How are you all dealing with coronavirus and the restrictions... #2

Yes that makes sense - I know sometimes people have said some harsh things, I think sometimes it’s because they’re scared and lashing out. Everyone has reacted differently to the pandemic. There’s been a lot of kindness shown too.

I just read something which was genuinely news to me

http://https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/nov/18/rollout-third-covid-jabs-england-condemned-shambolic?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

I did not know at all the difference between boosters (given routinely 6 months after 2nd dose) and 3rd doses given to immune compromised people which is given much sooner, and that many immune compromised people should be onto their 4th dose by now.

I’m shocked that many professionals delivering the vaccines didn’t know this either.

@rechu the booster roll out is pretty bad here. I'd call it non-existent. There's no coordinated distribution effort. The state has a list of 100 places in my county which offer vaccines. I have to go through each one individually to see if they also offer boosters, who they will offer them to, and then to see which brand they have. I am kicking myself for not making an appointment when I was looking last week because they just opened it up to everyone. I have my annual physical in a few weeks and asked if they could add it on to that and they said they were still trying to figure out how to distribute. That place did a good job with the vaccine roll out so I will probably wait for them.


Four hours is a long time to wait, but there's something nice about being able to just show up, stand in a line, and get it over with. That's awesome you guys are so high on the vaccination list! I am not sure we are anymore. There's less interest in the boosters than there was in the vaccine. Part of why I don't feel in a rush to schedule is because I was so miserable after that second shot. I am not looking forward to the third. How have the third shots been?


There is an outbreak where my grandmother lives. It started a few days before they all got their boosters. It seems limited to one floor right now and I hope they caught it in time to contain it. On a positive note, I know of several vaccinated people now who have caught Covid and not suffered badly, including one 77 year old. Maybe we still catch Covid with the vaccine but it really seems to help prevent a more serious illness.

@Discombobulated They started offering third shots to immune compromised people here some months ago. Even when people were eligible, some pharmacies would not do third shots. People would have to lie and claim they were coming in for their first shot. So stupid.

@hvert - Wow, that does sound really inconvenient that you have to check every place individually. I hope you are able to arrange it at your doctor's office.


Yeah, there are advantages to be able to just show up like that. I am lucky that my freelance client in the US is 2 hours behind us, so I was back when they were starting work. It seems like there are sufficient vaccines. They still had some available numbers when I was leaving. I think if they were able to reopen one or two more centers, it would help speed things up a lot.

I was just reading that they are making inroads in the groups that were vaccine hesitant, especially the 18 to 29 age group. I guess the vaccine passport plus some employers requiring vaccines is pushing people to get the shot finally. There were a few people that looked to be under 30 waiting for second doses when I went. So, new vaccinations haven't totally dropped off as they seem to in some places.

My husband works for the federal government and there is talk of a vaccine mandate for federal employees. His boss is antivax. I wonder what she will do if that takes effect. She is actually the only individual that I know in person here that has not been vaccinated.

That's great the under 20s are starting to take it up. Is it all Pfizer now or are they still using the Chinese vaccines? It will be interesting to see what his boss does if there is a federal mandate. The national vaccine mandate for employers with more than 100 employees was just suspended here and apparently will go to the Supreme Court.


I am actually pretty angry at the way the state handled this booster issue. The places that sponsored the vaccine clinics are now 'current patient only.' It looks like the only booster options here are Walmart, the grocery store, or the drugstore. None of those places are set up for huge numbers of people, especially when you have to wait 15-30 minutes. I got a vague mass email from my provider's office suggesting people look elsewhere for the vaccine. I finally found an appointment at a grocery store for next week, but it's only because I randomly decided to check again - 3 hours ago, that place had no appointments at all. If it's so hard to do this, people aren't going to bother.

OMG, I just realized the appointment I booked is in a town 30 minutes away - but by the time I went to make my husband an appointment, even those were disappearing! What a mess.

I was recently informed of this by one of the vaccination sites who gave me the full-dose Moderna #3. They said it is NOT a booster, but rather a third dose in a series, and that I'll likely need a fourth dose at least 6 months after this third dose, since I'm immunocompromised.

Now, they are opening up boosters (full dosage for the rest of the vaccines, and only 1/2 dose for the Moderna) to all adults 18 and over in the U.S. It would appear that they are doing that anywhere between 6 months and 12 months of them getting their first two jabs in the series.

Children are also getting their first doses of vaccine, but booster for those 12 and over have not yet been discussed - at least not in the U.S. They're still doing extensive research around the globe to see if the boosters will be needed and safe for children under 18. The important issue, however, is making sure the unvaccinated get vaccinated. Otherwise, it would appear that the majority of the unvaccinated are not only superspreading to all, but also the ones most likely to die off with the immunocompromised breakthrough cases and/or the other high-risk population who are either under-vaccinated (received only one jab in a two-jab series of mRNA and/or never took the booster) or they got severe breakthrough cases due to their lack of being diagnosed with some even higher risk situation such as being immunocompromised. The problem with these vaccine distribution paradigms is that they assume that people are being diagnosed correctly, but they negate the fact that (a) not everyone has affordable healthcare in order to get properly diagnosed with a high-risk or immunocompromising situation, (b) not everyone's physician is a good one who will diagnose you properly, and/or (c) many people are often misdiagnosed and therefore at even greater risk for preventable disease and premature death because their physicians didn't give them the proper diagnosis. Not everyone knows they are high-risk for premature death. This is why there should really be vaccinations provided to ALL PERSONS, especially given the millions in waste because expired vaccines had to be thrown away. Those could have been efficiently put into the arms of anyone who wanted it.

