FWIW

[yogi]

I just returned from the hospital where I was injected with the latest CORONA virus vaccine. Apparently the hospital didn't read the same news that I read wherein it was stated Missouri is the least prepared to meet the vaccine challenge. The hospital contacted me with an invite to get the vaccine. I accepted and was put on a list after which I expected a delay of several months. Less than two weeks later I get another e-mail with an application for an appointment. That was last night. I was able to pick my own time and date and to my utter shock and amazement their web site worked as advertised.

There were at least a hundred, possibly two hundred, people milling about the vaccination center filling out forms and waiting in lines. In spite of all that, things moved fairly quickly. I had to visit three stations and wait in line at each of them, but I got through it all in about 35-40 minutes. After getting the jab I had to sit around for 15 minutes under the supervision of a tired looking young nurse. Those of us who did not faint or go into convulsions were allowed to leave after assuring this young lady we felt fine. I'm already booked for the booster to be administered on March 1st.

Sometimes I sit in amazement thinking about how together these folks in Missouri really are. My daughter, a school teacher in a higher tier than I am, is begging to be inoculated but can't get Walgreens to find any vaccine for the masses. I begged nobody and was considering bypassing the whole process. The hospital reached out to me, made it easy to do, and took my Medicare card as payment. It remains to be seen how long I'll be here to brag. If I should suddenly disappear from these forums, assume the worst. But at least I'll have disappeared knowing people around here care about my well being.

[PierrePanache]

Well done Yogi We're a few miles apart but 3 queues, 40ish mins, folk milling around & a 15min rest is also what I encountered & after 11 days I have no reason to be concerned. My w*fe was called on Monday by which time the venue was even nearer to where we live - less than a mile away. Poor lass hasn't fared quite as well & has been laid up feeling very tired with mild flu type feelings but we were told this was a possibility & she has had a lot to put up with recently. Identical twin grandsons born 21st Dec a month early & her brother finally managed to drink himself to oblivion on 14th Jan. His virtual funeral was on Tuesday. We're a bit tucked up informing relatives all over but I shall return soon when paperwork etc completed.

Once again well done brave lad & you must get Kellemora to follow in your footsteps.

Take care & post soon when my laptop free.

[Kellemora]

I hear the shots are hitting the younger folks the hardest. While the older folks are able to handle it with only a sore arm.
Probably because we've had so many shots over the years, our immune system knows how to deal with them, hi hi.

I'm still going to wait to see if you grow a third eye before I get mine.
I will have to on June 18 whether I want to or not, hi hi.
Possibly on May 25th, which is before June of course, but it depends on whether that doc thinks I should.

Unlike other shots we get, this one for Covid can't be undone once you got it.
At least that is what I've heard.

[yogi]

I dunno. Perhaps it's the nurse who gave me the injection. Perhaps I'm old and gnarly. The injection itself was painless and in fact I didn't even know she administered it. I'm taking blood thinners and frequently will be bruised by an injection, but not this one. While waiting fifteen minutes to be released, I experienced a slight buzz. It's hard to describe it because it was so low level and very close to my normal awake state. Perhaps it was all psychological because I was expecting something but didn't know what. It's now 24 hours after the fact. Last night I slept better than I normally do and maybe feel a little tiredness. But that's it for side effects.

I've not been though all the medical treatment that you have been through, Gary, and if they didn't reach out to me with an invite I'm not sure I would have gone through with this on my own. I can't blame you one bit for being hesitant. I think flu shots in general are over rated and administered after the fact and I never had one prior to this. I'm no epidemiologist but I know this COVID-19 bug is lethal for a guy like myself. If all goes well I will only be 91% protected which to my way of thinking is better than zero. So I got the jab using the same logic I use to buy those lotto tickets I'm almost guaranteed not to win. I'm being proactive and putting all the odds I can control into my favor.

[Kellemora]

I do get my Flu and Pneumonia shots every year.
But what I'm worried about are the things in the Covid shots not found in any other type of shots.

I know there are a lot of claims being made against getting the shot, some of them are just crazies posting for the heck of it.
But one person had a few video's out showing people who have suffered greatly from the shot.
Another is showing lists of things in all the various shots we get, and the ones for Covid, depending on who made them, have all kinds of things in them never used in shots before.
They claim, whether correct or not, that they change our RNA and other things, so cannot be undone.

