Getting My Rona Vaccine. Essex County
Looks like the J&J supply is having an issue:
The distribution of the single-shot vaccine has been inconsistent since Johnson & Johnson delivered its first batch at the beginning of March, sending 2.8 million doses across the country before dipping below 400,000 in the following weeks.
Last week, about 1.9 million doses were sent across the country. This week 4.9 million shots went out. But next week that number will drop to just 700,000.
jamie said:
Chills and fatigue are very common side effects for all three of the vaccines as the body learns to fight the virus. Symptoms can last for a few days and then disappear.
Question for those who know. My son thinks he made an appointment for Moderna at the Sears site. His notification says his appointment is scheduled for 2:40 pm - “Morning Appointments Moderna.” So, not a morning appointment but it does say Moderna. Thoughts?
Phone the Essex Covid call center and ask them. It is my understanding that Moderna appointments have been up to 2 pm. However, that is certainly subject to change based on a host of factors including a temporary reduction in availability of the J & J vaccine.
Good idea. Will call.
joan_crystal said:
Phone the Essex Covid call center and ask them. It is my understanding that Moderna appointments have been up to 2 pm. However, that is certainly subject to change based on a host of factors including a temporary reduction in availability of the J & J vaccine.
I am feeling a little pessimistic today about the spread of the covid virus worldwide. The news this weekend is that the Chinese-made vaccine used by multiple countries is not effective as hoped. And I wonder about the effectiveness of vaccines made in other countries. There are also large sections of the world population that are not getting any vaccine and I am concerned that virus variants may blossom in these countries. So, it may be that we will be in one way or another be adversely affected by covid for many years.
It is really really good that the US and other countries are vaccinating very fast and we all see the light at the end of the tunnel. But it may turn out that we will all need covid variant boosters (like flu shots) for many years to come. So, we need to stay prepared for this.
I'm getting J&J later this week, a bit apprehensive because I am hearing, anecdotally, that it hits hard. Bad headache, chills whatnot for like ~36 hours. Again just anecdotal but I'm hearing a lot more post-shot J&J effects versus the other two.
Smedley said:
I'm getting J&J later this week, a bit apprehensive because I am hearing, anecdotally, that it hits hard. Bad headache, chills whatnot for like ~36 hours. Again just anecdotal but I'm hearing a lot more post-shot J&J effects versus the other two.
My wife got the J&J last week. Minor chills and aches that evening and about half the next day, just like me after my second Moderna dose on the same day. One more anecdotal account to add to others, which vary widely.
There's reason to be concerned about the case numbers and variants but it's also important to keep in mind how well the vaccine is working:
As for what we might reasonably expect when a majority of people get vaccinated and/or recover from the virus, the number of daily cases in Israel has dropped by 97%:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-may-have-reached-a-sort-of-herd-immunity-expert-says/
Smedley said:
I'm getting J&J later this week, a bit apprehensive because I am hearing, anecdotally, that it hits hard. Bad headache, chills whatnot for like ~36 hours. Again just anecdotal but I'm hearing a lot more post-shot J&J effects versus the other two.
Based on what I am hearing and reading, the side effects are pretty much the same for all three vaccines and the side effects range widely from minimal reaction (my own experience) to up to three days of some or all of the following: fever, chills, fatigue, pain in the injection site, etc. Reports seem to indicate in most cases that the elderly tend to have less of a reaction than younger persons receiving the vaccine. That said, a friend in their 70's had a full blown reaction to the vaccine which lasted for several days. In any event, the temporary side effects of any one of the three approved vaccines outweigh a full blown case of COVID-19.
I see the 22nd is available now - 329 appointments available at West Caldwell Tech.
I'm going to wait for an opening at Sears. I'll probably take whatever one is available.
The FDA and CDC have called for a pause on the J&J vaccine after clotting cases.
