So here in Massachusetts we are in phase 2 of the vaccine rollout since Feb 1st. People 75 and older became eligible to get a shot of either phizer or moderna brand . You get what the give you its not a choice .
The rollout has been the source of much anger , the state keeps changing its mind as they proceed , sometimes the promised doses don't arrive and the state created website is a disaster .
Since Feb 1 I have been trying to get my mom vaccinated . Hundreds of attempts on the website which fails in a lot of cryptic ways which don't tell you much.
You go to a google map with stick pins on locations , the idea is to choose a site nearby , click it then a form opens asking your postal code you press the button and usually get an hourglass which times out or a bad gateway error or sometimes "there are no appointments within 50 miles of your location
"
Occasionally you get excited because a calendar pops up with highlighted dates! However when that happens you normally discover it has moved you from your selected location to some random place 3 hours away
So after a while I chose the location I wanted , a pharmacy inside a nearby supermarket , went directly to their page and pinned it to a permanent browser tab then just hit refresh about 50 times a day . On Feb 15th a calandar popped up for the very next day and I locked it in and it went off without a hitch.
Avoiding the governments helpful site was the only way to get it done. And since today the moved ahead a phase so people 65 and up or with 2 risk factors were eligible and about a million new people flooded the site and its completely collapsed.
If it hadn't have worked before today it would be another 6 weeks to get an appointment most likely.
Interestingly while its all the governments fault the website doesn't work , its not exactly a lack of capacity . They didn't anticipate some people would make dozens of appointments for themselves and tie up dozens of doses for a single person !
They then go to the first one and never cancel the others or try to bluff other people in under their name for a profit
I guess in a way its a comfort to know that it isn't just the 1%'ers that were going to jump the line
Anyway 2 days after she only has a sore shoulder .
Thing is shes been scared to death for a year and now its like a weight off her shoulders thinking there is light at the end of the tunnel
It supposedly takes 6 weeks to get full immunity after shot 1 but every day it should increase her resistance a little.
Probably the only reason she didn't get covid already is I have been doing her shopping and I already had it(probably but not confirmed) but shes barely left the house for a year and hasn't seen her grandkids and great grandkids in all that time
Hopefully your government sees all the ways our states screwed up the roll out and does a better job. It doesn't seem like there are any immediate side effects from the shot , just going off the 6 people I know who have had it (small sample size I know but they are all over 75 years old)
I would say if you are sick and worried about covid , just get the shot . If you are young and healthy and don't trust vaccines then as long as your older relatives get it then you can probably skip it