I know us older folks are at the highest risk, and not likely to survive.
But seeing what the shots are doing to the younger crowd does raise some concerns.
I also read an article by a doctor that said many people, especially older folks (in good health), are already immune to Covid.
Their bodies have spent 60 to 80 years building up antibodies much stronger than one normally gets from a shot to build them.

I figure, although my wife works and could bring it home. She is very careful, washes her hands, tosses her work clothes in the washing machine, takes a shower, and puts on clean clothes, before I go back down to the house. Plus she uses tons of alcohol around the house, beginning to smell like a doctors office in there, hi hi.
Since I never go anywhere, other that spending the day by myself in my own office.
The odds of me getting it at the present time is fairly rare.
And who knows, they are making great strides in cures also.

I'm also thinking that probably half or more of the cases claimed as Covid is really nothing more than the common Flu.
I say that because they show the number of Flu cases over the past year or so, at nearly zero.
And we both know that is impossible based on the last 10 or more years of records for Flu cases.

I'll wait until they make me, hi hi.
But I will not allow them to put a stick up my nose at all for any reason.
I saw some videos by a person who swiped a few of them, in the sterile packages, from her doctors office.
They had things hidden in those swabs that should never be in them. A superfine wire for one, and three or four pointy things, like the very tip of a needle. Scary for sure!

[yogi]

Far be it from me, after a lifetime of avoiding flu shots, to preach about the benefits of the current round of vaccines for COVID-19. Much of what you cited isn't exactly science. There are notions people have that arise out of the fear of the unknown. That fear has saved many lives to be sure, but there is no denying the science behind what is going on today. The vaccines are not perfect, you can still catch the bug after you have been immunized, plus you can be an asymptomatic carrier after full immunization occurs. So what's the point of the shot? The point, as I see it, is to put the odds in my favor. Being vaccinated will provide the immunization designed specifically for COVID-19 and also give me a 91% chance of fighting it off. I guess I'm being selfish here because all I'm doing is trying to save my own butt. However, I will continue to practice social distancing and wear a mask, and hopefully that will stop most mouth to mouth transmissions of the virus. I do care about who I might put into danger with my own infection, but I care more about my own well being. As you say, it is scary. But now I will have no regrets over doing all I could to protect myself.

All that is just my opinion, of course. I find it very interesting that once again you and I look at the same thing and come to two different conclusions.

[Kellemora]

The trouble with the Internet is, you don't know if it is someone making a hoax as a scare tactic, or if it is based in fact.
But when a few doctors are claiming the same things, you sit back and pay attention to what they are saying.
They of course show some of the things that are hoaxes and explain why they are hoaxes.
But then they get into other things that make you go hmm.

Regarding the wire the lady found in all of the swabs she stole.
A doctor addressed that issue by saying all surgical swabs of a certain brand are stabilized using a silver wire.
It is there to ensure the cotton puff at the end of the stick cannot possibly come off inside your head.
Some manufacturers use a fine nylon net in lieu of the wire, others use a fine nylon strand.
Just depends on what brand you buy.
The thing is, I used to use those long stick cotton swabs myself in some of my hobby crafts.
I never saw anything like that on any of them, they were all just like normal cotton swabs.
So, who's side is this doctor on?

I've seen quite a few chemical type of diagrams showing the makeup of several types of shots we do get.
And the ones for Covid don't even come close to matching. Some even have a cyanide molecule in them.
Not to mention the different RNA types used in them.
And this is why I'm waiting as long as possible before I get one.
Wait to see the actual number of people who have adverse affects from them.
Some people die from the Flu shot each year, albeit not a great number.
But it is a great number if it is you who has complications from the shot.

[yogi]

I have a lot of respect for your observations, opinions, and knowledge. In fact I've learned quite a bit from you right here in these forums. The points on which we do not see eye to eye are based on facts we both uncovered. My intuition tells me that even if both of us had all the facts we would still draw separate and different conclusions. The truth is I relish that difference more than when we concur on a topic. I want to know what the other opinions are especially if they come from people I hold in great esteem. Knowing how the other polarity reasons out a problem reinforces my own reasoning. I either see the flaws or amend what I formerly thought to be true. In the Age of Information Overflow, critical thinking is a must.

