Plateau

I just noted that my own graphs seemed to be stalled and flat, and the next time I updated them, I was slightly horrified to see that they were angling upward - and have continued to do so this week. US COVID cases are indeed increasing for the first time since January. Is it because of states rushing to reopen and roll back restrictions? Pandemic fatigue? New variants? Hospitalizations had fallen but are now also beginning to rise. 

They're still saying a fourth surge is unlikely as more people are getting vaccinated, but that we should expect to see a plateau due to those variants and the rollback of restrictions.

I just feel like... we're so close to having a handle on this, can't people please get it together for a few more months so we can get through this?

Flattening

Recently they've been saying that the steady decline in cases we saw over the last month or so has flattened off - even though more people are getting vaccinated, it may be counteracted by the reopening and relaxing of certain restrictions, or new variants that could be more dangerous or more contagious. I am still keeping my personal graphs to track state and county daily COVID cases, and it's true - the line really does just level off over the last two weeks or so. We're at a level about where we were at the first "peak" of the pandemic in the spring, or around early November when things started becoming exceptionally bad.

Family Vaccines

For the last couple weeks, while my employer offered vaccines to colleagues, they kind of teased that vaccines might be available for family/household members too, but they were still working it out. I figured they wouldn't have even offered the possibility unless it was already pretty close to a done deal, so assumed we'd hear something within the next few weeks. Well first thing this morning, a message came out saying family members were now eligible, and about an hour after that, we got further details about how to register them. Then everyone tried to do it at once and crashed the web site 😅 But within a short time, my husband was able to register - he'll get his first dose in a few days!

Certain non-household members, including parents and grandparents, were also included, but my own parents and grandparents are already either fully or partially vaccinated. However, in-laws were a bit of a gray area, and later further guidance came out that parents in-law could be included, so we hurried to register my husband's parents as well!

Lest anyone think any of us are jumping the line:

1. My employer made an arrangement with the US Department of Health and Human Services to vaccinate colleagues, and now to further vaccinate their household contacts.
2. These vaccines are not coming out of the allotment to the US or individual states, nobody is "cutting" in line; if anything, we are stepping out of the line and allowing others to shift up.
3. The goal is to vaccinate as many people as possible.

I am seeing more and more friends and contacts announcing that they have been vaccinated; it's really rolling along now! Unfortunately, for a lot of people it's almost become a second job trying to find appointments for themselves or their loved ones. The president has announced that the vaccine should be made available to everyone beginning May 1, and our governor has mandated that the state health department should offer appointments for everyone in the first category by March 28, so hopefully it becomes a little easier to schedule now. I know a lot of places were only releasing a few appointments at a time because they didn't want to overschedule and then end up not getting the supplies they were promised, but I think it would be less annoying to at least get an appointment, even if you ended up having to reschedule, than to spend all day refreshing various web sites trying to catch an available spot.

Guidelines for the Vaccinated

Photo by RF._.studio from Pexels

Just saw today that more Americans have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (30 million) than have tested positive during the pandemic (29 million) 🙌

Also, the CDC released their much-anticipated guidelines for fully vaccinated people (i.e. 2 weeks after your final dose). If you've been fully vaccinated:

• You can gather indoors with other fully vaccinated people, or unvaccinated people from one other household, without wearing a mask (unless any of the unvaccinated people is at increased risk from COVID, or lives with someone who is).
• You don't need to quarantine if you had potential exposure to an infected person (unless you live in a detention facility or group home).
• You should still wear a mask, stay 6 feet from others, avoid crowds and poor ventilation, and avoid travel and larger gatherings.
• You should still watch for symptoms of COVID, especially if you've been around a sick person, and isolate if you have symptoms.
• You still need to follow guidelines at your workplace (and I assume other public places, e.g. wearing a mask in stores).

My biggest question is how long the vaccine's protection lasts, and how you can re-up after that. For example, will there be annual (or more frequent) booster shots? Can you mix the different brands and types of vaccines? Will it be as hard to get the boosters as it's been to get the initial shots, or will they have more convenient vaccines and simpler distribution methods by then?

Peace

The big meme this week is basically, "One year ago, nobody realized it was our last normal week." For me, I feel like it was already not normal, and I realized that. (I started this blog!) I basically didn't eat and couldn't sleep for months. I was doing some normal things (shopping, went to a concert, even spent a day in a hospital), but with extremely high anxiety. When things finally started shutting down and locking down, I finally felt peace. 

First Dose

This morning I got my first dose of the vaccine!

As I mentioned, my employer started offering it based on age, and I was shocked last week when they announced they had gone through the older age cohorts, and were now opening it up to all ages - and even more shocked when I realized the available appointments were for this week!

I arrived at my office a little early and first stopped by my desk. There was nothing there I really needed, but it was so crazy to be there for the first time in a year - just to walk through the floor of cubicles, which felt both totally familiar, and eerily empty. I grabbed some of my pens, and some snacks I'd left in my cabinet 😂

The vaccinations were being given in our cafeteria/large group space, and everything was really well organized, clean, and efficient. I lined up at the first set of doors, which was set up with a check in area. They took my name and gave me one of the FDA vaccination record cards you've probably seen people proudly sharing. I was then told to stand at one of three distanced waiting stations. I'd just gotten there when the next person came to get me. We sat at a table while he checked my card and entered my name into something on his computer, and confirmed which arm I wanted the shot in.

Then I moved on to the person who administered the vaccine, on the other side of a curtain. Everyone was wearing masks, but this guy was fully decked out in a mask, face shield, and gown. I took off my sweater to reach my arm, and he prepared a tiny needle. After swabbing my arm with alcohol, he said I was going to feel a little pinch, but I honestly did not feel a thing! He said I didn't even need a bandage.

I was given a little timer set for 15 minutes, and sent to a waiting area with several rows of chairs, spaced several feet apart. As people's timers went off, someone collected them, wiped them down for later use, and wiped down the chair after the person left. Periodically, a man sitting near the waiting area got up, introduced himself as the monitor of the waiting area, and said to let him know if you were feeling unwell. One of my colleagues happened to be there at the same time, and we had a brief chat until my time was up, and then I just headed home.

It's now been a few hours, and my arm is starting to feel a little sore, but I'm otherwise fine. Any time I get a weird little twinge, though, I'm thinking, "Is that the vaccine? Or just a regular headache?" From what I've heard, people's side effects show up later that day or the next day (maybe based on the time of the vaccine), so I may not be in the clear yet, but I would be glad for side effects, it means the vaccine is working, and my immune system is responding! 

I'll check in again if anything changes, and give an update in a few weeks after my second dose!