How can there not be a COVID-19 thread?

A FB friend had Covid back in the spring. Nonetheless, she had the first dose of the vaccine on Thursday. On Friday, she was so sick she couldn’t get out of bed. Doctors were considering admitting her and have told her she is NOT to get the second dose.
 
P_X said:
In order for you to interpret this, you need to know the distribution of people in the first round of people eligible. Jt will probably look worse once you've done that but still.
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I’ve been reading for months that “essential workers” are comprised mostly of people belonging to minority groups. So shouldn’t the essential workers be the first to get vaccinated?

Perhaps the essential workers are a small percentage of those who got the vaccine. Perhaps there is some reluctance to get the vaccine among minority groups. But even with that, these numbers look really bad.
 
SuperMatt said:
I’ve been reading for months that “essential workers” are comprised mostly of people belonging to minority groups. So shouldn’t the essential workers be the first to get vaccinated?

Perhaps the essential workers are a small percentage of those who got the vaccine. Perhaps there is some reluctance to get the vaccine among minority groups. But even with that, these numbers look really bad.
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Depends. Healthcare workers are the first group everywhere, which explains overrepresentation of asians for example. So again, too little data to draw conclusions.
 
Thinking back on the day I went for my first vaccination jab, it seems to me that when I was spending some time in the waiting room afterward, waiting out the fifteen-minute making-sure-everything's-ok period, that while I noticed that most of the others in the room were white-or-grey-haired, clearly older like myself, and that there were a couple of younger people there, at the time it really didn't register with me that everyone was White and that I should have been wondering why. Yeah, wait a minute! There are plenty of Black, Hispanic, Asian and other people in my community who are within my age cohort, too. Where were they? I really hope that they did get vaccinated that particular week or the following week or have plans to be vaccinated very soon.
 
Bingo, the penny has dropped for me vis-a-vis the Moderna vaccination and the impact my first dose has had on me. I'd already begun to wonder but then someone on MR posted a link to an article which had a sentence that absolutely leaped out at me:

“Let’s spray the area down with antiviral cytokines, which also happen to be inflammatory.”

BINGO!!!! OK, now I have an explanation for a couple of things which I have noticed since I got the first dose of Moderna on January 21st..... The first couple of days, a sore arm at the injection site area, not unexpected. Felt fine otherwise. A day or so after that a period of runny nose and typical symptoms that I usually have when I'm having an allergic response in the Spring to pollen. Uh, OK.....that went away fairly quickly. Next up: a cold sore near my nose, when I definitely have not had a cold or any other illness for quite a long time, and the appearance of a second one a day or two later near my lower lip...... Ehhhhh..... I was beginning to wonder if this was all related somehow to that Moderna injection. Weird, but possible.....

Then a couple of days ago out of seemingly nowhere came the distinctly unpleasant surprise of rather intense lower back pain as well as pain radiating halfway down my legs, similar to sciatic pain which I experienced many years ago when having a disk herniation at L-5/S1. Aggggh...... NOT so cool. WTH?!!! In the many years since my surgery for that herniated disk I've experienced minor issues and even some numbness of a couple of toes on the left foot, the side which was affected, and that is not unusual. Apart from occasional twinges of pain reminiscent of that intense pain at the time of the herniation and an occasional nighttime leg cramp or two, nothing else particularly disturbing. Nothing like THIS!

THIS, though, was unusual and definitely disturbing!!! WHOA!!! Rapid onset is an index of suspicion from the get-go, though. I went to bed feeling perfectly fine. I hadn't done anything unusual, I hadn't fallen, I hadn't stressed myself doing strenuous exercises or moving furniture around, but, wow. This situation was sudden. Two mornings ago I arose from bed with this not-so-delightful surprise, barely could get out of bed, and finally yesterday resorted to taking a couple of Aleve when I was feeling extreme discomfort when sitting, when rising from a sitting position, when walking, when lying down, when doing anything. Walking did seem to help but that began to happen only after a while. Bedtime the second night seemed a little easier, I was able to find a couple of comfortable positions and didn't have that intense burning pain which signaled that this was nerve-related. At first I thought, "OK, I've been sitting too much, I've been doing too much on the computer and because it's cold outside haven't been doing my usual walks around the neighborhood...."

Today things have been much more comfortable and though the day started out with pain and discomfort as time went on I noticed that the severity of discomfort had lessened and that my customary flexibility seemed to be gradually returning. In mid-afternoon I was able to do normal activities such as preparing loads of laundry for the machines and tossing them into first the washer and then the dryer without much of a problem. Walking, bending, doing normal movements seem to feel normal or close to it again.

