The COVID-19 Vaccination Progress Thread

[S. aureus]

I'd be getting the jab earlier (relative to everyone else) in England than I appear to be in California, as I'm in Group 9 in the former. Hopefully I wouldn't be making it to Group 8 before that group's done, as it's a little over a year before I turn 55.

[Gangster Octopus]

Group 7 for me.

[ad hoc]

I'm in group 3 in Romania

(Though group 3 is basically "everyone else")

[pebblethefish]

I think I'm Group 6. Although based on the lateness of the letter telling me I was extremely vulnerable in the summer, I'll probably get a letter in August telling me I should have been vaccinated in March.

[San Bernardhinault]

In what looks like the very vague plan from Massachusetts, I'll be in "Phase 3", but basically the eleventh and final cohort. There is no explanation of how it will be structured once we get to Phase 3:

Phase One (December 2020-February 2021):

In order of priority

• Clinical and non-clinical healthcare workers doing direct and COVID-facing care
• Long term care facilities, rest homes and assisted living facilities
• Police, Fire and Emergency Medical Services
• Congregate care settings (including shelters and corrections)
• Home-based healthcare workers
• Healthcare workers doing non-COVID facing care

Phase Two (February 2021-April 2021):

In order of priority

• Individuals with 2+ comorbidities (high risk for COVID-19 complications)
• Early education, K-12, transit, grocery, utility, food and agriculture, sanitation, public works and public health workers
• Adults 65+
• Individuals with one comorbidity

Phase Three (April 2021- ):

• Vaccine available to general public

[Incandenza]

Apparently there is something for California, which is currently in Phase 1A:

Those in Phase 1A include:

• Health care workers
• Workers and residents at skilled nursing facilities
• Workers and residents at other congregate living facilities

Next is Phase 1B, which is divided into two tiers:

Phase 1B, Tier One includes:

• People 75 and older
• Workers in education, like teachers, and childcare
• Emergency services workers
• Food and agriculture workers, like farm workers and grocery workers

Phase 1B, Tier Two includes:

• Anyone 65 or older with an underlying health condition or disability
• Workers in transportation and logistics
• Industrial, residential and commercial sectors
• Critical manufacturing workers
• Incarcerated individuals
• Homeless individuals

Next is Phase 1C, which will include:

• Anyone 16 to 64 years old with an underlying health conditions or disability
• Workers in water and waste management
• Workers in the defense, energy and chemical sectors
• Communications and IT workers
• Financial services and government operations workers
• Community service groups

Of course we need to have all of Lockheed Martin's employees getting vaccinated before someone not in one of those tiers.

LA County says that if we aren't in any of those phases to expect to wait until Summer 2021. I'm not sure if they have defined what is an "underlying health condition." Maybe my obesity will get me into Phase 1C.

[nmrfox]

I think I'm Group 6. Although based on the lateness of the letter telling me I was extremely vulnerable in the summer, I'll probably get a letter in August telling me I should have been vaccinated in March.

I think I'll be Group 6 too and my letter was late too. As an asthma sufferer I had to ring my local surgery for my flu jab (it was around 6 weeks overdue) and was told that a number of patients had been missed due to a clerical error. I'm hoping that they're a bit sharper when it comes to the vaccine jab.

[Hot Pepsi]

Apparently there is something for California, which is currently in Phase 1A:

Those in Phase 1A include:

• Health care workers
• Workers and residents at skilled nursing facilities
• Workers and residents at other congregate living facilities

Next is Phase 1B, which is divided into two tiers:

Phase 1B, Tier One includes:

• People 75 and older
• Workers in education, like teachers, and childcare
• Emergency services workers
• Food and agriculture workers, like farm workers and grocery workers

Phase 1B, Tier Two includes:

• Anyone 65 or older with an underlying health condition or disability
• Workers in transportation and logistics
• Industrial, residential and commercial sectors
• Critical manufacturing workers
• Incarcerated individuals
• Homeless individuals

Next is Phase 1C, which will include:

• Anyone 16 to 64 years old with an underlying health conditions or disability
• Workers in water and waste management
• Workers in the defense, energy and chemical sectors
• Communications and IT workers
• Financial services and government operations workers
• Community service groups

Of course we need to have all of Lockheed Martin's employees getting vaccinated before someone not in one of those tiers.

LA County says that if we aren't in any of those phases to expect to wait until Summer 2021. I'm not sure if they have defined what is an "underlying health condition." Maybe my obesity will get me into Phase 1C.

I don’t know why they need a three-tiered hierarchy. Just call them group 1,2,3...

[S. aureus]

I'd hazard a wild guess that they started with one Phase 1, then decided to subdivide that into A, B and C and then decided on further divisions, each time the previous divisions were too entrenched to readily change.
Which is what happens in my job all the time. Eventually the entire structure gets scrapped as being way too complicated and we start again.

[Hot Pepsi]

Yeah, I see that PA is doing it that way too. Notably, all kinds of people, including teachers are in Phase 1B, behind the most vulnerable but ahead of people with various kinds of intermediate risk factors. I guess I’ll be in Phase 3, which is just the general public.

[fatbear]

My mum is 89 and lives in Mid-Glamorgan is still to hear anything about receiving the vaccine.