Getting the COVID-19 vaccine is the right thing to do if you are in a high risk group. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[Kellemora]

There are eight sides to every story, and four of them could be correct, hi hi.

I do agree that vaccinations are a good thing! Once they have been proven to be safe and only harm a very small select few who were probably prone to bad things anyhow. Even then, with the technology we have today, there should be a test to determine if a certain vaccine is safe for a person who tests OK, but should not be used on a person who's test shows they might have an adverse affect from it.

Nearly every vaccine we have today, has undergone rigorous testing before being approved.
The only ones I can think of that were rushed through the process was Polio, Small Pox, Ciclecell Anemia.
All the rest were in testing for years before being released.
But the difference is, those that were fast tracked did not contain questionable ingredients that they didn't know what they did.
While the Covid vaccine has many ingredients that are most questionable and highly susceptible to scrutiny as not being safe.
I figure with so many labs working on different Covid vaccine formula's, we already have one in the works that is a single shot.
Personally, I think the side affects of the new vaccines are affecting way to many people for comfort. And they are not even sure if it really works or not. Why else would they say, still wear masks and social distance, even if you did have the shot?

I figure as long as I don't leave the house, and my wife takes her super precautions, I should be OK for a while anyhow.
We have a lot of cases up in North Knoxville lower income areas, and around the homeless congregation areas, but hardly any cases at all here in the South Knoxville area.

[yogi]

You can add COVID-19 to the list of vaccines that have been fast tracked. One reason it was approved so quickly has to do with the methodology for evaluation being much improved in this instance compared to Polio, Small Pox, and Sickle Cell Anemia. There is an abundance of statistical evidence regarding the effectiveness and safety of the Pfizer and Moderna version of the vaccine, albeit the long term effect cannot be evaluated for several years to come. That long term uncertainty is the risk the nay-sayers refer to. Your medical history gives you good reason to be cautious. You did your homework and made a decision which is more than most people do; they skip the homework part. I'm certain you feel more comfortable not being vaccinated. I came from that point of view myself. By the way, there are at least half a dozen vaccines in the works and some are a single dose version.

Transmission of this virus is primarily due to contaminated airborne particles. Infected people emit those particles through natural speech and things like sneezing. The virus doesn't live that long outside the human body. The evidence that it can be acquired by touching a surface previously contaminated is weak. An immunized person can be a carrier assuming they are still breathing. If contracted, the germ remains alive in their nasal cavities but does not do well inside an immunized body. 91% of the time it dies off quickly inside the body of a vaccinated person but that same person can be an asymptomatic carrier and not be aware of the fact. That is the reason vaccinated and immunized people are being advised to still wear masks and social distance. Taking those precautions will greatly reduce the risk of them being silent carriers.

[Kellemora]

Although I know a surgical mask would not prevent me from getting it, I try to avoid people who are not wearing one if I do have to go somewhere. The mask doesn't block anything on inhale, but it does block about 65% on exhale. Better masks a bit more, up to 95% for KN95 mask.

We have lost three dogs from the Rabies vaccine. Others were saved by giving them an antidote. But by law they still have to get the shot, only now the vet immediately follows up with the antidote. Not really an antidote per se, but something that keeps the Rabies shots from killing the dogs.

Whether hoaxes or not, I've seen way to many video's posted of folks suffering severe side affects of the Covid vaccine.

The thing is. Our national death rate has not risen, and in fact has gone down, for total number of annual deaths from all causes.
We normally have about 40 to 50 thousand or is that million? Who die from the Flu.
But during the year 2020 they had less than 100. Is that because people are cooped up and not going out, or is it because they are counting flu deaths as covid deaths?
When you hear about the very high number of covid deaths, then look at the national averages per year of all deaths, we are well under the national average despite there being covid out there. Why is that?

[yogi]

You ask a valid question and Missouri's own Sam Clemens comes to mind with a quote attributed to him. "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics." Those statistics are probably the most difficult thing for the majority of people to understand. Yes, they can be manipulated, but that's generally done by one of the two other groups, liars or damned liars. Be that all as it may, the possibility of dying from COVID is not in question. It happens regardless of whose numbers you churn and I am in what is known as a high risk group. Whether my chances of dying from it are what is publish or not, people my age are at the highest risk. I'm in the final years of my life and could kick the ol' bucket any day, be it from COVID or from crashing in my front wheel drive car. It's inevitable and there's not much I can do about it. I can, however, make decisions to keep myself as healthy and disease free as I know how to do. Not trying to maintain good health is simply irresponsible. Of course that only applies to me and how I think. Your mileage may vary.

