Are vaccines the light at the end of the tunnel?

[nocl]

40 minutes ago, mimbecky said:

As I said...the CDC has given up to 6 weeks.

CDC: Gap Between Vaccine Doses Could Be 6 Weeks (webmd.com)

As far as now 7 weeks, I believe it was GMA this morning.

 

 

Our largest Superstation has been closed for minimum of 2 days 3x in the last month.  Before the storms, we never received promised doses and people were rescheduled, then the storm hit and we were closed 3 days and those people were all rescheduled again...the promised doses still didn't come for another week causing more rescheduling.  Just as those rescheduled were catching up, we had a lightning storm here and they closed again.  All those people have needed to be rescheduled.  I personally know of 4 people who have been rescheduled multiple times and are at the end of the 2 week additional referred to above.  There is plenty of Pfizer here now but a big shortage of Moderna which is the problem in getting the second dose.  Don't know what to tell you....glad your rescheduling went well.  We too are getting more doses so hopefully this will rectify in the next week or so.  Then again the governor just said they are saving 40 percent of our doses for those who work or live in "vunerable zip codes".  That is a whole other story.  Maybe those of us who live and work outside of those zip codes will be rescheduled once again.

Links here...

"It is the third time in as many weeks that the site has had to close due to vaccine shortages".Vaccine in San Diego: Petco Park vaccination super site closing again through Tuesday (fox5sandiego.com)

 

California to earmark 40% of vaccine doses to vulnerable areas, officials say could speed reopening – Daily News

 

 

but not FDA

[TrulyBlonde]

How about this:

Get your vaccine, wear a mask, and lose some weight:

Countries with high obesity rates have more deaths.

You can Google all of the latest info on it.

[cangelmd]

8 hours ago, nocl said:

but not FDA

They won’t budge, and that’s ok, that’s their job. In the real, messy world of worst in 25 year snowstorms and random shipments of vaccines, all kinds of things are going to happen.

Someone asked me this question and I didn’t know the answer - if I get J and J or if I miss my second dose of Pfizer, is it safe for me to get the other/different shot in a few months when everyone is eligible? Other than waiting 3 months after diagnosed Covid, I don’t know. But, I don’t think we know that it’s not safe, either?

[TeeRick]

8 minutes ago, cangelmd said:

They won’t budge, and that’s ok, that’s their job. In the real, messy world of worst in 25 year snowstorms and random shipments of vaccines, all kinds of things are going to happen.

Someone asked me this question and I didn’t know the answer - if I get J and J or if I miss my second dose of Pfizer, is it safe for me to get the other/different shot in a few months when everyone is eligible? Other than waiting 3 months after diagnosed Covid, I don’t know. But, I don’t think we know that it’s not safe, either?

Are you asking about getting a different vaccine for your next dose?  Say J&J now and a booster with Pfizer this fall?  Something like that?  My pure speculation is that since all vaccines produce SPIKE antigen, they would be OK for boosting the immune response if the first is followed months later by a different one.  But safety?  From a safety standpoint that has not been tested (yet).  Perhaps it will be soon.  That would make annual boosters much easier.  It has worked this way for years with annual Influenza vaccines of course.  Does not matter which one you got last year.  Unless you are allergic to specific vaccine components then you would need to be concerned about the safety.  

[Ken the cruiser]

Maybe someone can explain this to me. Today, Canada just approved their 4th vaccine. They now have access to Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and J&J vaccines. Why have they only vaccinated a little over 2 million so far?

 

COVID-19 Tracker Canada

 

On the other hand in the UK almost 21 million have received at least 1 dose?

 

Daily summary | Coronavirus in the UK (data.gov.uk)

 

I'm sure there are a variety of reasons. I was just curious and, hopefully, most of their issues will be resolved in the coming days and weeks. Maybe this article I just found might shed some light on the issue.

 

Canada just made a major change to its coronavirus vaccine rollout (msn.com)

 

Edited March 5, 2021 by Ken the cruiser

[deadzone1003]

37 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Maybe someone can explain this to me. Today, Canada just approved their 4th vaccine. They now have access to Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and J&J vaccines. Why have they only vaccinated a little over 2 million so far?