From what I can tell, Sinovac is being phased out. The contract was completed and I haven't heard of more orders. Kids at the vaccine center the other day were getting Sinovac, it's the only one approved for under 12s, so I guess they are using the remaining doses for them. When the Health Ministry announces the arrival of vaccines, it is all Pfizer these days.

The day before I'm traveling to the UK, a friend tags me in a post about a more contagious delta variant popping up over there. Thanks!

To be honest, I probably wouldn't have booked the trip if the situation had been as bad then as it is now. But it's booked, I spent a lot of money and I want to go to London, damn it! Of course I'll be careful, try to avoid masses of people and still wear a mask.

I filled in my passenger locator form just now - that's a lot of information they want! And I paid for the bloody day 2 test even though I will leave the UK again on day 1. By day 2 after arrival I'll be on another train back to the city

The numbers in Germany are ridiculous. I'm happy to be going home but a 7 day incidence of 346 per 100.000 in my city.... YIKES! That's actually higher than London! How, I do not understand, when in Germany there are still restrictions. But the numbers are going up in London as well :/ It's not exactly going to be a carefree trip to forget about all these problems for a while.

So I was super prepared for my trip to the UK, filled in all the necessary forms and paid for a test I didn't get to take.

Then almost forgot to check anything for my trip back filled in a passenger locator for Belgium late in the evening after the gig. Good thing I did because Belgium actually checked them upon arrival, unlike the UK. (Although train staff checked on both sides on check-in).
Forgot to take the test which is required for entry into the Netherlands ssst, don't tell anyone
I'm no longer in the country! absolutely pointless anyway. I could've taken a PCR test 48 hours before departing the UK. 48 hours before departing the UK, I was still in the Netherlands

Then another form to fill in when returning to Germany. It's such a hassle! IF I got infected with corona anywhere, it most likely happened on a German train Once upon a time, they recuced the ticket capacity to reduce risk. Now they're selling as many tickets as possible again. Masks are still required but I did feel uncomfortable sitting next to a stranger who was constantly sighing and sniffling for 4,5 hours.
I actually originally had a reservation on a fairly quiet train with a free seat next to me (and right next to the luggage storage so I wouldn't have to lift my heavy suitcase into the overhead luggage rack!) But then my train got cancelled, I missed my connecting train and had to buy a new seat

I have an on site job interview tomorrow and they did request I take a test before, which I was planning on anyway. But I am a tiny bit nervous that it might turn out positive so fingers crossed, please! No symptoms or any reason to be nervous other than my anxiety.

Well, they are saying we won't see the expected wave. It was just a short upsurge. We never had over 3,000 new cases a day and today we saw the lowest number in 36 days. The last waves had between 8,000 and 9,000 new cases at the peak. Hopefully, this means that the boosters and mask wearing are doing their job.

Fantastic news!

Fingers crossed for negative test results and a good interview!


I got my booster Monday. It wasn't as bad as the second shot, but I was glad I didn't have much to do. I hope this third shot makes it permanent!

Let’s hope so! I got the go ahead for my 3rd but the only appointments were in the week before Christmas, I work in retail so I can’t take the chance it might give me a reaction (although with AZ I was fine after 2nd it was the 1st I was off colour) so going to hang back until afterwards.

Glad people are getting access to their 3rd shots, from what I’ve read it massively bumps up symptomatic protection. So let’s hope we’re getting on top of this.

Most of my trouble with Covid/ vaccination news revolves around strong resistance to common sense advice. I suffer from a strong urge to grab people and shake them hard. I get very alarmed by the numbers of people WHO SHOULD JUST PLAIN OLD KNOW BETTER, who refuse to either mask-up, or get vaccinated. (Of course, I make exceptions for folks who have valid medical reasons for not doing so. ) I reserve my angry angst for the inconsiderate, politically-motivated refusers.

Friends remind me that the human race actually is becoming more enlightened---but you wouldn't know it by people's behaviour, lately.

No you wouldn’t with the way immature people are lashing out at people just doing their jobs, wait staff, airline staff and other workers is beyond belief!

I completely agree with you - and I live in Idaho, where 99% of my neighbors are unvaccinated and unmasked. That is why I have to pay extra money for N95 masks or better, and why I also wear goggles, double gloves (disposable under cheap cloth gloves from Target), a KN95 mask over my N95 mask, and clothing from head to toe - even covering my ears. I look "crazy," but at least I've not had to pay for exorbitant medical copays that everyone else around here has to pay because of their continued negligence and utter disdain for the disabled and the elderly.