Now I'm suspecting that in fact all of these odd things are indeed my body's response to my first dose of Moderna. The key word here for me is "inflammation", of course, especially when it comes to the issues with my lumbar spine since that of course does involve the nervous system. Exactly what I was feeling back then, but at the same time in a different way than ever before. Pain but not as excruciating or disabling as that which I had experienced with the herniated disk.

Bingo! Now this constellation of particular symptoms and occurrences over the past little while makes perfect sense to me. Not fun. Now I'm wondering what the heck I'll be going through after I've had that second dose of Moderna later this month...... WOW!!

In spite of everything this still is better than dealing with COVID-19.....
 
Clix Pix said:
Bingo, the penny has dropped for me vis-a-vis the Moderna vaccination and the impact my first dose has had on me. I'd already begun to wonder but then someone on MR posted a link to an article which had a sentence that absolutely leaped out at me:

“Let’s spray the area down with antiviral cytokines, which also happen to be inflammatory.”

BINGO!!!! OK, now I have an explanation for a couple of things which I have noticed since I got the first dose of Moderna on January 21st..... The first couple of days, a sore arm at the injection site area, not unexpected. Felt fine otherwise. A day or so after that a period of runny nose and typical symptoms that I usually have when I'm having an allergic response in the Spring to pollen. Uh, OK.....that went away fairly quickly. Next up: a cold sore near my nose, when I definitely have not had a cold or any other illness for quite a long time, and the appearance of a second one a day or two later near my lower lip...... Ehhhhh..... I was beginning to wonder if this was all related somehow to that Moderna injection. Weird, but possible.....

Then a couple of days ago out of seemingly nowhere came the distinctly unpleasant surprise of rather intense lower back pain as well as pain radiating halfway down my legs, similar to sciatic pain which I experienced many years ago when having a disk herniation at L-5/S1. Aggggh...... NOT so cool. WTH?!!! In the many years since my surgery for that herniated disk I've experienced minor issues and even some numbness of a couple of toes on the left foot, the side which was affected, and that is not unusual. Apart from occasional twinges of pain reminiscent of that intense pain at the time of the herniation and an occasional nighttime leg cramp or two, nothing else particularly disturbing. Nothing like THIS!

THIS, though, was unusual and definitely disturbing!!! WHOA!!! Rapid onset is an index of suspicion from the get-go, though. I went to bed feeling perfectly fine. I hadn't done anything unusual, I hadn't fallen, I hadn't stressed myself doing strenuous exercises or moving furniture around, but, wow. This situation was sudden. Two mornings ago I arose from bed with this not-so-delightful surprise, barely could get out of bed, and finally yesterday resorted to taking a couple of Aleve when I was feeling extreme discomfort when sitting, when rising from a sitting position, when walking, when lying down, when doing anything. Walking did seem to help but that began to happen only after a while. Bedtime the second night seemed a little easier, I was able to find a couple of comfortable positions and didn't have that intense burning pain which signaled that this was nerve-related. At first I thought, "OK, I've been sitting too much, I've been doing too much on the computer and because it's cold outside haven't been doing my usual walks around the neighborhood...."

Today things have been much more comfortable and though the day started out with pain and discomfort as time went on I noticed that the severity of discomfort had lessened and that my customary flexibility seemed to be gradually returning. In mid-afternoon I was able to do normal activities such as preparing loads of laundry for the machines and tossing them into first the washer and then the dryer without much of a problem. Walking, bending, doing normal movements seem to feel normal or close to it again.

Now I'm suspecting that in fact all of these odd things are indeed my body's response to my first dose of Moderna. The key word here for me is "inflammation", of course, especially when it comes to the issues with my lumbar spine since that of course does involve the nervous system. Exactly what I was feeling back then, but at the same time in a different way than ever before. Pain but not as excruciating or disabling as that which I had experienced with the herniated disk.

Bingo! Now this constellation of particular symptoms and occurrences over the past little while makes perfect sense to me. Not fun. Now I'm wondering what the heck I'll be going through after I've had that second dose of Moderna later this month...... WOW!!

In spite of everything this still is better than dealing with COVID-19.....
Click to expand...
Yup. These vaccines seem to exacerbate ongoing inflammation a little more than usual. With the second dose of Pfizer's I took 1000mg acetaminophen every 8H and I was still off cognitively for 2 days. One night I couldn't sleep because of knee pain (there's nothing wrong structurally wrong my knee AFAIK). So this large-joint pain thing is along similar lines as your L5-S1 radiculopathy. You probably had some soft tissue swelling there before, but with all the cytokines floating around it got exacerbated, had swollen a little and boom radiculopathy symptoms re-emerged. Hopefully (if you can tolerate it and have OK liver function / no contraindication), pre-emptive use of tylenol can ease things.
 
