Mostly Apolitical Thread for Discussing/Venting our Rational/Irrational COVID-19 Fears and Experiences in 2020

Haha, it literally was some Hunger Games type shit where each state aired a drawing every morning where they pulled names out of a gigantic tumbler. I guess even COVID stress dreams have to realign themselves.

spotted in jersey city

http://i.imgur.com/Y5f1xHf.png

what's their method, man?

Covid Results Everywhere Around Me

get the jab, 'derna derna vax y'all

Hut 1
Hut 2
Hut 3
What
Ole Dirty Vaxxer
Live and uncut

Ironically, at the outset of the pandemic I weighed just enough to qualify for the vax today, but I lost about 10lbs due to no longer being in the gym lifting.

i.e. this:

most elite athletes would qualify as obese because of their muscle mass iirc

man alive perhaps you are just swole

― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Monday, March 8, 2021 1:02 PM (forty-three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

so uh I got my first jab 40 mins ago

Congrats Alfred!

way to go!

CVS and Publix, using fed guidelines, have offered the vaccine to K-12 teachers and staff. Thinking "what the hell" and because I teach duel enrollment students every semester, I put in my info, my university name, and the portal allowed me in without a hitch. Didn't even get asked for ID to confirm my DOB ("We checked you out," the lady said, ominously). Out in 20 mins, counting the 15 mins you're required to linger.

The university I work for tried to lobby for their employees (faculty and staff) to get bumped up to an earlier group, but apparently got shut down.

Stupid. We're slowly getting the seniors jabbed, time to start mass vaccinations

jabba dabba doo! great news alfred!

Lovely! My hospital sent me a msg that I quality and should make an appt for the vax but I'm 2 hours away and not going back for weeks yet. Rats.

Congrats Alfred! That's how my cousin qualified as well.

I am really itching to get the vaccine, even though objectively I am low risk (able to wfh and not in a situation where I need to encounter high-transmission settings) and low need (no relatives nearby I need to see to) and we're talking a matter of weeks (I expect) until doses are available to everybody who wants them, willy-nilly, but I am developing a Rational/Irrational COVID-19 Fear that after a year of not getting it, some of it under much higher-prevalence conditions than now, i"m going to catch it like a week before I would have been vaccinated.

I got my first dose yesterday, but there were so many people in one (very big) room getting vaccinated at once that I'm not going to feel really good/not anxious about it until a week or so goes by.

Though some part of me must be hugely relieved, because I've been down with a massive tension headache since yesterday afternoon.

Makes me feel better to see some states working out the kinks and getting shots in arms because that is, uh, not the case everywhere. I posted more details in the outbreak thread, but our local mayor just sent out a pretty bleak update with the upshot being we've been told not to expect any increases in doses until at least April and, for now, residents of our city are specifically excluded from participating in County vaccination sites. It's a fucking clown show around here, apparently.

I'm sorry to hear that. It might change quickly though. Here in Seattle, we were told firmly that teachers weren't getting vaccinated until at least April, and then on March 3rd they suddenly made us eligible and by March 7th I had my shot.

I mean, I'm not going to eligible for some time yet, which is fine. I'm just angry on behalf of people getting actively fucked over because the state, county and city are playing games with eligibility. Personally, I'm just putting on a lid on any optimism that has been building over the past few weeks thanks to this jolting dose of reality.

Meanwhile, in Canada…

*frosted corpses of crickets*

I've been out of the office for a year and the only time I've been indoors with anyone but my partner since then was once over the summer when I went to the Dr for a heart episode (it turned out fine). My job is insisting that I stop back into the office in a couple days for the most pointless of reasons - to get my stupid ID card updated. I've pissed and moaned about it but I cant get out of it. Currently feeling Rational/Irrational COVID Fear about having to go in there and be around a bunch of people for potentially the whole day for such a dumb reason, after having been so careful for a year, right on the cusp of being eligible for the vax. I know theres basically nothing I can do and that it'll surely all be fine, but its still one of those things where I just know in advance I'm going to be completely stressed and freaked out and anxious until I'm on the other side of it. Small potatoes I guess but this is the venting thread, so here I vent.

Depends. Does your job require sustained contact in tight spaces with people?

I wont even be working, just stopping into a couple offices on a couple different floors to have my fingerprints scanned and get issued new ID cards, then getting the hell out of there. It shouldnt take more than 15 minutes to do everything, if the logistics go smooth, but the pessimistic side of my brain cant help but look at the combination of bureaucracy & IT and fear something will go wrong and I'll end up trapped in some crowded waiting room or something.

