A little update on my vaccination journey here in Los Angeles County.
As I mentioned on Saturday, I was able to get my first vaccination at Ralphs Pharmacy, which is part of the Ralphs grocery store chain (which is owned by Kroger). It was the Moderna vaccine, which requires a 28-day delay before the second shot, as opposed to 21 days for the vaccine from Pfizer. For the record, the only side effect was that my arms was slightly sore the next day, but not much. I consider this a good trade-off for something that stands a good chance of protecting my life. It turns out I sneaked in under the wire. The L.A. County Board of Health just took away the doses that Ralphs had and gave them to the mass vaccination sites (like Dodger Stadium). As a result, a great many people had their Ralphs appointments cancelled (include a couple friends of mine) and, as you might imagine, they are extremely upset. I'm not exactly sure why the doses were taken from the pharmacy chain, but one article I read suggested that it may possibly have something to do with how only 65% of Ralphs' allotment was fulfilled by appointments. But to be clear, I don't know if this is true. Whatever the reason, Ralphs has had appointments cancelled. You can read more about it in this article from the Los Angeles Times. If Ralphs gets more doses (or if there's enough complaints that the doses are returned) they’ll likely honor the appointments, although at the moment Ralphs Pharmacy is saying there’s no guarantee of getting anything “for a month or more.” Obviously, on a personal level only, I’m thrilled to have gotten my shot – though not happy about how that might impact getting the second shot. What I have to find out is if any other facilities will give you a second shot who didn’t give you the first one. At the moment, I’ve heard and read “no,” although with some rare exceptions, like perhaps (I've know of one case) for healthcare workers So, I’m hoping (and still expecting, even though the L.A. Times article wasn’t encouraging) they get new doses by then. We’ll see. But – after that, the news is more positive. For a reason I hadn't been aware of, I lucked out getting the Moderna vaccine. With one shot, the Pfizer vaccine will be 52.4% effective after two weeks. However, the Moderna vaccine will be 80.2% effective! That strikes me as very high. (Not as high as 95% but not shabby at all. Higher even than the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine that appears about to be approved.) Also, it turns out that the 21/28-day wait before getting the second shot is more regulatory than scientific. On the regulatory end, during a pandemic the government wants the public to get their two shots as soon as possible in order to be fully protected, and those 21/28-day delays are the very earliest that scientists can recommend for the second shot. But as noted by Moncef Slaoui -- an immunologist who has spent his 30-year career in vaccine development and was also co-head of Operation Warp Speed: “The immune system generally responds better when there's a wider gap [MY EMPHASIS] between vaccinations." It's just that when the risk of infection is high, people are better off being fully protected from the second shot on the authorized regulatory schedule. But that's totally separate from the scientific realities. Further, the positive news is that the sources I found all say that if you can’t get your second shot within 4-6 weeks as the regulation strongly recommends, this does not mean you have to start the vaccination process all over again. And even more, after just getting the first shot gives it provides significant protection -- if you get infected, for instance, you will not likely get a case serious enough to need to be hospitalized. All of which I think is good for everyone to know once they've gotten their first vaccination, rather than be overly concerned that they might not be able to get their second shot in 4-6 weeks. So, though I’d of course love to get the full protection in 28 days from my second Moderna vaccination, if I can’t it seems like it’s absolutely fine on several levels, most importantly having 80.2% efficacy. Which, again, is why I said I lucked up getting the Moderna vaccine. Though the Pfizer still does offer important benefits as noted. And in the end, I still do expect the Biden Administration to be able to get more vaccine out in 4-6 weeks, including to Los Angeles. I just wish things didn't get so screwed up with Ralphs Pharmacy. For me, but more for those who haven't even gotten their first shot yet. Just imagine if a good, effective distribution plan after the first vaccine was approved in early November, three months ago... I'm not naming any names.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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