garyt73 said:

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There are a lot of opinions here as to how it should be prioritized. All with merit.
Does anyone know how it is being prioritized?
I.e. If I were 69 years old, have heart disease, asthma, etc. How do I get in line? I have not been able to see anyone with what the plan actually is and how to get in line. My wife has a compromised immune system due to autoimmune disease drugs. We are blessed to still live in our own home and do not need any assistance.
I do not believe people like us will be sought out. Any advice would be appreciated.

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Somewhat describes my in-laws who live in Florida. They had to make appointments to get in line.

Abbott said that it will be prioritized by age - 65+ and those 16+ with comorbidities are next. Then going down in deesending order with age. I also read that they expect phase 1 to take six weeks. Phase 1 is defined as 1A (healthcare workers and nursing homes) and 1B is 65+ and those 16+ with comorbidities. What I do not know if the six weeks includes both A & B for the six weeks total, or if 1A is six weeks and 1B is six weeks.

I have seen just a cursory news articles stating that HEB and other retail pharmacies will have the vaccine soon and you must have an appointment to get one. I'm assuming a screening process will also happen when you try to make your appointment.

Call you primary doctor in January and ask as well. I bet doctor offices or hospitals will be getting them this spring for public appointments.

I can tell you that HEB has the vaccine now and healthcare workers are getting it. I'm on the wait list and should hear by tomorrow as to when I can go this week to get it.

I'm amazed this isn't getting more news amongst healthcare workers. I reached out to multiple colleagues and none of them knew it was available. The pharmacist at HEB was very hush hush about it when I called yesterday.

Roger That said:

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cone said:

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is a 40-year old pediatrician who works in a clinic not attached to a hospital with screening procedures and adequate PPE more important to vaccinate than a 80-year old person not institutionalized?

I don't get it

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That 40yr old sees covid patients every day...

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Risk = likelihood of problem X magnitude of problem. You could assign probabilities to the likelihood of contracting the illness and the likelihood of premature death and multiply them out to determine who is more at risk. If you were feeling particularly callous or analytical you could also factor quality and quantity of remaining life for each individual into the magnitude variable.

bay fan said:

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TAMU1990 said:

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Duncan Idaho said:

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Still think it needs to go
nursing home residents and staff,
front line hospital staff (er, covid ward, doctors, nurses and cleaning crews, emergency services but not cops)
Front line Retail workers (I mean cashier's, not store management) who wore masks
Other old and high risk people

Everyone else on a first come first serve.

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Cops should be with the front line/first responders. They have up close contact with all kinds of people.

Old people 70+ and High risk people are next. They are clogging up the hospitals and ER's.

Then it should be teachers/professors to get these idiots out of their houses and back in the classroom. Their mental craziness and purposeful protest to not work has hurt our children - some will never be able to catch up.

Then it should be done by age. The older you are the more likely you are to have problems.


Notice I didn't mention race. Democrats want to view everything through a racial prism.

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Yet the risk of several symptoms and hospitalization is much higher so why if age is considered due to risk, is ethnicity not? If doses are released based upon risk, it most definitely should be a consideration.

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Last I heard, ethnicity is not in itself a risk factor beyond the various illnesses and health conditions that are more prevalent in certain populations. If you identify those factors and consider them appropriately you will be more accurate and won't be passing up someone in the other populations who shares the risk characteristics in favor of someone in the preferred ethnic group who doesn't.

No reason to use a low-resolution proxy for an issue if the underlying reason that proxy relationship exists is able to be identified and addressed directly.

aggiederelict said:

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I can tell you that HEB has the vaccine now and healthcare workers are getting it. I'm on the wait list and should hear by tomorrow as to when I can go this week to get it.

I'm amazed this isn't getting more news amongst healthcare workers. I reached out to multiple colleagues and none of them knew it was available. The pharmacist at HEB was very hush hush about it when I called yesterday.

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Yeah HEB here locally are calling medical offices directly to schedule appointments. They will make office calls or schedule offices to come in to get it. Seems like most offering moderns as they are scheduling blocks of 10 folks. Apparently they have 6 hours from vial puncture to inoculate their 10 folks.

That's horse**** but sadly not surprising.

Teachers and front line essential workers should be getting the vaccine after 65 and up.

tomtomdrumdrum said:

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GE said:

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Roger That said:

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cone said:

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is a 40-year old pediatrician who works in a clinic not attached to a hospital with screening procedures and adequate PPE more important to vaccinate than a 80-year old person not institutionalized?

