Anyone else just so bored and fed up with all this crap and dug themselves into such a rut it feels like you'll never get out of it? Don't worry, not about to do myself harm, just having a low day.
After over a year of staying home except for essential trips? Yeah. I am so ready for that vaccine. According to the provincial government here, the group I belong to will be eligible to book an appointment next month. I guess diabetes is good for something after all; it bumps me up the eligibility ladder by about 3 months. Thank goodness for fanfiction and NaNoWriMo. They've kept my mind occupied and I've got my cat for company.
This week has probably been one of the worst for me so I don't know about bored but certainly am fed up.
To make things more complicated, is that while Ford announced that 75-79 could now start booking their appointments and also get them via pharmacy province-wide, he neglected to mention that there are certain regions in the north that are still in Phase 1 vaccinating 80+, where 75-79's are not currently being serviced. My district unfortunately falls in that category, and there's been a whole lot of confusion regarding the provincial website and the number they gave to call and its availability to those regions, and the fact is that website and number don't apply to those certain regions, because the district health units are using their own booking system but also don't have as many vaccines available. It's caused a lot of frustration for my parents who feel the government wasn't clear at all. At the rate the vaccinations are going in my region and district, I don't see myself getting the vaccine later than September, and I'd be in Phase 3.
Ugh, sorry. That's terrible, they should have been able to retain the back-end data, even if they redesigned the website. I guess look on the bright side... if we have to wait that long, maybe our stockpiles will have built up by then, and we won't have to wait four months for our second dose. On the other hand, if Europe and India both end up deciding to pull an America and block our vaccine purchases, then maybe we'll still be in Phase 1 by September...
The stupid thing about how they're doing it in Alberta is that (as far as I know), it's at certain pharmacies only, in Edmonton, Red Deer, and Calgary. I was surprised to hear Red Deer being included, as the health minister prefers to pretend we don't exist. So fortunately, I live within a short (driving) distance of three pharmacies, and I don't drive. I asked the disabled transit driver the other day if he had any idea how long his clients usually took (as he said he'd driven some to vaccine appointments), and he didn't know. This kinda matters, since we have to book a return time at the time as a pickup time... having to guess in advance whether it'll take 10 minutes or an hour... If I have a choice I'll book for the pharmacy that also has a grocery department. I haven't done in-person grocery shopping in over a year.
That's the crazy thing. It's only really considering our first dose. I feel Ontario has bungled the vaccine rollout, and I think it's something voters will remember for a long time when it comes to voting. Ford standing by his constituents is one thing, but to favor them over parts of Ontario that are doing increasingly worse in the face of this with outbreaks occurring left and right, in our hospital, schools, nursing/retirement homes, and be told we're no worse than other regions? If we're really no worse than any of the other regions, then why the disparity in the allocation and delivery?? That seriously borders on negligence. Anyone knows that the sooner we all get vaccinated, the easier time we'll all have of it to have us rid of it, so delaying it for certain regions over others feels very counter-productive. Yeah, what really hurts is that we've already been through this and have had to wait, so I hope that doesn't happen. I have a friend in Europe who's already had their two shots, in November, I think it was. It pains me to see we're so far behind. Despite the fact that we had apparently bought the most doses of the Pfizer vaccine before having the shipments reduced by the EU.
Hey I live in the SF Bay Area, and I'm having trouble finding a nearby vaccine site for my 82-year-old mom. Even I had to travel over 50 miles to get my first shot a week ago.
It must be nice to be a privileged politician. This photo is of my MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly) who represents my riding in the Alberta Legislature. According to her post: "Very grateful to receive my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine today." This was a week ago. During a time when the eligible people were those 65 and older or Inuit, Metis, and other aboriginal citizens of this province. This woman is less than 2 years older than I am. I don't qualify to book an appointment until next month, and that's because I'm in the at-risk group. As someone said sarcastically in the comments, she looks pretty good for 65! She's the Minister of Education, and there are many extremely irate teachers calling her on this. She has no right to jump the queue.
I kid you not. (Although to be fair, updated guidance is supposedly "coming soon".) To be fair, we have so many fewer "fully vaccinated" people, that it's probably not all that urgent to figure out right away, but still. Today, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization issued new guidelines "pausing" the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine on people under 55, and most provinces are following the recommendation. Oh, and the third wave is now apparently "completely out of control" in my home province. My region is moving from orange to red zone on Tuesday. Sounds like the next few weeks are going to be rough.
I've been cleared to spend all day later on today trying to book a pharmacy appointment for my first dose. Not sure what's going to be easiest - online, calling 811 (have heard that line is constantly jammed), or calling a pharmacy (they don't say if we're to use the regular phone number or a different one). That's twice now that my diabetes has moved me up the ladder - first time was two years ago for cataract surgery (when I pointed out that to properly care for my diabetic needs I would have to be able to see), and now I'm in the at-risk category so I get the vaccine a month or two sooner.
I received a text today from my medical provider saying I can schedule my vaccine appointment starting Thursday.
Not at all. But it see similar reactions online. I'm amazed how ongoing, long-lasting issues vanish (or try to vanish) from the news because people get bored with it. Sorry, a pandemic, Australian wildfire, Libyan civil war, etc., don't just go away because the "newness" has worn off. Also sorry for sounding snappy, this is merely an observation.
Honestly, I'm not in any way trying to downplay the seriousness of all this, and I definitely support getting the vaccine (I get my second shot next week)...but all this talk about 'vaccination passports' strikes me as a bit of a slippery slope... ...just this side of "Your papers, please."
I was more meaning that it just feels so never ending that it threatens to overwhelm me at times so that it doesn't feel like there is a way out, or even if there is that I've descended so far into a pit of depression and despair that there might be no getting out of it. Personally I've tried to avoid the news as much as possible, just so I'm not left completely numb to any sort of sensation once more.
You do need to step back from the news if it starts to become overwhelming. I'm a news junkie, but during 9/11 coverage, I had to tune out after a couple of days. While things may seem like there is no way out, there is a continuance to life, no matter what happens. For all the scenes of destruction after some event, you're just seeing the most dramatic portion and than is usually just a small little section. Most everything else is pretty much normal.
The earliest I can possibly get my first shot is next month. Virginia now limits all 16-64 year olds to people with preexisting medical conditions and certain fields of employment along with frontline workers.
I got my first shot of the Moderna vaccine yesterday. I was surprised that I was scheduled this soon but the mass vaccination place I went to seemed very efficient, I was in and out in half an hour.