Great. Now y’all have me stressing over how the vaccine will affect my lymphedema. Thanks.

Meanwhile my mother had her second jab yesterday and was fine when I spoke to her last night. My husband is scheduled for his first dose in two weeks. I figure I’m still a month out.
 
P_X said:
Yup. These vaccines seem to exacerbate ongoing inflammation a little more than usual. With the second dose of Pfizer's I took 1000mg acetaminophen every 8H and I was still off cognitively for 2 days. One night I couldn't sleep because of knee pain (there's nothing wrong structurally wrong my knee AFAIK). So this large-joint pain thing is along similar lines as your L5-S1 radiculopathy. You probably had some soft tissue swelling there before, but with all the cytokines floating around it got exacerbated, had swollen a little and boom radiculopathy symptoms re-emerged. Hopefully (if you can tolerate it and have OK liver function / no contraindication), pre-emptive use of tylenol can ease things.
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Thanks for the feedback. Now I'm getting concerned. I have, among a newly diagnosed mitral valve prolapse situation (much improved after having 2 mitra clips added Mid December), chronic psoriatic arthritis. 17 joints affected and some pretty badly. Inflammation is not my friend.

I'm also a tad worried I won't be allowed to have my 2nd vaccine as some now believe if you've have Covid (as I have although a mild case), you may only need just one vaccine. Per the news I've watched, medical professionals just don't know for sure as to the veracity of this suspicion. I was given monoclonal antibodies which should help but I don't think they work against the South African strain.

I really hate this freaking virus.
 
P_X said:
Yup. These vaccines seem to exacerbate ongoing inflammation a little more than usual. With the second dose of Pfizer's I took 1000mg acetaminophen every 8H and I was still off cognitively for 2 days. One night I couldn't sleep because of knee pain (there's nothing wrong structurally wrong my knee AFAIK). So this large-joint pain thing is along similar lines as your L5-S1 radiculopathy. You probably had some soft tissue swelling there before, but with all the cytokines floating around it got exacerbated, had swollen a little and boom radiculopathy symptoms re-emerged. Hopefully (if you can tolerate it and have OK liver function / no contraindication), pre-emptive use of tylenol can ease things.
Click to expand...
Thanks! Yes, this is pretty much the conclusion I arrived at, too, since through the years until now I've had some twinges now-and-then and since I am aging ( will be 76 in another month or so) and it was back in 1994 that I had the herniation at L5/S1 and subsequent surgery, it wouldn't be unlikely that from time to time there would be some soft tissue swelling around the area or around L4 if it is slowly deteriorating, which it well might be. The radiculopathy symptoms are unmistakable, but feel somewhat different than they did back when I actually experienced the herniation. Thankfully, not nearly as bad this time!

Today does feel significantly better than a couple of days ago and somewhat better than yesterday, with walking and some gentle exercises so I think it'll just take some time to all settle down again..... and I've got Aleve at the ready if I feel I need it. I have the strong suspicion that this will probably be just nicely back to normal again when wham, I get the second dose and this starts up all over! At least I'll be prepared...... I hope!

Actually, prior to getting the second dose I will discuss with the nurse the various responses/reactions I've had with the first dose, and also if this current back situation doesn't seem to completely clear up within a reasonable amount of time I will be also getting in touch with the doctor, too.
 
Good news, we are on a pretty good track with the vaccinations:

1612636097834.png


1612636144941.png


If we can reach 2M/d consistently, we'll have a shot to achieve herd immunity by the summer. Even if new strains may impact the efficacy, I suspect the shot will provide some protection against those too, so now we have a chance to have a good summer.
 
EXCELLENT news!!!! A friend who lives in a suburb of Chicago emailed me yesterday that she was finally able to get her first dose -- she is my age and had been checking everywhere to no avail, but then her doctor's office contacted her with information about signing up through their medical group practice and she immediately did so and was rewarded on Wednesday with that first jab. She was especially eager to do this and get going with the vaccination process because she has recently retired and wanted to begin preparing her house for the market, sell it and move closer to one of her daughters and grandchildren. Now the major barrier, the lack of vaccination, has been cleared and she's halfway there. She'll get the second dose in early March and by then should have the house ready to go on the market.
 
Holy F-ing S ...

Really?

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Have Apple Stores gone insane?

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