If it is any consolation, I've had to go in multiple times for equally stupid and pointless reasons and have, each time, been pleasantly surprised by how serious folks are taking things and how they've streamlined those more administrative functions to be very smooth and limit time in with others. I totally get your fear, but you might be surprised by how much effort other people have been putting into making those situations less intimidating.

yeah I'm trying to bear that in mind, thinking about the HR personnel involved and assuming theyre doing this for a certain number of people every day, so you'd think they'll have it set up pretty smooth. honestly one of my fears is just that i hope i'm not so skittish that i'm weird or rude to anyone. also reminding myself that ive been super blessed this past year as far as the privileges that have allowed me to stay safe, if this is the riskiest thing that i have to deal with during the covid pandemic then that'll be pretty fanfuckingtastic, all things considered.

Ha, I get it. Absolutely. In my experience, everyone I've interacted with has felt just as weird and uncertain about how we are supposed to do things that the awkwardness is almost to be expected.

One Eye Open, I was in a really similar situation, haven't been back since mid March 20, haven't been indoors anywhere for a very very long time, and had to go in for 15 minutes to collect a new laptop and ID card. I was super anxious about it, nearly had a panic attack the morning before I went, and as soon as I got in, it felt weirdly totally normal and OK. Lots of serious precautions obviously being taken, no close contact, everyone wearing masks, hardly anyone around. I forgot to be nervous and instead distracted with stupid computer setup. It was actually a helpful thing for me, I've been really worried about having to go back into the office, and that short visit helped take my anxiety down a notch.

i've had very long stretches (6-12 weeks) in the last year where i've not gone into any buildings at all so when I do it always feels terrifying at first but double-masking with an n95 and seeing everyone else masked these days makes it feel a lot less impending doom. my schedule also means I can go to places at like 11am on a wednesday when there's very few people around

i still haven't been to my office though and it'll be a year this week

thx all. i always knew it was going to be a pretty big readjustment curve going back out into the wider world again, but i guess when i thought about it i always assumed i would be doing it at my own pace and timeline, it really threw a wrench in my mental prep to not have total control over the terms of situation.

its weird, looking back on the last year i can see how, although its obviously been limiting and isolating in many ways, the other side of the coin is that it allowed me to have near-total control over my personal circumstances (due in no small part to the privileges of being an employed WFH person in a non-urban area), who i deal with, whats expected of me, etc. and i'm now starting to realize that i definitely enjoyed that sense of control on some level, maybe in a not-totally-healthy way. ceding some of that control in order to return to normalized relations with the outside world is going to be a little tougher than i thought, i think.

new business idea: COVID simulation escape towns in 2030

Question to fellow UKers, as a late 40yo when would I expect my first jab of the vaccine - and how would they normally contact me about it?

i think April is likely. there’s a website now that you can use to book - https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/

even if you do nothing your GP should call but it can’t hurt to use the website once your age group is eligible

much obliged Tracer

Imagine getting your GP involved, that's a novel idea. Here in the States they'd prefer to just throw you into a confusing mass of often contradictory eligibility websites run by competing parties, in the hopes that you just give up completely and they can save on the costs of vaccinating you.

LOL yeah the idea of a GP proactively reaching out to you about something regarding your health is beyond my comprehension as a USAer. About a bill, on the other hand...

I just heard there are 1200 doses of Moderna plus the J&J shot headed to Dutchess County soon! They're starting to do pop-up clinics in various places which is great. A senior I know has been calling every hour for days now and there's been nothing available.

The county is allowing ppl to register their eligibility and be called back with an appointment! Which is amazing.

My PCP/hospital system sent me a msg that I'm eligible and should make an appt! I can't take it because I'm not there right now, but vax distro is working at least somewhat.

OEO otm, I mean, just imagine how less onerous and stressful this whole thing would be if it was just clearly communicated to just sit tight and your GP will reach out to you when it's your turn to come in. Obviously there would still be gaps for those without GPs, the unhoused, etc etc - for which we'd have to still rely on other methods, but it just seems so counterproductive to just say, "well, you guys on your own, here are links to 13 different websites to start your search and good luck figuring out which one apples!"

it is!

welp, first vaccine appointment is tomorrow

!! yay!

wau awesome

sweet

I just got my appointment too! Venting COVID fears on ILX gets results!!

get in