Woo-Hoo! COVID

[WaterWitchin]

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

... Thankfully, we live in a country where we can (for now) decide to take the shot or not.

That’s one of the most thoughtful and insightful posts I’ve seen here. Gracias Carol, and Amen!

[Leafmite]

I had an aunt die of Covid19 a few months ago. I had just gotten a nice note from my aunt when I was informed she had gone to the hospital with Covid. That was the last I heard from her.

I do respect everyone's choices but this is a nasty disease and I want everyone on our orchid board to stay healthy regardless of whether you vaccinate or do not. I care about everyone here. You matter!

[Milla12]

This whole situation with COVID makes me feel anxious. I had it, but the form was light luckily. And I know a lot of people who got COVID and still haven't recovered fully.
And I can't trust the vaccine, because it takes years to create the quality product.

[Dollythehun]

Many people are anxious, depressed and afraid.. Your best defense if you don't trust the shot, is to take proper care of yourself. Mask up, wash often, etc. But whether you trust the vaccine or not, you're putting your trust in something.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Milla12

I can't trust the vaccine, because it takes years to create the quality product.

What folks fail to understand is that it has taken years to develop it.

None of the technology in this vaccine is new. The identification of- and “snipping” of the disease RNA is not. The development of a lipid carrier is not. The two combined to make a vaccine is not - there are both flu and HIV treatments using this proven technique.

One could use cars as an analogy. The basics of a car have been around for a long time, but as the needs arise, new engines are needed to supply the right combination of power, efficiency and fuel needed.

The accelerated nature of the availability of these vaccines came from the concerted efforts to identify the best snippet of RNA to use, that is, which piece is most effective at stimulating the immune system.

The FDA (and agencies worldwide) emergency use clearance is what has shortcut the start-to-release time frame the most, as that required less (not none) trial data than a full out approval would, but the risk/reward analysis favored that. There have been close to 200-million people vaccinated worldwide, so far, and the negative reaction rate is on-par, to slightly lower than it is with some other vaccines.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by Ray

What folks fail to understand is that it has taken years to develop it.

None of the technology in this vaccine is new. The identification of- and “snipping” of the disease RNA is not. The development of a lipid carrier is not. The two combined to make a vaccine is not - there are both flu and HIV treatments using this proven technique.

One could use cars as an analogy. The basics of a car have been around for a long time, but as the needs arise, new engines are needed to supply the right combination of power, efficiency and fuel needed.

The accelerated nature of the availability of these vaccines came from the concerted efforts to identify the best snippet of RNA to use, that is, which piece is most effective at stimulating the immune system.

The FDA (and agencies worldwide) emergency use clearance is what has shortcut the start-to-release time frame the most, as that required less (not none) trial data than a full out approval would, but the risk/reward analysis favored that. There have been close to 200-million people vaccinated worldwide, so far, and the negative reaction rate is on-par, to slightly lower than it is with some other vaccines.

To add to this, I have indirect contacts in the vaccine development world which have said that a major difference is the money that has been thrown at this vaccine. In a usual situation the yearly allocated budget is smaller and you have fewer people working fewer hours, which stretches out the development work over a longer time period. For the covid vaccine money is pretty much a non issue and they've been working around the clock.

[Leafmite]

I just wish they currently had enough vaccine here in the USA for everyone that does wish to be vaccinated. They say that some of us will need to wait until at least June/July. The problem with this is that, by then, it will probably have mutated enough to require a booster shot. Perhaps if I need to wait that long, maybe I will get lucky and have an updated version.

[Orchidtinkerer]

Yes this vaccine was pushed faster than any vaccine before it but I don't think that is a matter for concern as technology has advanced faster than ever.

When cars were first being built it took over a week to build a single car and at least 10 people to build it.

These days cars are built in factories on production lines and a car can be built in no time, probably less than an hour.

Does that mean cars are less safe? No, they are far safer now..

Same with the vaccine. It has been tested on thousands already.

It will cause side effects - even long term side-effects is not ruled out from the vaccine alone but it will be a fraction of the people that would die otherwise..

I remember as a child I had to vaccinated for something that I can't really remember before travelling to a third world country and I passed out for 5 minutes afterwards.

But I do know the world has gone Crazy since the pandemic, the longer it continues the more prices will start creeping up - we won't notice in the short run but in the long run things will become more expensive which i can not really afford.

So I am not a fan of vaccinations either but I am less a fan of a crazy world that is driving up crime because people are struggling.

So, if vaccination will turn the world sane again then I will be part of the guinnea pigs taking part in order for that to happen.

I am suspecting I have had covid twice already, once in February, then again in December so I am most likely already immune but if it is offered to me I'll take part as it is the only way to get society back on track. Everyone has turned very selfish in this pandemic - that has been the most noticeable effect on society so far.
So less selfish thinking, more cooperated effort to get back on track, even if one believes one of the made up stories about the vaccine.

I mean I have heard that 5G spread the virus. Telephone poles were set on fire here because of it!

I have heard that the vaccine contains cells of dead foetuses. Not really. I mean a building block or something was developed from an aborted foetus 60 years ago but there is no remnants of that 60 year old foetus in any vaccine, just the genetic information they learnt about was used.

I will add my own theory that alien bats landed in the Antarctic and set up a secret underground lab called the bat cave.
Here they worked on abducted foetuses to create a killer virus that they attached to storks and when these storks went to drop off the new born babies in china they dropped in some virus infected babies along with them. The virus spread from china to the rest of the world and the alien bats flew back home so it could never be traced back to them.
The alien bats were annoyed at how fast a vaccine was developed so they sent in some reptilian aliens to spread as much disinformation and rumours around the world to stop people vaccinating.

[Keysguy]

My wife and I have been diligently running 5 devices playing "vaccine bingo" every morning that Publix (grocery/pharmacy in Southeastern US) has had scheduling available. My wife scored an appointment last Friday morning and got her first shot this past Tuesday with no issues.

Unfortunately, the appointment website is like trying to score concert tickets and the odds of getting through are very long. She tried to add me once she had secured her appt. but unfortunately they were already gone anywhere within a couple hundred miles of us. Thus, I am still playing bingo. At least I will be once they have more available but they've been shut down the past few days because of supply issues caused by all the bad weather in the east.

We also both signed up on the Florida state health dept website a month ago but have heard nothing.

New Hampshire, on the other hand, has been awesome. We signed up there for April 30 which was last date they had as a back-up in case we didn't get one in FL (we are eligible in both states). NH has called both of us to ask if we wanted to move up and we just explained what we had done, why, and would cancel as soon as we had shots in FL. They said if we started to get concerned and wanted to come north for shots to just call them and they'd get us right in. At the end of my call I asked if I could request someone be considered to move up and I got my 78 yo brother and his wife moved up over a month. They are getting theirs today.

Just wanted to share that although it can be frustrating, it's not doom and gloom everywhere.

[Dollythehun]

I noticed that we were open for 70 and older. I got online made my appointment although it was a month out. When I went in to get my first shot I asked him to put my husband on the list because we only live 5 minutes away. Maybe at the end of the day they have extra. Well they didn't call him that night but a week later they called in and said come on in and get it and he did. So compared to other people I guess I had very little trouble. And I felt fine afterwards except my arm was sore from the shot, which is to be expected.