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

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

I am happy for ilxors getting the shots. I got almost 20 questions deep on the NY website and realized I'm going to be very far down the list.

balls deep in a vax beef

in five weeks I'll be able to fulfill that promise, Tracer

I'm happy to report my wife will get her first shot tomorrow, but I also have no idea when I will qualify for one.

Someone upthread voiced my most recent personal COVID-related concern, which is that the lower risk people (like myself) will understandably be waiting longer for the vaccine while the vaccinated population starts slowly returning to normal life and mixing it up with other people, but even if/as the infection rates drop, it seems like the risk to the unvaccinated will rise given how decreasingly-isolated people will become over the next few months. Like...it would really suck to have been such an overcautious stickler for a year only to wind up catching the bug just as we're collectively coming out of this shit.

I'm happy to wait, but I'm honestly getting overwhelmed to see just how long its going to be. As detailed in the outbreak thread, due to some weird political decision, my city is specifically excluded from being eligible for county-wide mass vax sites, so we're at the mercy of our local public health department. As of yesterday, they are limited to healthcare workers and those over the age of 70. They seem to be lowering the bar by one year of age per week (it was 71 last week, 72 the week before, etc), so it looks like I've got about 26 weeks to wait.

ymmv, of course, and I get it, but this might be overthinking, OL. How will risks rise for the unvaccinated?

I mean my understanding (which may be incorrect) is that vaccinated people can still be carriers? And if they're returning to anything resembling normal life/interactions, I would think their chances of being carriers will rise even while they themselves should be fine. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong (it happens often).

We can at least take solace, jon, that our new infection numbers have been astounding low.

Yeah, the infection numbers are great news, without a doubt.

I mean my understanding (which may be incorrect) is that vaccinated people can still be carriers?

Anthony Fauci said last week on CNN that “it is conceivable, maybe likely,” that vaccinated people can get infected with the coronavirus and then spread it to someone else, and that more will be known about this likelihood “in some time, as we do some follow-up studies.” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky had been no more definitive on Meet the Press a few days before, where she told the host, “We don’t have a lot of data yet to inform exactly the question that you’re asking.”

I know I ain't returning to 100% normal after my second jab. We're still required to mask in my county, and even if we aren't I still am. Vaccinating means I can sit outside at restaurants and bars with some degree of reassurance, visit relatives, etc.

I think the "can" does a lot of work in that sentence. A lot of things can happen. For example, it's never been conclusively proven that COVID can't transmit via surfaces, but we no longer wipe down our groceries and mail.

I've been pretty chill about getting my vaccine whenever I get it but a close family member has been diagnosed with a serious illness so I suddenly got anxious to jump the queue (have seen them once in the past year+), not that I can or that it would practically make much difference in terms of being able to see them. I suddenly realise this lost time is lost time and we're not always going to be able to make it up.

Vaccinating means I can sit outside at restaurants and bars with some degree of reassurance, visit relatives, etc.

Indeed, like I think I muttered upthread -- mid-April can't be here soon enough when it comes to my family finally hanging out again. Very likely by that point too the vaccination numbers in the city itself will be massive.

I think most people on here aren't going to do anything really crazy for the time being, but to OL's point, folks in Austin, TX at least are already running wild. I went to both an open air mall and a food court over the weekend, and they were utterly packed. Despite our best efforts, there are tons of people who are throwing caution to the wind.

Yeah, it seems like there's some willful misunderstanding going on wrt the guidelines for what's okay and what isn't once we're vaccinated. Which will likely be to the detriment of those who are still waiting to get jabbed.

what im curious to find out is what the infection/risk curve will look like if it turns out that the vaccinated can carry & transmit, but are maybe less infectious due to lower viral loads (which is what seems to make common sense to my ignoramus brain)

part of the misunderstanding rests with the CDC, which, understandably, has been conservative about what vaccinated people can do. They're finally getting that you have to give these people some hope and the skeptical a reason to get vaccinated.

big congrats to all the vaxxed and appointments-for-vax people itt, btw. my partner has an appt in a couple weeks and it still seems so unreal, definitely gonna be some happytears on that day

Anthony Fauci said last week on CNN that “it is conceivable, maybe likely,” that vaccinated people can get infected with the coronavirus and then spread it to someone else, and that more will be known about this likelihood “in some time, as we do some follow-up studies.”

this is strictly true. it is almost certain that some people who have been vaccinated can get it and give it to someone else. and it's true that the situation is a little murky so more studies will tell us more.

but this quote omits to mention that all the evidence we have is that is very unlikely that will happen (which is exactly why the CDC are telling vaccinated people they can visit unvaccinated people).

i don't know if fauci said more and they cut it, or he didn't mention that. i'm starting to get the feeling his "anything is possible" shtick is a less useful method of public health comms in march 2021 than it was in march 2020.

all the evidence we have is that is very unlikely that will happen often (missed an important word)

so it looks like I've got about 26 weeks to wait.

a month ago you should you had 18 months to wait iirc, so that's progress.

p.s. i promise you it won't be 26 weeks.

should = thought

but this quote omits to mention that all the evidence we have is that is very unlikely that will happen (which is exactly why the CDC are telling vaccinated people they can visit unvaccinated people).

I don't think it will either. Scientists hate dealing with absolutes, though, and Fauci, et. al. want to avoid the scenes in Austin that Moodles described.

Thank u, caek. My gf has gotten her first jab and she's eager to start loosening restrictions (particularly since pretty much her whole immediate family has been fully vaxxed at this point) but also understandably concerned about the fact that I remain unjabbed. It's so hard to know how to navigate all this shit.

xp yeah i have no idea what the right way to communicate this stuff is. but i do get the feeling fauci has started to err on the side of the side of the logical positivists, which is ... probably doing more harm than good, and is no consistent with the rest of the federal government at this point.

cannot type today, sorry