Group 1c vaccines-how will it work

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Tried to call the SMG vaccine hot line and the line looks dead. Doesn't even answer.

spoke too soon, got through

but was told they're too busy to deal with my call.

I filled out the NJ online registration and did receive a confirmation email back but it didn't mention what "group" I may have landed in.  Do all of you have that info in your confirmation emails?  If so, maybe some user error on my part.

In me confirmation email, I have "Phase 1C" in the subject, but that was before they moved 1C to 1B.

In the subject line, not the body text.

steel said:

This mornings' web experience:

•Being over 65 I had "preregistered" on the NJ State web site (although only just yesterday). 

•This morning I went on the EssexCOVID.org web site which (now updated) indicated that as of today, being over 65 I would qualify for a shot.

• The site let me answer a number of questions (I was getting all excited as it seemed I would get an appointment). It even let me select the Livingston Mall Sears location.

• But alas, when I got to the pull-down menu to select a date, a pink pop-up box alerts me that all the appointments are filled through the 22nd -which is as far ahead as they seem to be scheduling at the moment (?)

• SO, -I guess I'll just keep checking that site and my email for any notifications.

 Edited to add to my own previous post: 

This afternoon, almost on a whim I tried again on the EssexCOVID website to get an appointment. There was now added a date of the 23rd (previously this morning the farthest out was the 22nd).

ALAS: The 23rd was also already filled. Such a tease. I wonder wonder wonder what is the deal going forward. Persistence? Luck? Patience? Feels like such a crap shoot.

Reminds me darkly a bit about that old joke about what to do during a nuclear attack warning, -Bend over, put your head between your legs and kiss your azz goodbye.

I was under the impression they only moved part of 1c into 1b

max_weisenfeld said:

I was under the impression they only moved part of 1c into 1b

oh, you could very well be right. I only noticed the part that was relevant to me, which was having pre-existing conditions.

drummerboy said:

oh, you could very well be right. I only noticed the part that was relevant to me, which was having pre-existing conditions.

 Yeah, I’m definitely still 1c.

spontaneous said:

Summit Medical Group holding vaccines exclusively for their patients might me legal, but in the middle of a global pandemic it is sure as hell unethical.

 I'm a patient of SMG and we just got an email saying that they are overrun with requests and we shouldn't even contact them ... they will contact us when we are eligible.  Apparently they don't have that large a supply compared to their number of patients.

FYI re Summit Medical Group: Received the email below on 1/14 around 7:30 pm:

My FIL is a SMG patient and was able to schedule his COVID vaccine when he saw his doctor

bak said:

I filled out the NJ online registration and did receive a confirmation email back but it didn't mention what "group" I may have landed in.  Do all of you have that info in your confirmation emails?  If so, maybe some user error on my part.

 Like you, I got a confirmation email, nothing about a group and basically sounded like they are taking care of priority groups so I can't schedule an appointment until they let me know.  

steel said:

 Edited to add to my own previous post: 

This afternoon, almost on a whim I tried again on the EssexCOVID website to get an appointment. There was now added a date of the 23rd (previously this morning the farthest out was the 22nd).

ALAS: The 23rd was also already filled. Such a tease. I wonder wonder wonder what is the deal going forward. Persistence? Luck? Patience? Feels like such a crap shoot.

Reminds me darkly a bit about that old joke about what to do during a nuclear attack warning, -Bend over, put your head between your legs and kiss your azz goodbye.

 I  was told by a reliable source that as long as I was able to get to the portion of the State registration for an appointment where I supplied a verifiable email address, I would receive an email with an appointment once my name was reached.  I had pre-registered previously so hopefully they have my eligibility information.  However, this same source has told me three different things in a matter of hours.  In short, the process is still evolving and the procedure seems to be a fluid one (no pun intended).  

I already posted this on the other vaccine thread but at the risk of appearing redundant here it is again:

My wife and I both got appointment dates for Feb 2nd via EssexCOVID.org this morning (as persons over 65). They are supposed to email "time of day" at some point.

It's been a weird crap-shoot because I tried several times yesterday and even at 5:00 AM this morning with no success but my lovely wife had better luck for both of us at 9:00.

This article is on New Jersey Online - unfortunately - it's behind a paywall:

Don’t expect a COVID vaccine at your doctor’s office anytime soon. Here’s why.

It might be some time before you can get the vaccine at your local physician's office.

I have to say that this all feels like a discomforting dystopian scramble for survival, - like crowds racing to the rescue ship in a disaster movie. I guess that is a fair analogy but perhaps many many people are doing the very best they can and this is all new to the times in which we find ourselves.

Am also hoping to simultaneously survive the near fall of the republic.

I think the point of the article was that in the past - doctor's offices have been able to coordinate with health department in rolling out vaccine's.  But there is a limited supply and greater requirements for refrigeration units.

Seems like we need a multi-tiered rollout strategy.  Hopefully things will get more efficient in the weeks to come.

steel said:

I have to say that this all feels like a discomforting dystopian scramble for survival, - like crowds racing to the rescue ship in a disaster movie. I guess that is a fair analogy but perhaps many many people are doing the very best they can and this is all new to the times in which we find ourselves.

Am also hoping to simultaneously survive the near fall of the republic.