I am probably in Group 6. I was able to reverse my diabetes so should be in Group 7, but apparently once a diabetic stays on the NHS system !

[pebblethefish]

I don’t know why they need a three-tiered hierarchy. Just call them group 1,2,3...

To stop people from feeling left out or diminished, they should take the primary school route and name the groups after wild animals or birds or suchlike. So if you're over 55 but don't have an underlying health issue, then you're a badger, but you'll have to wait while the chaffinches are vaccinated first, what with them working in the retail industry. Bad luck to the water voles, but as every one will get a prize, you're actually equal first, not last.

[Bored Of Education]

I am in the odd position of yo-yoing West Brom style. In lockdown, suddenly, we were key workers with applause and official letters to show it then, as soon as vaccines come into play, I am down for June along with all the rest of the middle aged. Now the cry goes up for us to be front of the queue again. It is really funny how the prospect of spending tier 4 with their own kids again motivates some people.

[Bored Of Education]

My mum is 89 and lives in Mid-Glamorgan is still to hear anything about receiving the vaccine.

Same with my folks there as well.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Couple of points I'd note from AdeC's BC guidelines.

1 - There doesn't seem to be any mention of pre-existing conditions. Is there a different view in Canada about whether people with severe asthma or COPD or such should get priority, or do they come into one of the other groups and I just haven't noticed?

2 - The line "Staying physically distant from people we don’t know" is problematic to me - it seems to imply that we're fine to be close to people we know, which shouldn't be the case.

1) It's a good question. People with pre-existing conditions have certainly been mentioned as a vulnerable group but, you're right, they're not specified in either the federal government's, nor BC's guidelines. It could be an oversight but, and this is a guess, it's more likely to be because the exact condition and it's severity would need to be evaluated on a case by case basis. What they clearly don't want, based on the guidelines, is to be inundated with calls asking "when am I going to get my turn?" Technically, as a stroke survivor, my wife is in this group but there are certainly people with conditions that make them far more vulnerable than she is. I'll do some research and see if the province's Health Officer has addressed it at one of her daily briefings.

2) BC's health officials have insisted all along on maintaining a social bubble. At it's largest it was six people, this was reduced to only your own household at the crest of the second wave (or one other person if you lived alone.) Maintaining social distance from all others has been the number one factor in prevention. However consideration was given to the need for human physical contact too. We, my wife and I, have not been within six feet of anyone else for over two months, but being able to hug and touch each other, especially, at this time has been of inestimable importance. So, yes, health officers are not just saying it's fine to be close to someone, but necessary. However to monitor contacts they've hired hundreds of people to track and trace, which seems to have worked very well so far as new cases are drifting downwards to almost half of what they were a month ago.

[treibeis]

I get called a Nazi and that, but:

I used to work for companies that produced vaccines, among others. The average lag time, from "Ooh, we could do with a vaccine" to "Ooh, we can start injecting the shit" was ten and a half years.

But now it's not.

Not with a barge pole.

[Nocturnal Submission]

I get called a Nazi and that, but:

I used to work for companies that produced vaccines. The average lag time, from "Ooh, we could do with a vaccine" to "Ooh, we can start injecting the shit" was ten and a half years.

But now it's not.

Not with a barge pole.

OK. So do you think that:

The vaccine won't work?

The vaccine will have adverse long-term side-effects?

Something else?

[DCI Harry Batt]

I wouldn't call you a Nazi - not for that anyway - but I don't understand the objection (and I think avoiding the vaccination is a serious piece of antisocial behaviour). Have you read all the stuff people have written explaining why it's been able to happen so quickly? And if so, what makes you reject it?

[Hot Pepsi]

This technology is different and has been in development for a while. So part of that “10 and a half years” began long before COVID-19 hit.

They’ve never tried this hard to work this fast before.

The benefits outweigh the risks.

[treibeis]

OK. So do you think that:

The vaccine won't work?

The vaccine will have adverse long-term side-effects?

Something else?

I don't know, to answer all three questions. I'm not a scientist.

But, until "science" has answered all three questions with the "Yes" and "No" responses that suit my agenda, I won't be going anywhere near it.

At the moment, it seems to be "I'll get vaccinated, then nothing else can happen to me."

[DCI Harry Batt]

I guess as long as you stay well away from other people as well, that's ok.

[Hot Pepsi]

The only way to know the answers to those questions is to give it to a lot of people.

I’d happily volunteer to be one of those people, but understand I’m in a low priority group.

[treibeis]

I guess as long as you stay well away from other people as well, that's ok.

What's "staying away from people" got to do with vaccination? If "other people" are vaccinated, as I understand what "other people" seem to understand, then it doesn't matter what I do. They're vaccinated; they're in the clear.

[elguapo4]

Personally I think it's risk and reward, and given that I want to see my friends and family and don't want to spend the rest of my life sitting in lockdown , then it's a risk I'm willing to take.

[San Bernardhinault]

What's "staying away from people" got to do with vaccination? If "other people" are vaccinated, as I understand what "other people" seem to understand, then it doesn't matter what I do. They're vaccinated; they're in the clear.

Nope. The vaccines are only between 70 and 90% effective, and some groups of people are unable to get vaccinated, so if you get yourself sick you still have a decent chance of killing someone by infecting them as a result of your choices.