 

COVID-19 Tracker Canada

 

On the other hand in the UK almost 21 million have received at least 1 dose?

 

Daily summary | Coronavirus in the UK (data.gov.uk)

 

I'm sure there are a variety of reasons. I was just curious and, hopefully, most of their issues will be resolved in the coming days and weeks. Maybe this article I just found might shed some light on the issue.

 

Canada just made a major change to its coronavirus vaccine rollout (msn.com)

 

Probably, the same way that the EU is having so few that are vaccinated.  It's first come, first serve - at least, in this case, if you order first, you get it first.  If you order last, you get it last.  That question of why you are not higher up in the queue should be asked of your political leaders.

[cangelmd]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

Are you asking about getting a different vaccine for your next dose?  Say J&J now and a booster with Pfizer this fall?  Something like that?  My pure speculation is that since all vaccines produce SPIKE antigen, they would be OK for boosting the immune response if the first is followed months later by a different one.  But safety?  From a safety standpoint that has not been tested (yet).  Perhaps it will be soon.  That would make annual boosters much easier.  It has worked this way for years with annual Influenza vaccines of course.  Does not matter which one you got last year.  Unless you are allergic to specific vaccine components then you would need to be concerned about the safety.  

Someone asked me both questions - if I get J and J can I get one of the mRNA vaccines in a few months and what happens if I by accident, get my second shot with the other vaccine? My thought was, not much in either case, but we don’t really know.

 Another friend who has some at least theoretical co-morbidities (not particularly overweight, but middle aged cancer survivor) asked if they should hold out for a 2 shot vaccine, and I said no, some immunity is better than none, andcJ and J is perfectly acceptable. But I don’t think there is any reason that someone who is at high risk can’t get a different vaccine later?

[Fouremco]

34 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Maybe someone can explain this to me. Today, Canada just approved their 4th vaccine. They now have access to Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and J&J vaccines. Why have they only vaccinated a little over 2 million so far?

 

COVID-19 Tracker Canada

 

On the other hand in the UK almost 21 million have received at least 1 dose?

 

Daily summary | Coronavirus in the UK (data.gov.uk)

 

I'm sure there are a variety of reasons. I was just curious and, hopefully, most of their issues will be resolved in the coming days and weeks. Maybe this article I just found might shed some light on the issue.

 

Canada just made a major change to its coronavirus vaccine rollout (msn.com)

 

There are a number of reason, but the main one has been the lack of available vaccine until very recently.  Canada made early purchases in excess of its actual requirements, and was criticized at the time for doing so. However, early shipments were not in the anticipated volume, and the supply was reduced to a trickle last month due to Pfizer's temporary manufacturing shut down. Shipments have now increased and the number of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines received should reach target numbers by the end of this month. Remember, AstraZeneca only received approval for use in Canada last week, and Johnson & Johnson today, so it will take a bit of time before they will have any impact on the numbers.

 

The second significant reason has been the decision by most provinces to follow the original guidelines from the manufacturers on timing of second shots. In many cases, this resulted in 2nd shots being held back for the recipients of 1st shots, effectively halving the number of people receiving their first vaccination. Very recently, most provinces have adopted the delayed 2nd shot approach, meaning far more people will have received at least there second shot.

 

With a far greater volume of vaccine doses arriving in Canada and the decision to delay 2nd shots, our rate of  vaccinations, 42nd worldwide as of March 3, 2021, should start to improve quite rapidly over the coming weeks. Or so I would hope.

[Ken the cruiser]

26 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

There are a number of reason, but the main one has been the lack of available vaccine until very recently.  Canada made early purchases in excess of its actual requirements, and was criticized at the time for doing so. However, early shipments were not in the anticipated volume, and the supply was reduced to a trickle last month due to Pfizer's temporary manufacturing shut down. Shipments have now increased and the number of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines received should reach target numbers by the end of this month. Remember, AstraZeneca only received approval for use in Canada last week, and Johnson & Johnson today, so it will take a bit of time before they will have any impact on the numbers.

 

The second significant reason has been the decision by most provinces to follow the original guidelines from the manufacturers on timing of second shots. In many cases, this resulted in 2nd shots being held back for the recipients of 1st shots, effectively halving the number of people receiving their first vaccination. Very recently, most provinces have adopted the delayed 2nd shot approach, meaning far more people will have received at least there second shot.