Masks are an interesting subject. I'd guess that most of the masks sold at your local pharmacy are better than nothing, but not a whole lot better. The mesh, denier, of the material is critical in determining the effectiveness of the mask. Plus, as I understand it, the mask is more for protecting the people around you than it is for stopping incoming viral laden air particles. The best simple solution is to wear two masks, and I have to admit that I don't recall seeing anybody wearing two. And, that includes the medical staff at the hospital I recently visited (just a regular colonoscopy). The less simple solution is to wear a special mask with filtering built in. There is the hazmat type, but there are also masks with insertable fabric filters. Unbeknownst to me, I am using one of those. My #2 daughter gave me a designer mask for Christmas. Inside is a pocket that holds a 2x4 filter pad. The pad is 5 layers of fabric and activated charcoal. I had no idea what it was until I tried to buy replacement filters wherein they described the construction in great detail. The mask itself goes for around $15 on Amazon and 25 filters go for about the same price. At first I was only impressed with the printed design, and have in fact received several comments about it. Now I'm also impressed with the construction. My gal is truly looking after me.

Like yourself I am almost a hermit and seldom leave the house. That alone is probably more effective than any masks I've worn.

[PierrePanache]

Well I'm 16 days & counting so definitely no ill effects so far - well none from the vax. We're snow-bound at present & my w*fe does not like being stuck in. I have hidden all the sharp knives & heavy blunt instruments - but I catch her staring at me with a look that I know only too well! We don't cope with bad weather too well in England & where I live - near Heathrow Airport - we usually miss bad snowfalls. Being in the Thames Valley helps but as we live under 20 miles south of Westminster & the Houses of Parliament I reckon it's all about the 'hot-air' that surrounds our politicians!

Take care you two.

[yogi]

Back up by Chicago I lived only a few miles off the end of runway 27C at O'Hare International Airport. That didn't seem to alter the weather one bit. Then, too, downtown Chicago and all the politicians were about 25 miles beyond that.

[Kellemora]

Since my wife works, she has some really fancy masks she wears with those layered filters you mentioned.
But a lot of time she just wears the face shield by itself, because she's already behind a Plexiglass panel.
She uses more hand sanitizer than Carter's has pills, hi hi.

As for me, I just hide in my office, away from everybody and everything.

[yogi]

I have a feeling that the use of hand sanitizers is overdone. I'd not stop what I'm doing currently but I have read a few times that the transmission path is predominantly via air filled with contaminated particles. Once they land on something their life expectancy is pretty short. The face shield is probably the best of all protection. My fancy cloth mask leaks around the nose. I could easily fix that with a band-aide, but I never remember to take some with me when I go out. The face shield seems to keep all the contaminants emitted by the wearer confined to one area. I'm not sure how much protection they provide for incoming viruses.

You are pretty safe if you self-quarantine and never allow visitors inside your radiation sealed cube. I like the solitude as well, but I do need to forage for food on occasion. On those outings the mask comes in handy.

[Kellemora]

Take a tissue and roll it up, then affix it inside the top of the mask where the metal piece is located. Double faced tape works well to do this. It seals the top so your glasses don't steam up.

I go down to the house for lunch, dinner, and bedtime, hi hi. Otherwise I'm in my office all alone, safe and snug, hi hi.

[ocelotl]

I've just taken my parents for their first shots here in the municipality. AZ. Now to wait for the outcome, their second ones and the ones for the next age group... As for other shots, I got used to the flu and the tetanus ones every three years. Hope it all goes out smoothly.

[yogi]

It's been a month now after my second dose of vaccine. I still only have two eyes, my skin is not peeling off, and I do not glow in the dark. I'm still wearing masks when I go out in public and wash my hands diligently upon my return. So far no COVID viruses seem to be affecting me. My wife goes for her second dose this Friday. She too appears to be normal ... so far.

[Kellemora]

You may look normal, but now you have mRNA in your system that cannot be undone.
I've not got any shots yet. I'm waiting for the oral vaccine to come out which can't alter our genes.