I don't get it

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That 40yr old sees covid patients every day...

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Risk = likelihood of problem X magnitude of problem. You could assign probabilities to the likelihood of contracting the illness and the likelihood of premature death and multiply them out to determine who is more at risk. If you were feeling particularly callous or analytical you could also factor quality and quantity of remaining life for each individual into the magnitude variable.

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Risk isn't limited to the individual in this case. If the doctor gets it, they could spread it to their patients before they test positive. And what's worse, they then can't see patients while they quarantine. It's not about keeping 40 year old doctors alive (when they would otherwise survive the virus), it's about keeping them working and safely seeing patients.

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Then factor that into the magnitude piece for the doctor. I'm not saying what I think the answer should be, just that it should be more thoughtful than start by providing to everyone associated with healthcare ASAP. You could also look at the risk of the old person passing it to other old people before they display symptoms.

I agree, and I expect/hope that those responsible for determining who gets the vaccine and when are being that thoughtful.

I got my first shot today. HEB was really helpful getting it scheduled for healthcare workers.

Reading where Texas is supposed to be starting Phase 1b pretty much immediately. Anyone have a clue on what the protocol is for people with the underlying risk factors to get the vaccine and where in the world they go? Are they going to be needing to get documentation from their PCP of their underlying risk factors?

Be awesome if there was any kind of communication out there for how those folks go about getting it if they choose to.

Your PCP should be able to provide you with that info.

I will tell as you as a healthcare worker you didn't have to provide any proof of your profession which was annoying. You could simply tell them you work in healthcare over the phone and that's it.

Not surprising at all. This seems to be for the most part one big secret operation that you need a secret handshake for.

I reached out to my PCP in Collin County today. The office said they hadn't received distribution information yet, but would let us know when they had it. I was a little surprised that Baylor Scott and White didn't already have a plan. Of course, we're in Collin County and we're pretending like we don't have the virus here, so maybe that's why. (I know that's not really why, just feeling salty about the lack of information from our county.)

Then I saw a FB friend in Mineola got his at Brookshire's today due to his age.

This prompted me to look around a bit and I saw that Tom Thumb will be distributing it soon. I signed up for their distribution emails.

WFAA says that the state is allowing 1B groups to receive the vaccine now and gives a website for people to sign up for Tarrant County Health Department distribution.

Texas DSHS vaccine finder- I'm not sure how it works exactly. I guess you just have to call every provider that pops up.

Yeah, checked out both those links earlier. The whole thing is a pretty big Charlie Foxtrot.

Agreed. We called pharmacies and other listed providers for 2 hours today. Many of them were shocked that they were listed as distributors because they only received vaccines for healthcare workers. Many of them were clearly overwhelmed by the number of calls they were receiving. One of them made an appointment for us for next week. Everyone else said they hoped to receive more vaccine mid-January but they really have no idea.
Not a single Brookshire's was adding anyone to their lists because they have more people on them than they will have vaccines. It's crazy.

Yep. Our Chief sent out an email yesterday (along with the same, copy/paste form letter we get every time someone tests positive for Covid) and said he's hoping we will do our "vaccine clinic" very soon. That's pretty optimistic since LEOs aren't "allegedly" included in Phase 1b. But he did mention that the Fire Dept has almost completed their vaccinations. Meanwhile, we keep flirting with being an entire shift out sick or quarantined and Detectives putting on uniforms to cover the street. I mean, I like seeing Detectives have to actually work for a living again, but this is a huge mess. I even emailed Denton County Public Health and they pointed me to that web site. Spent a lot of time yesterday going to websites of those locations and came to the same conclusion you did that none of them have any clue that they are "vaccination providers".

One of our Lieutenants mentioned in briefing that a pharmacy in town was going to be a point of vaccinations but that it had not been announced yet. And sure enough, it wasn't even on that website.

So, basically, nobody has a freaking clue with how this is going to go down. I predicted this would be a complete disaster, but it is exceeding my expectations so far.

SVaggie84 said:

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I'm wondering how my 89 year old mom will get the vaccine. She lives in Dallas.

Do we contact her primary care doctor?

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I went to the HEB pharmacy here in Texas and put my name on a calling list.
If they dont use the vaccine (Mederna) they have to throw it out...so they called me ten minutes before they closed and said come get your vaccination...we have two left.

Went there, got the shot, go back in four weeks for second shot

are you in 1a/1b or do they just have a list to call when they have leftover vaccine at the end of the day?

