Covid -19 Vaccinations

[rucrazy]

Just wondered when a Vaccine is made available will you get yours?

 

Joseph

[Randyk47]

We really want to take a vaccine as soon as possible but I voted the “yes but” because my wife’s hematologist has told her she won’t let my wife take any vaccine until she has a chance to review it.   The doctor doesn’t want to trigger an autoimmune response if possible.   As it is my wife can’t take most vaccines like flu.  Doctor thinks the risk associated with Covid may outweigh the triggering risk but she will make that recommendation once she gets the information.   We will, at least in my wife’s case, have to play a bit of the wait and see.   Can’t say I’m not interested in her doctor’s professional guidance.   

[rucrazy]

6 minutes ago, Randyk47 said:

 Doctor thinks the risk associated with Covid may outweigh the triggering risk but she will make that recommendation once she gets the information.  

Randy that makes perfect sense.. smart when one always errs on the side of caution.

Joseph

[taxatty]

Curious to see how the votes would go if getting a vaccine becomes a prerequisite to cruising.

[QueSeraSera]

this is interesting rucrazy & agreed taxatty - also will be interesting to see the global response

[rucrazy]

Thanks to all that responded.it appears thst

99+ Are willing to take the life saving vaccine with a 50-50 split on when to take the vaccine.

Only one respondent declared they didn't believe in the science.

FYI- I purposely did not want to identify voters.

Agan thanks to all that participated.

 

Joseph

[christraveller]

I am all for a short (weeks) delay in having the vaccine.  That will put lingering doubts on my part at rest about real world side effects, yet offer protection for me and from me. I am a clinically active physician, and have multiple risk factors for COVID.  
 

Which of the various vaccines will be on offer???  I am curious.
 

I just had Shingrix, part 1 of 2, against shingles ( herpes zoster),  a week after the current flu jab. No major nasty effects.   It  is wonderful peace of mind to have. I have seen people suffer terribly from both of those diseases, which are now largely preventable. 
 

I look forward to a glass of bubbly with you all, once we are out of isolation, Silversea out of the harbour, and the Champagne out of the caves in or near Reims!  

[cruiseej]

@christraveller     You're probably aware, but it's often the second Shingrix shot that hits some people a little hard. I had no reaction to the first one, but the second one really slowed me down for a day (nothing too bad, just very sluggish snd made me crawl back into bed for most of the afternoon).

 

I doubt a few weeks into the COVID vaccines will yield any useful information. A lot of people have had these shots across the multiple clinical trials. What we don't know is if the 95% efficacy rate will hold in a large population, and work equally well for all ages, races and ethnicities, etc. -- and we probably won't know much more about that for another 3-6 months after the vaccines begin. My sense now is that when a shot is available to me (which certainly won't be in the first couple months), I'll be in line. And I'll then continue wearing my mask and and social distancing for months to follow, until we see rates plummeting. Our next booked cruise is Antarctica in December, and I'm cautiously hopeful that will be able to sail, and even with some restrictions that will still be in place, it will be close to the type of cruise we anticipated back before this all began. 🙂

[kimanjo]

16 hours ago, christraveller said:

I am all for a short (weeks) delay in having the vaccine.  That will put lingering doubts on my part at rest about real world side effects, yet offer protection for me and from me. I am a clinically active physician, and have multiple risk factors for COVID.  
 

Which of the various vaccines will be on offer???  I am curious.
 

I just had Shingrix, part 1 of 2, against shingles ( herpes zoster),  a week after the current flu jab. No major nasty effects.   It  is wonderful peace of mind to have. I have seen people suffer terribly from both of those diseases, which are now largely preventable. 
 

I look forward to a glass of bubbly with you all, once we are out of isolation, Silversea out of the harbour, and the Champagne out of the caves in or near Reims!  

 

Both DH and I had the Shringix.  He had "flu" like issues for 24-48 hours.  We BOTH had an itchy rash.  Me on my side, he on his leg. Kind of like a case of pox.  Lasted 14 days.

 

We had this reaction after the 2 shot.  We had the 2nd jab right at 2 months after the 1st jab.  We now wonder if you wait longer if you have less reaction?  