Anyway, if this is not allowed, I put it inside a Trigger warning thingy. It can be deleted. I just don't know what is allowed to express, because religion has infiltrated politics and this pandemic and our overall mental health related to all of it.

@BreakForTheLight - Good luck on your test and the job interview! I hope the test is negative, and I hope your job interview is positive!

I miss traveling, but I could never have enough energy to trave these days, especially with what you went through. Yikes!

Well my dad was worried about me so I went ahead and booked my 3rd the week before Christmas, fingers crossed I don’t get a nasty reaction.

I just read that AZ antibodies fade around 5-6 months like Pfizer but AZ are claiming the T-cell response is higher and remains, if so that’s good news and would support mixing vaccines.

They don't allow AZ here in the U.S., but I've had Moderna for 3 full shots. So far, so good. But I also remain isolated, double-masked, sometimes goggled, usually fully clothed from head to toe, and double-gloved (disposable under cloth). I also spend time showering and doing other rituals after any potential exposure. So I act as though I'm fighting off the plague. I just can't afford to be an undiagnosed autoimmune case, since my nephew had a really bad breakthrough case of Covid-19, despite being fully vaccinated a month past his second jab. He said it was his autoimmune disorder, which runs in our family. So I freak out a little.

But I trust the vaccines. I just wished that they would stop competing and just create one vaccine for most, and then focus on finding the right ones for the severe risk populations (including increasing proper screening and diagnoses for them, too).

Lupus, GI problems, cancer, and prediabetes (not full diabetes) runs in our family, and so does obesity with 25% of my family. It's mostly my father's side (he's European American and no longer alive). My Japanese mother's side of the family seems to deal mostly with heart disease (not from obesity, but other factors), osteoporosis, etc. I lost a few of my mom's relatives to either heart disease or from things like one of them not being vaccinated with that one shot when you stub your toe. He died from something completely preventable. Another one died of a heart attack, but she suffered from alcoholism. None of my family have CFS/ME, which I have. But I do have thyroid issues and some blood abnormalities.

Sorry, I kind of went off on a tangent here.

It's great to see how other countries are dealing with this pandemic. I'm right there with you all in the good fight. I just tend to go overboard a little (or maybe a lot).

I wished that they would just recommend boosters for everyone every 5 months, so that we are fully covered with no gaps in between the waning. I also wish there were a way to eradicate this once and for all somehow. I really wanted this pandemic to be over by now.

@Discombobulated I was worried about the same thing getting my 3rd just before a holiday! I am relieved it worked out well and hope you have good results also! I guess there's no way to predict how 'bad' our reactions will be each time - it just seems to vary so much for everyone.


I had a new experience the other day - I went to a packed restaurant with tables so close together I struggled to get into my seat. No staff wearing masks, which actually seems more fair since none of the customers are. It was like the old days. I felt brief bursts of anxiety rather than paranoid the whole time I was there.

I think it's wise to get it as soon as possible especially when you are exposed to so many people every day.

I was worried about getting the booster as well. I was shivering the night after & the next day after getting Pfizer, but we also had a broken heating so not sure if it was the shot or just getting used to the cold. And I had quite a bad headache the first day. 2 days after I was fine.

Germany and the Netherlands might be heading for another lockdown :/ for NL I can understand, but German still has a lot of restrictions currently. That are now getting even stricter. Is everything so far been completely pointless?

Yes I find it very interesting to read other countries reactions too, this thread has been more enlightening than many news reports for that reason - we’re all ordinary people on the ground.

Does the US have J&J? Because that is similar to the AZ I believe in that it uses the adenovirus so also has T cell response. Also I think the Russian and Chinese vaccines do too.

I really understand your caution, especially if you feel others around aren’t taking care. My niece had a nasty dose of covid too despite 2x vaccination. Yet before vaccinations were available my friend’s elderly father with several pre existing serious conditions had covid with no symptoms…. It’s quite perplexing.

Thank you @Discombobulated. BTW, not sure if you celebrate Thanksgiving in your country, but if you do, Happy Thanksgiving!

The US does have J&J, but it is not as affective as the others. In fact, the suggestions for boosters for a few months now have been for J&J recipients to get the mRNA vaccine - either the Pfizer full dose or the Moderna 1/2 dose booster. Some, like my friend, who received the one-shot J&J vaccine decided to "start all over" and receive the Pfizer first and second doses, almost pretending that he was "never vaccinated" (even though he was). He did fine with that, and he's in his late-50s with a few underlying conditions. He is a trainer at the gym, so he's survived Chicago living at the gym this entire time with one mask. Here I am afraid to go anywhere, and I wear a double-mask whenever I do.

For those who are immunocompromised, they've been able to get the full Moderna "booster" (though they don't call it that for the Moderna 2nd shot for J&J or 3rd shot for either Moderna or Pfizer two-series shots; they just simply call it the 3rd jab or 3rd shot in the series or something to that effect). They (the government, including the CDC and FDA here, like to keep us confused, it seems, LOL