Looks like about 5 people in a million get this kind of clotting every year. Assuming, for arguments sake, that each of these incidents was caused by the vaccine, is it a high enough incidence rate to stop using the vaccine? One clot per more than a million jabs? I don't know what the standards are.
cramer said:
The FDA and CDC have called for a pause on the J&J vaccine after clotting cases.
bub said:
Looks like about 5 people in a million get this kind of clotting every year. Assuming, for arguments sake, that each of these incidents was caused by the vaccine, is it a high enough incidence rate to stop using the vaccine? One clot per more than a million jabs? I don't know what the standards are.
cramer said:
The FDA and CDC have called for a pause on the J&J vaccine after clotting cases.
"All six recipients were women between the ages of 18 and 48. One woman died and a second woman in Nebraska has been hospitalized in critical condition.
Nearly seven million people in the United States have received Johnson & Johnson shots so far, and roughly nine million more doses have been shipped out to the states, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We are recommending a pause in the use of this vaccine out of an abundance of caution,” Dr. Peter Marks, director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, and Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the C.D.C., said in a joint statement. “Right now, these adverse events appear to be extremely rare.”
Most people who get this rare form of clotting are women per what I read.
I wonder what Essex cty is doing with the people who have J&J apptmts scheduled (of which I am one)? No email from them yet or notification on the site that I see. I'm guessing I'll be canceled.
Not sure how they even figure out whether the vaccine is related to this rare kind of clotting. I was just looking at a web site about it and none of the risk factors involved drugs. All risk factors involved various pre-existing conditions.
The ultimate question is if this occurence is caused by the vaccine but is as rare as it seems, do you stop giving this vaccine? The literature on adverse drug reactions says that an incidence rate of 1 in 10,000 is categorized as "very rare." This seems to be 100 times rarer than that. Many commonly used drugs, including over the counter drugs like NSAIDS, have serious ADR rates at least as bad as this. If they took drugs off the market for such rare occurrences, I think our medicine cabinets would be empty. I don't know the answer.
This type of event has plagued both the J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines. I applaud the caution but I also worry about the implications for public acceptance of the vaccines on the whole.
People who are offered the J&J vaccine have felt relegated to second-class status and this sure isn't going to help. There are good reasons the J&J vaccine might even be the preferred choice but if that shot (and AZ's) increases the incidence of a rare condition, what are ya gonna do? Something is so rare that only 5 people in a million get it but this vaccine has apparently doubled that rate. How is that playing? Those women all got the J&J vaccine but has it been proven to be the cause? Would they have had that event anyway without the shot? I'd have to look at the prior cases to see what, if anything, they had in common — and whether these 6 women had anything in common with them on those characteristics to know more about whether J&J's vaccine was implicated or just a coincidence.
What a sticky wicket.
Just called EssexCovid , they're switching me to Moderna. I'm pleasantly surprised (1) I got through immediately, and (2) apparently they have enough supply to just switch J&J people rather than cancel us and toss us back in the pool to search for an appointment.
bikefixed said:
This type of event has plagued both the J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines. I applaud the caution but I also worry about the implications for public acceptance of the vaccines on the whole.
People who are offered the J&J vaccine have felt relegated to second-class status and this sure isn't going to help. There are good reasons the J&J vaccine might even be the preferred choice but if that shot (and AZ's) increases the incidence of a rare condition, what are ya gonna do? Something is so rare that only 5 people in a million get it but this vaccine has apparently doubled that rate. How is that playing? Those women all got the J&J vaccine but has it been proven to be the cause? Would they have had that event anyway without the shot? I'd have to look at the prior cases to see what, if anything, they had in common — and whether these 6 women had anything in common with them on those characteristics to know more about whether J&J's vaccine was implicated or just a coincidence.What a sticky wicket.
Sticky wicket, indeed. I am curious about all the things you wrote, though don't have the background you do to dig around and see what's there. Would love to hear what you learn, if you do look, but also curious why you say that the J&J vaccine might even be the preferred choice? (It's moot for me as I already had both Moderna shots, but still interested understanding what is being learned.)