 

With a far greater volume of vaccine doses arriving in Canada and the decision to delay 2nd shots, our rate of  vaccinations, 42nd worldwide as of March 3, 2021, should start to improve quite rapidly over the coming weeks. Or so I would hope.

Thanks! Hopefully, the vaccines will really start to flow for you in the very near future and those flickers of light will start twinkling for you as well.

[cantstopingcruising]

Thank you, Ken, for your good wishes. We need them!  As of now, the wait for the second dose is 4 months, which to me seems very unwise.

[MarkWiltonM]

I got my second Moderna vaccination today, in Florida. I was lucky to get the second one right on schedule, 28 days after the first shot. I certainly understand the strategy in Canada and the UK of delaying the second dose. Although no one really knows how long the first dose will last before someone needs the booster, this is an extraordinary situation and it makes sense to give more people at least one shot. That said, I remember after I got my first Shingrix vaccine for shingles there was a nationwide shortage in the U.S. and I was not able to get the second one when I was supposed to. I hope no one in Canada has to wait more than four months for their second shot.  

[Ken the cruiser]

Here's a curious question. Do some cruise lines partner with Indonesian companies that in turn provide them trained crew members? If so, this might be a way to get some of their crew members vaccinated.

 

A New Covid-19 Experiment From Asia: Letting Companies Buy Vaccines - WSJ

[nocl]

5 hours ago, cangelmd said:

They won’t budge, and that’s ok, that’s their job. In the real, messy world of worst in 25 year snowstorms and random shipments of vaccines, all kinds of things are going to happen.

Someone asked me this question and I didn’t know the answer - if I get J and J or if I miss my second dose of Pfizer, is it safe for me to get the other/different shot in a few months when everyone is eligible? Other than waiting 3 months after diagnosed Covid, I don’t know. But, I don’t think we know that it’s not safe, either?

Keep in mind that different agencies have different jobs.  The FDA determines which drugs are approved in the US and what is on label according to the data presented to them.

 

Once a drug is approved, physicians can based upon their own knowledge and opinion use the drug off label

 

The CDC who has the job and responsibility for administering the vaccines program has made such a decision due to some real world issues.  They have stated that the time period specified in the label can be exceeded if necessary.  Note they are not recommending that it be exceeded or that the US go to single shot approach, but recognizing that some issues with supply might make such a delay necessary.

[nocl]

4 hours ago, cangelmd said:

Someone asked me both questions - if I get J and J can I get one of the mRNA vaccines in a few months and what happens if I by accident, get my second shot with the other vaccine? My thought was, not much in either case, but we don’t really know.

 Another friend who has some at least theoretical co-morbidities (not particularly overweight, but middle aged cancer survivor) asked if they should hold out for a 2 shot vaccine, and I said no, some immunity is better than none, andcJ and J is perfectly acceptable. But I don’t think there is any reason that someone who is at high risk can’t get a different vaccine later?

According to what I have seen the comments have been that it has not been safety tested and therefore not recommended.  I expect that there will probably be some safety tests along these lines in respect to the new booster shots.  After all it would be pretty difficult to limit a particular companies booster to only the people that initially received its vaccine.

 

If someone gets one of the vaccines they might as well just wait for the boosters aimed at the variants instead of going for another vaccine a few months later

[hcat]

Good news!  We just heard that Canada has approved J and J... possible game changer!

 

Confusing news.. NYS  has modified travel rules. If you have been fully vaccinated, you do not have to test before and after travel BUT ONLY if the 2nd  vaccination was within 90 days.

 

Does this mean that someone in Health Dept NYS believes the vaccination is only effective for 3 months?  Many have  expended alot  of effort to get fully vaccinated...90 days seems not a  " big payoff".

[nocl]

4 minutes ago, hcat said:

Good news!  We just heard that Canada has approved J and J... possible game changer!

 

Confusing news.. NYS  has modified travel rules. If you have been fully vaccinated, you do not have to test before and after travel BUT ONLY if the 2nd  vaccination was within 90 days.