[Daveywavey70]

I'm very reluctantly reluctant. I Had an employer sponsored flu jab 20 years ago for the first time and I, along with 5 others were hospitalised within 48 hours. I don't particularly want the jab for myself but feel that I need to do my bit. 

[TakingFlight]

Not really sure why I wanted to wait until I turned 65 to get the Shingrix vaccine. Silly move-6 months before that I got shingles! Very painful. The mild flu-like symptoms from the vaccine were nothing compared to actually having shingles. I would encourage those who aren’t allergic to the shingles vaccine itself to get it ASAP. And I am on the side of getting the COVID vaccine as soon as it’s offered to me.

[kimanjo]

1 hour ago, TakingFlight said:

Not really sure why I wanted to wait until I turned 65 to get the Shingrix vaccine. Silly move-6 months before that I got shingles! Very painful. The mild flu-like symptoms from the vaccine were nothing compared to actually having shingles. I would encourage those who aren’t allergic to the shingles vaccine itself to get it ASAP. And I am on the side of getting the COVID vaccine as soon as it’s offered to me.

I agree!!  I am all about getting vaccine(s).  I just wanted to share our Shingrix experience.  When it happened, I could find nothing but anecdotal experiences of what we were going thru.  Nothing on the official web-site with the potential side effects.  

Absolutely, would not hesitate to at all to get jabbed again.  I get flu shot, and all other recommended immunizations.  Even had titer panel done to make sure the childhood ones were up to date.

 

[les37b]

On 11/24/2020 at 1:59 AM, TakingFlight said:

Not really sure why I wanted to wait until I turned 65 to get the Shingrix vaccine. Silly move-6 months before that I got shingles! Very painful. The mild flu-like symptoms from the vaccine were nothing compared to actually having shingles. I would encourage those who aren’t allergic to the shingles vaccine itself to get it ASAP. And I am on the side of getting the COVID vaccine as soon as it’s offered to me.

 

Being relatively unscathed with child illnesses (Apart from Measles as a baby and the Whooping Cough aged 8), I thought that signified a good inbuilt personal immunity. Unfortuately my eldest got Chicken Pox when he was about 6 or 7, he unselfishly passed it on to me when I was about 44. What could a few itchy spots be a cause of concern for eh! Well I was nigh unconcious for 2 full days. Not something I'd want to experience again!

[TakingFlight]

8 hours ago, les37b said:

 Well I was nigh unconcious for 2 full days. Not something I'd want to experience again!

Ouch!! I feel your pain!

[clo]

On 11/19/2020 at 5:30 PM, taxatty said:

Curious to see how the votes would go if getting a vaccine becomes a prerequisite to cruising.

Which is being discussed on Ask a Cruise Question with a lot of back and forth.

[crusinbanjo]

Mrs Banjo and I will likely take the vax, but will wait a few months to see how it goes.  We have been fortunate that we have either not been exposed, or were exposed long ago and just didn't know it!  Either way, we have been heathy without a sniffle since February.  we are being highly cautious, so hopefully we stay that way!

[sabreline]

On 11/23/2020 at 8:59 PM, TakingFlight said:

Not really sure why I wanted to wait until I turned 65 to get the Shingrix vaccine. Silly move-6 months before that I got shingles! Very painful. The mild flu-like symptoms from the vaccine were nothing compared to actually having shingles. I would encourage those who aren’t allergic to the shingles vaccine itself to get it ASAP. And I am on the side of getting the COVID vaccine as soon as it’s offered to me.

I came down with shingles on my face 4 months before Shingrix was approved. 3 1/2 years later, I still am on medication, still have relapses, still see a corneal specialist every 3 months ( or more often) and have some vision loss. I did get both Shingrix shots during an infection free time. It won't stop what I already have but will prevent it from popping up somewhere else. The 2nd shot is worse because the 1st shot "trains" your immune system to recognize the virus.

[christraveller]

Colleagues who are visiting consultants to elder care facilities had the first shot/jab last week. Mildly sore arms. Pfizer BioNtech product. 

 

Count  me in!    I am washing hands as if driven by triffids, changing masks every 2 hrs.  I even think about masking up on Zoom calls... then quickly return to reality!

