40ish & Beyond Parents

I may go and see how the line ups to get the vaccine are tomorrow. The first day it was offered (on Monday) here, there were 4 clinics set up (for all of Calgary...sheesh, 1 million people!) and people flocked to the clinics in droves and the lineups were extremely long and people had to wait up to 5 hours, in some cases! Now they have opened up one more clinic (for children, pregnant women and seniors) which hopefully will alleviate the number of people waiting in line at the 4 clinics. I avoided going when I heard just how long people had to wait. And with any luck, the lineups will get shorter soon. I will see what the news says tomorrow about how long the lines will have been today. There has also been added more nurses to administer the vaccine thus hopefully making the line of people move even faster.

If you have gotten the vaccine, where did you go to get it? A doctor's office or clinic set up for the administration of it?

Shirley

I haven't gotten it. Last weekend there were a few public clinics here with crowds and lines like you describe Shirley, people waiting for up to 3 hrs. I don't know if the clinics continue this week or if they ran out. There is also talk of administering it through schools, at least in some of the lower income areas. They are saying that the clinics are for specific groups (pregnant women, kids 24 and younger, etc) and supposedly if you are not in one of the risk groups they will deny you the vaccination. That after all of the higher risk people have been vaccinated that they will start giving it to the general public. Fortunately I'm not in a high-risk category, so I will have to wait. Meanwhile I'll be thinking about whether I will actually get it if and when "my turn" comes up.

I don't know what the status is at private doctor's offices but I imagine its similar to the clinics; it seems that currently they don't have enough doses for the demand so they are being selective about who can get it.

The vaccine here has been offered to anyone who wants it, and we would have thought it a good idea if high risk groups were offered the vaccine first, but that isn't how it's being don - except for the fact that an additional clinic was set up starting today for pregnant women, children and seniors, as I mentioned. Those who have chronic health issues haven't been singled out in this case either. We are supposed to have enough vaccine for everyone here, I believe. For some time, various polls were done (via the news on t.v. stations on their websites, the newspapers, and radio stations) and it seems that a good number (maybe about 50% or more?) said they weren't planning to get vaccinated. I'm not sure if those numbers have changed recently.

Shirley

I have not received mine yet, & in fact, went to the doctor today & asked about it & she said that she is going to have to wait in line with her kids too-that the doctors' offices are not getting it to give out to the public.They were given enough for their staff-that is all.

However, Monday afternoon, her office called here & said that they were all getting it(health care providers are first on the list)& they had a couple doses left over-did we want to bring Adam in for his?Waiting in line is hard for him-not only because of the people hacking & horking but also with the oxygen limitation and his discomfort at sitting for long.When Mike called to say we'd be in first thing Tuesday morning-they offered it to him too.Mike has COPD (thanks in part to his parents heavy smoking habit as he was growing up)-so he is on the risk list too.

I guess I will try going in the lineups next week-I'd skip the thing but as the primary caregiver for both these guys (& sole driver for any & all appointments)-I guess I need to protect myself.

One thing that is not well publicized is that "We of a certain age" have some immunity-that in the early '70's there was a flu of similar makeup that we probably had & that may be a boost to our immune systems...if there are no underlying issues.But that said-it seems this year's strain can be especially difficult for the body to fight, I've heard of several people who had it & are doing ok, but also of others who have had it & are quite literally fighting for their lives.

Nora