-------------------------

Perhaps, but I wonder at the way people are clamoring for an appointment to get the vaccine. It seems like they're exclaiming that their life depends on it but I think some are really saying My desire to do whatever the hell I want depends on it. We already know that there are things we have been able to do that have kept us safe - but we're getting fed up with the non-vaccination methods of not getting dead. 

• Unfortunately wearing a mask is uncomfortable and annoying and difficult to manage (like my damn glasses fogging up all the time). 
• Keeping a safe distance robs us of human contact that we're now coming to realize many of us took for granted.
• Curtailing or even shutting down business activity limits the spread but messes up our economic lifeblood.
• It is damn near impossible to make ends meet for so many of us.

Unfortunately, all those things have not been able to absolutely guarantee our safety so a vaccine is vital. I believe the ways the Pfizer and Maderna vaccines need to be handled have caused logistical nightmares. I also believe that we as a nation could have devoted more resources to this process much earlier. We knew a vaccine (or 4) was coming but it doesn't seem like people bought into the fact that there was going to be a huge need for short-term solutions like the Sears (or Lord and Taylor?) at the Livingston Mall.

I don't have any good suggestions though. Sorry.

[rant]

One thing I *do* have a suggestion for is this: I deliver food for people that are urged (but we cannot absolutely require them to do so) to stay inside at home to isolate (if COVID+) or quarantine if they were a close contact. Why haven't we been able to enlist local restaurants to ramp up and provide meals for these people? Every Monday and Tuesday I drive all over Newark's North Ward delivering take-out meals to people on a long list we compile from the disease investigators and contact tracers. Most of the time we have to ration the meals. My partner and I only get 300 from this one place (how the hell they do 300 the day of, I don't know but they do) but when we look at our list of families and total up the number of people that need a meal we come up short. That means we have to only hand out 6 or 7 for a home that might need eight, or 3 when there are 4 at the residence.

We could be keeping restaurant businesses alive and employing people to help provide the food for these people. It's a service we provide free of charge and more money should be set aside for it. As it is, there are people that are actively sick with COVID or those that should quarantine that are not able to stay home. No work - no pay - no rent payment or utility bills paid - etc. Stimulus checks? Yeah, the Easter bunny says it's on its way if we can get the paperwork done fast enough but you're only getting a pittance - and you'll like it. Maybe things will improve with the new administration but since we've seen they can provide money from out of nowhere for other things, I'm disappointed that the current occupants don't see that investing in keeping people safe will save incalculable money in future COVID-related healthcare costs in survivors. Keeping people from getting it would be far far more cost-effective than treating them for the acute infection and then the related sequelae later on.

[/rant]

It is still early yet but now that we know that this COVID infection causes vascular damage all over the place (particularly in the brain) there is going to be a rise in certain health problems earlier in life compared to years before COVID-19. One example is the unexpected appearance of schizophrenia/psychosis symptoms in COVID survivors that doesn't fit the usual pattern. They've connected this to new patterns of microbleeds in this population. Some get them, some don't. This is still considered uncommon but it is looking like a real phenomenon. It might even wind up being a new diagnostic category in the DSM-VI whenever that comes out. This goes along with the potential for sudden onset disorientation in persons with an active COVID infection. That symptom, along with chest pain or difficulty breathing, is one of the very serious indications that a person needs to seek medical attention immediately.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/28/health/covid-psychosis-mental.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&fbclid=IwAR2uX-zqIUExnIHHPzq9C9gJV7cph0b5GA3u08SxuHuafl7oHKHHdfYaEU0

I don’t want a vaccine so I can go shopping at the mall like everything is normal.  I want a vaccine so I don’t get sick and end up with heart damage, or long term symptoms that make daily life difficult to manage.  And I most certainly don’t want to die and leave my three young kids without a mother.

My husband has now had both doses of the vaccine.  He isn’t running out to the bar after work or following his “desire to do whatever the hell he wants.”  He still wears his mask, still keeps a safe distance when possible.

This isn’t about going out and pretending that the pandemic is over, this is about lowering risk of getting seriously ill, or worse.

And I’m pissed because my stupidity in waiting for the state to send an email telling me I was now eligible to sign up for an appointment put me behind half the state, and now there are no appointments to be had anywhere.  By having a central register that does absolutely nothing the state basically rewarded people who didn’t bother with pre-registering and who went straight for the vaccine.  The pre-registration site is as useless as the COVID app, I’m guessing both were put out as “feel good” measures so we’d be duped into thinking they were actually doing something.  Sh!t show no longer applies, this is worse than a sh!t show.  As my husband loves to say, this is like watching a monkey trying to f*ck a football, except people are dying every damned day.

Ditto this:

spontaneous said:

I don’t want a vaccine so I can go shopping at the mall like everything is normal.  I want a vaccine so I don’t get sick and end up with heart damage, or long term symptoms that make daily life difficult to manage.    

Well, I was speaking in a rhetorical sense. I know many people have straightforward concerns and are not getting access to the vaccine. Unfortunately, I also know others who have a more selfish agenda and are looking for an opportunity to advance in the line.

fyi for nj.com, i've been able to highlight and copy the articles, paste into word and read.  you just have to be quick as long as you start (with the title) before the pay wall pops up

spontaneous said:

My FIL is a SMG patient and was able to schedule his COVID vaccine when he saw his doctor

 The SMG announcement just came yesterday as they were apparently overwhelmed with requests but not with new vaccine supply.