 

Does this mean that someone in Health Dept NYS believes the vaccination is only effective for 3 months?  Many have  expended alot  of effort to get fully vaccinated...90 days seems not a  " big payoff".

No. It is not related to the period of immunity.

 

What they are saying is that based upon data it appears that one does not spread the virus (shed from nasal passages) for at least the first 90 days after the 2nd vaccination.  It may prevent spread for a long period but the data does not yet exist.  Since they are relaxing travel rules they are limiting the period to the length of time that data actual exists for.

[Arizona Wildcat]

7 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Maybe someone can explain this to me. Today, Canada just approved their 4th vaccine. They now have access to Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and J&J vaccines. Why have they only vaccinated a little over 2 million so far?

 

COVID-19 Tracker Canada

 

On the other hand in the UK almost 21 million have received at least 1 dose?

 

Daily summary | Coronavirus in the UK (data.gov.uk)

 

I'm sure there are a variety of reasons. I was just curious and, hopefully, most of their issues will be resolved in the coming days and weeks. Maybe this article I just found might shed some light on the issue.

 

Canada just made a major change to its coronavirus vaccine rollout (msn.com)

 

When the vaccine companies were starting to develop vaccines they offered basically three deals.  For X dollars you get X doses and are first in line.  For about 1/3 less $$ you will get a slow steady delivery of vaccines.  Later on the $$ was less still with deliveries later still.

Trudeau did not step up with the $$ to be first in line.  The US, Europe and others did.  Also remember that Canada produces NO VACCINES.  They import all of them.  Thus when the EU and USA imposed defense production acts - Canada got mostly shut out.

Thus a combination according to a MP from BC of a bad decision in Ottawa and a bad decision years ago to allow all production of vaccines to move overseas.

[lyndarra]

7 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Maybe someone can explain this to me. Today, Canada just approved their 4th vaccine. They now have access to Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and J&J vaccines. Why have they only vaccinated a little over 2 million so far?

 

COVID-19 Tracker Canada

 

On the other hand in the UK almost 21 million have received at least 1 dose?

 

Daily summary | Coronavirus in the UK (data.gov.uk)

 

I'm sure there are a variety of reasons. I was just curious and, hopefully, most of their issues will be resolved in the coming days and weeks. Maybe this article I just found might shed some light on the issue.

 

Canada just made a major change to its coronavirus vaccine rollout (msn.com)

 

It depends where the vaccine is being made. If it's from Europe or more correctly the EU, they have been blocking exports to shore up supply for member countries. This week 250,000 doses of AZ headed to Australia from Italy were blocked.

[hcat]

13 hours ago, nocl said:

No. It is not related to the period of immunity.

 

What they are saying is that based upon data it appears that one does not spread the virus (shed from nasal passages) for at least the first 90 days after the 2nd vaccination.  It may prevent spread for a long period but the data does not yet exist.  Since they are relaxing travel rules they are limiting the period to the length of time that data actual exists for.

Thank you for explaining. Seems the limitations of the vaccinne are not fully known.   Based on the NY rule, our 1 week trip to Fla in May  to close things for hurricane season, will still require the dbl testing pre and post travel. Hopefully tests will be covered by US Medicare  so soon after our last set of tests,

 

We are still following mask precautions & social distancing,  Latest report  I read online yesterday said restaurants (indoor or outdoor ) are still  high risk places where  one can get infected...

 

Wonder how they will rate cruise ship dining and bars?

 

 

Edited March 6, 2021 by hcat

[mimbecky]

18 hours ago, nocl said:

Keep in mind that different agencies have different jobs.  The FDA determines which drugs are approved in the US and what is on label according to the data presented to them.

 

Once a drug is approved, physicians can based upon their own knowledge and opinion use the drug off label

 

The CDC who has the job and responsibility for administering the vaccines program has made such a decision due to some real world issues.  They have stated that the time period specified in the label can be exceeded if necessary.  Note they are not recommending that it be exceeded or that the US go to single shot approach, but recognizing that some issues with supply might make such a delay necessary.

 

Thank you....great post and clears up a lot of my confusion.

My heart goes out to Canadians. Sounds like Australia is having similar issues too.