[jpalbny]

I got shot #1 (Moderna) on Dec 21 and Chris got her first one today. Yup, sore arm for about 3-4 days; felt pretty normal again on Friday. Not much worse than that. We'll see how Chris does, and more importantly, how the second shot goes...

[Stumblefoot]

2 hours ago, jpalbny said:

...how the second shot goes...

That’s the one I’m waiting to hear about.

 

What have you heard about the J&J trials?

[cruiseej]

J&J is doing phase 3 trials of both a single dose and two-dose regimen. The single-dose trial started in September; the 2-dose trial started in November. The two doses come nearly two months apart, and the hope is to see if it improves the duration of the protection given from the vaccine. (Duration is also a question mark with he existing Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.)

 

J&J expects results from the single-dose phase 3 trial by the end of January; if the results are good enough, they could apply for an emergency use authorization in February, and if granted, begin distribution shortly thereafter.

 

J&J has inked contracts with the US government for 100 million doses and an option for 200 million more; with the EU for 200 million doses and an option for 200 million more; and with Gavi, an alliance for other countries including lower-income countries,  for 100 million doses in 2021 with the option for 100 million more, and 300 million more in 2022. (I haven't seen whether the US and EU doses are committed for 2021 or spread over two years.) All of this assumes they have an effective and problem-free vaccine, of course!

[Silver Spectre]

Good to see the Oxford/AZ vaccine given approval by the MHRA in the U.K. today, easier storage than the Pfizer one and made here. Not sure if it’s going for US regulatory approval or not. Currently 600,000+ Pfizer doses administered with some starting to get their second dose.

[Stumblefoot]

1 hour ago, Silver Spectre said:

Not sure if it’s going for US regulatory approval or not.

It is.  But, National U.S. media is reporting it could be months before approval here.

[cruiseej]

This one does feel a bit rushed to me. The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine showed 62% effectiveness -- certainly better than nothing, but not nearly as good as the other vaccines. And there are lots of question marks with this vaccine. The trial data showed that an initial half-dose followed by a second full dose seemed to improve effectiveness considerably -- but there weren't enough people in the trial who received this regimen to approve the two-doze dosage. Also, the test group who received the full doze/half dose regimen did not include anyone over the age of 55, so that can really skew the results. Many scientists say the divergent results require more testing -- another third stage double blind trial -- but the U.K. is pushing ahead to administer the vaccine in the single-dose regimen. It's a tough ethical question whether to rush ahead with a moderately effective vaccine versus withholding it to perhaps find a dosage that works better.

[drron29]

Though the Oxford vaccine was 90% effective given a low dose first and standard dose second.It is also much cheaper than Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.It is older technology so less likely to come out with new surprises when used in large numbers.It has a simpler and easier distribution need.It was the first vaccine to have submitted results to a peer reviewed journal.The Pfizer vaccine trial concluded that it was safe and over 90% effective in people aged 16-55.In the Moderna trial between 16-64 but in the Oxford trial found to be just as effective in those aged 75 and over - the really important group.

 

Now the Oxford vaccine was criticised for the snafu when a significant number of people were given a half dose of vaccine first because it was felt the trial wasn't conducted well.It turned out that to get enough doses for the trial they had to get some manufactured elsewhere.So it was also produced in Italy.They used a different method of production which when tested in Oxford was thought to have twice the concentration of the active agent.However it was the test not the vaccine that was wrong.And has been the case before in medicine the so called mistake seems to have improved the results.

"When breaking this down based on vaccine dose, those who received two standard doses of the vaccine saw a vaccine efficacy of 62% (based on 27/4,440 (0.6%) cases in the vaccine group, and 71/4,455 (1.6%) cases in the control group), and the low-dose/standard-dose group vaccine efficacy was 90% (based on 3/1,367 (0.2%) cases in the vaccine group, and 30/1,374 (2.2%) cases in the control group)."

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32466-1/fulltext

 

I am now approaching the end of my 51st year practicing medicine -yes I know but I am sure I will finally get it right -but in those years I have seen numerous medical trials that have had great results which turn out to be wrong or flawed when in general use.The opposite case also happens when a treatment is thought useless but turns out to be the best around -Beta blockers in heart failure for example.