No, contact your local Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, and make an appointment. It's gonna be a free for all.

fightinag said:

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SVaggie84 said:

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I'm wondering how my 89 year old mom will get the vaccine. She lives in Dallas.

Do we contact her primary care doctor?

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I went to the HEB pharmacy here in Texas and put my name on a calling list.
If they dont use the vaccine (Mederna) they have to throw it out...so they called me ten minutes before they closed and said come get your vaccination...we have two left.

Went there, got the shot, go back in four weeks for second shot

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. You are on a calling list? Why did I just find out about this now. link/details.

Just learned from the Fire Dept Chief here that the County is going purely on the "honor system" as far as who meets the risk factor criteria.

So, pretty much this is now just a free for all.

That was my guess based on the phone calls we made. It's a freaking mess.

Aston04 said:

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TAMU1990 said:

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Duncan Idaho said:

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Still think it needs to go
nursing home residents and staff,
front line hospital staff (er, covid ward, doctors, nurses and cleaning crews, emergency services but not cops)
Front line Retail workers (I mean cashier's, not store management) who wore masks
Other old and high risk people

Everyone else on a first come first serve.

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Cops should be with the front line/first responders. They have up close contact with all kinds of people.

Old people 70+ and High risk people are next. They are clogging up the hospitals and ER's.

Then it should be teachers/professors to get these idiots out of their houses and back in the classroom. Their mental craziness and purposeful protest to not work has hurt our children - some will never be able to catch up.

Then it should be done by age. The older you are the more likely you are to have problems.


Notice I didn't mention race. Democrats want to view everything through a racial prism.

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I taught almost all fall in-person--the only time we stopped in-person was for a week was when too many faculty were sick or quarantined to get enough subs. Way to lump me in as an "idiot," as I interacted in close proximity with hundred fifty+, daily. Thanks.

I posted this on another thread-- but I have a psychiatrist neighbor who works from home and a friend who is in-house counsel for a hospital-- both have gotten the vaccine. Definite good old boy system hooking those up connected to medicine.

.

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last followup-- mother in law is in IT for a hospital in a different state. Works from home-- in 50s. Same deal- front of thr line.

Yes, my high risk brother can't even get on a waiting list in Bell County. It seems Scott and White is going to vaccinate the entire world before they get to the elderly.

I received an email from Harris County that Phase 1B immunization sign-up is available for educators over 65 or educators with 1 of these:
Cancer
Chronic kidney disease
COPD
Heart conditions
Solid organ transplant
Obesity
Pregnant
Sickle cell
Type 2 diabetes
Then a follow-up email saying they are halting registrations due to glitches in system sign-up.

58-7 said:

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I received an email from Harris County that Phase 1B immunization sign-up is available for educators over 65 or educators with 1 of these:
Cancer
Chronic kidney disease
COPD
Heart conditions
Solid organ transplant
Obesity
Pregnant
Sickle cell
Type 2 diabetes
Then a follow-up email saying they are halting registrations due to glitches in system sign-up.

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adding in the obesity category and you have a sh&t load of teachers.

Adding in obesity makes the majority of Americans included. But it's a risk factor so what are you going to do

Duncan Idaho said:

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Still think it needs to go
nursing home residents and staff,
front line hospital staff (er, covid ward, doctors, nurses and cleaning crews, emergency services but not cops)
Front line Retail workers (I mean cashier's, not store management) who wore masks
Other old and high risk people

Everyone else on a first come first serve.

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I still would like to hear Duncan's (and the State of Texas' for that matter) logic as to why "cops" should be pushed down the list. They do realize we respond to the same calls that the FD usually responds, correct? And often are there before they are. I'm currently working in the building, but we just dispatched 3 officers to an unconscious person call of a "father not responding, pale not breathing". More information comes out while they are en route that he had covid and that "all 3 people in the house are Covid positive". Odds are solid that our officers will arrive before FD and even if not, we'll have to go into the residence to process an unattended death scene.

Maybe the logic is "well, the officers are unlikely to die if they don't have high risk factors". Maybe not, but we've had 2 officers hospitalized and a bunch have to be home either sick or quarantined due to exposure. We were close to having an entire patrol shift out at one time and we've had Detectives having to work the streets due to being so short. That's generally not a good thing for the City to not have folks on the streets working.

I understand we weren't near as critical as hospital staff on the frontlines (not the IT Techs working from home) but it's pretty perplexing that guys working the streets on patrol are seen as lower priority than FD.