This board is excellent at giving us somewhat of a more world view and I appreciate it immensely.

Keeps things in perspective.

M

[TeeRick]

More about the COVID variant viruses and a general summary on how each vaccine handles them.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/05/how-the-different-covid-vaccines-will-handle-variants.html

[deadzone1003]

On 3/5/2021 at 5:55 AM, TrulyBlonde said:

How about this:

Get your vaccine, wear a mask, and lose some weight:

Countries with high obesity rates have more deaths.

You can Google all of the latest info on it.

That was a bit obvious when nurses and people who had to lift people in and out of gurneys or who had to turn them over were complaining about how big many patients were back in March 2020.    

[deadzone1003]

19 hours ago, nocl said:

Keep in mind that different agencies have different jobs.  The FDA determines which drugs are approved in the US and what is on label according to the data presented to them.

 

Once a drug is approved, physicians can based upon their own knowledge and opinion use the drug off label

 

The CDC who has the job and responsibility for administering the vaccines program has made such a decision due to some real world issues.  They have stated that the time period specified in the label can be exceeded if necessary.  Note they are not recommending that it be exceeded or that the US go to single shot approach, but recognizing that some issues with supply might make such a delay necessary.

Not anymore for your middle comment or, at least, they applied different rules for this pandemic.  Remember hydroxychloroquine, it has been around since 1955 for malaria, but they limit it to hospital use for this virus where it was not effective (as an anti-viral, it stops or inhibits the growth of virus, but by the time you enter the hospital because of breathing difficulties, your immune system is attacking the live/dead virus in your lungs - paradoxically, they can't find live covid-19 virus in almost all patients 12 days after onset of 1st  symptoms, I guess your immune system kills all the live virus, but it is also continue to attack the dead virus).  You can find many negative studies concerning HCQ for clinical/hospital applications, but you can't find any negative study on outpatient application of the drug.  They also did not recommend physicians to use ivermectin for covid-19, but they recently have changed their mind, now they left it up to doctor and patient where it should have been.  So, if you haven't gotten your vaccine and you catch covid-19, you might want to discuss the use of ivermectin between you and your doctor for outpatient use.  There are dozens of observational and some formal studies of ivermectin throughout the world except in the Western world.  The overwhelming number of them are positive.  

[TeeRick]

17 hours ago, lyndarra said:

It depends where the vaccine is being made. If it's from Europe or more correctly the EU, they have been blocking exports to shore up supply for member countries. This week 250,000 doses of AZ headed to Australia from Italy were blocked.

I believe the EU is feuding specifically with Astra Zeneca over vaccine doses promised vs delivered to date.  It is getting very testy out there.  But people's lives do depend on this.

https://www.france24.com/en/health/20210305-france-eu-back-italy-s-decision-to-block-covid-19-vaccine-shipment-to-australia

[TeeRick]

7 minutes ago, deadzone1003 said:

Not anymore for your middle comment or, at least, they applied different rules for this pandemic.  Remember hydroxychloroquine, it has been around since 1955 for malaria, but they limit it to hospital use for this virus where it was not effective (as an anti-viral, it stops or inhibits the growth of virus, but by the time you enter the hospital because of breathing difficulties, your immune system is attacking the live/dead virus in your lungs - paradoxically, they can't find live covid-19 virus in almost all patients 12 days after onset of 1st  symptoms, I guess your immune system kills all the live virus, but it is also continue to attack the dead virus).  You can find many negative studies concerning HCQ for clinical/hospital applications, but you can't find any negative study on outpatient application of the drug.  They also did not recommend physicians to use ivermectin for covid-19, but they recently have changed their mind, now they left it up to doctor and patient where it should have been.  So, if you haven't gotten your vaccine and you catch covid-19, you might want to discuss the use of ivermectin between you and your doctor for outpatient use.  There are dozens of observational and some formal studies of ivermectin throughout the world except in the Western world.  The overwhelming number of them are positive.  

We have gone into a lot of posts and comments on this thread about hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin previously.  IMO- Best to leave these discussions out of the vaccine thread here on Cruise Critic.  They are confusing and cause a lot of medical (and political) debate probably best left elsewhere.  Again just my opinion.