I think people have a non-chalant uninformed sense of safety about drugs. My wife and I took the shingles vaccine this year in addition to the Covid vaccine. I never bothered to look into side effects. This from a study about it over an 8 month period:
"There were 3.2 million doses distributed, and 4381 adverse event reports were submitted . . . .
Additionally, 3% of the adverse events were classified as serious."
If I'm doing the math right, that means there were about 130 serious adverse events from the shingles shot as compared to 6 of the reported clots from over twice as many J&J shots.
Would I take the shingles shot again knowing this info? Absolutely. 130 out of 3.2 million still seems miniscule to me.
bub said:
I think people have a non-chalant uninformed sense of safety about drugs. My wife and I took the shingles vaccine this year in addition to the Covid vaccine. I never bothered to look into side effects. This from a study about it over an 8 month period:
"There were 3.2 million doses distributed, and 4381 adverse event reports were submitted . . . .
Additionally, 3% of the adverse events were classified as serious."If I'm doing the math right, that means there were about 130 serious adverse events from the shingles shot as compared to 6 of the reported clots from over twice as many J&J shots.
Would I take the shingles shot again knowing this info? Absolutely. 130 out of 3.2 million still seems miniscule to me.
There is only one shingles vaccine and most people will still take it because of the painful rash that shingles causes. If J&J were the only vaccine, and if the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines hadn't been appproved, my guess is that most people would take the J&J vaccince.
eta - I don't know what the FDA would have done if there weren't the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
btw - Anybody remember how difficult it was to get the shingles vaccine when it first came out? I do.
They make you wait 15 minutes after the shot because at least one and maybe both of of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines has cause anaphylaxis at a rate 10 times more common than the apparent rate of this clotting phenomenon (though still extremely rare). Stuff happens. If the clotting proves to be no more frequent than a 1 in a million phenomenon, I don't see how you take the vaccine out of circulation. 100s of people a day are still dying in the U.S. every day from Covid. I have to believe that a J&J shot is far more likely to save your life than kill you, and we are in a race between trying to get most people vaccinated and the arrival of some monster variant.
SZM said:
Sticky wicket, indeed. I am curious about all the things you wrote, though don't have the background you do to dig around and see what's there. Would love to hear what you learn, if you do look, but also curious why you say that the J&J vaccine might even be the preferred choice? (It's moot for me as I already had both Moderna shots, but still interested understanding what is being learned.)
The Johnson and Johnson has been the preferred vaccine for programs vaccinating the homebound and those living in remote areas: single shot, fewer temperature control concerns, availability (at least before the concerns with the defective batch). It is also preferred by those who favor the one shot and done over having to return for a booster.
Fauci explains what the "pause" means:
joan_crystal said:
The Johnson and Johnson has been the preferred vaccine for programs vaccinating the homebound and those living in remote areas: single shot, fewer temperature control concerns, availability (at least before the concerns with the defective batch). It is also preferred by those who favor the one shot and done over having to return for a booster.
Joan, yes, I totally understand all those benefits and that many people prefer a one and done approach. I may have misunderstood, but I thought it was more from a medical perspective that @bikefixed was saying it may be the best option. It was that angle that I hadn't heard and was curious about, and maybe I didn't understand that it was more of a general comment from a social policy/let's get people vaccinated perspective.
Sorry about that comment this morning. I was in a rush to finish something for school but couldn't resist the urgency of today's news about the J&J vaccine. I still haven't had any time to listen to or read anything on it further. I was referring more to the logistical aspects that make the J&J vaccine an attractive option.
I also wanted to comment on the different delivery mechanism for the genetic material needed to produce the target antigen but didn't have time. There is some interesting stuff to consider but I'll leave that to those more informed than I currently am. Sorry.
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Looks like J&J is filling up quicker then Moderna now. After Simone got the J&J she got the chills which is one of the side effects. She's doing a bit better today just tired
Here's a similar reaction I found online: