade schools. Failure to comply could lead to "non-recognition", which means "total loss of access to state funding and loss of the school’s ability to engage in any Illinois High School Association and Illinois Elementary School Association athletic competitions".

And the State Board of Education is not kidding around. They already withdrew recognition from one private school that put out a video saying their policy would be "mask optional". The school caved.

But I expect there will be others.

>89 lilithcat: Wow! That is harsh, but it does help protect young children's lives. Right now is not a time to experiment with removing masks. Hopefully there will be a vaccine for children soon. What I have heard is that it is taking longer for the vaccine because the dosage for children has to be lower and no one really knows what it should be. Also, they try to test longer for children than for adults to make sure it is safe.

Our legislature (Ohio) passed a "new" law that only the legislature can require masks.......the anti-vaxxers are in control here!

Now my State is offering a 3rd injection for those who are immuno compromised. What do you think?

If that's what the doctors are recommending then of course one should go ahead with it, but once again it highlights the huge disparity between the Global North, where government are offering a third jab to people who are already fully vaccinated, and the Global South, where only a tiny minority of the population have been able to get even a single dose.

>93 John5918: Most definitely disparity. Not to mention they are now disposing of millions of doses per day that have gone past the expiration date.

Was able to walk in to Walgreens and schedule a booster within the hour.

We both have booster appointments on Thursday.

Daughter texted me while I was waiting for my Pfizer booster after Moderna primaries. As a schoolteacher, she got her booster yesterday, Moderna after Pfizer. It laid her out today. I’m hoping that passes me by, as I’m too busy to take a day off. I’ll let you know. I mowed my yard today, just in case I don’t feel good tomorrow.

It has been 2 &1/2 weeks since my booster (Pfizer). Sore arm but otherwise, no problems.

Minor aches and chills first thing this morning, but manageable. Fatigue wacked me flat in the afternoon. But I got up early evening and did my laundry. I will sleep hard tonight, I think.

Kenya has just begun offering booster vaccines. I phoned the local vaccination centre this morning and have an appointment for 7th January.

I have Covid the last week of November/1st week of December. I had 7 full days of high temps (100-101) and a splitting headache--thankfully that is all. I had been vaccinated twice. I also lost my sense of taste and smell and and am just getting it back. My Dr. said to get the booster in Feb.

I have had the booster.

Got my booster this morning in a protestant mission clinic in our nearest small town, about 30 km from home. It was a quick, efficient and user friendly experience. Very humbling to line up with low-income rural Africans eager to get vaccinated, while at the same time being conscious of high profile rich comfortable people from the Global North like that famous tennis player who are refusing to be vaccinated. Weird. I got Moderna this time, after having Astra Zeneca for my first two jabs.

>103 John5918: Congratulations on your booster! May you be one of millions in Africa with this opportunity.

And yes, some people have intelligence but no logic. I have a friend like that and had to cut ties with her because she refuses to get vaccinated and is in a high risk category. Very sad. Also makes me extremely angry, which does no one any good but I can't help it.

I've had my vaccines and my booster. I'm waiting for #4.

My husband and I got our boosters this afternoon. We are such hermits that I don't worry too much about exposure, but he is 82 and was obsessing about getting a booster. I am starting to feel a little achy this evening, just as I did with the first two injections. Will go to bed early and watch some mindless TV. I wish everyone would get vaccinated so we could stop talking about this issue.

I signed up for a college course and I’m waiting for my online first class now. Checking my new campus email and found a very informative mail from the college president about local COVID cases and vaccinations. I hadn’t been able to drill down so well on the numbers. College staff are 94% vaxxed, and still 15 positives and isolated. That reflects on the 50.4% vax rate for the county (Kentucky), 1,026 new cases this past week and 8 deaths.
Most students are still at home, returning this weekend.
It’s been so quiet here, I’ve been able to meet library and IT staff for help getting me up to speed. I’ve never Zoomed before.

>107 2wonderY: I think you will like Zooming---not quite as good as in person, but there is a lot to be said for it: 1) you don't have to leave the house-so weather be damned! 2) Easy to access 3) no threat of disease transmission 4) you can wear your slippers!

Our Bible study group decided to Zoom in 2020 when we couldn't meet in person and we have decided that it's the way to go-permanently for various reasons; probably the most important is that once people got home from work they did not want to leave again in less than hour and since we live where we usually get inches of ice, it's just plan safer. We do meet about once a quarter in person, but for the most part we are content with Zoom. The only downside is you don't get those body cues and there are a lot of unintended interruptions--but we don't mind!

I received my booster vax yesterday. That is now number three.

Getting my booster vax on Friday. I had a light case of Covid the last week of November and the first week of December. Dr. said wait 6 weeks and then get it. I'm hesitant, but I will!

>110 Tess_W: Sorry you had Covid. I think if your original shots went well, your booster should go well too.