Will YOU take the Coronavirus vaccines when they're available to you?

The hospital has quietly whispered that if you had any side effects with the first shot, you should be prepared to take up to three days off after the second shot. One of my friends got her second shot this week and experienced 72 hours of very strange "tingling" in both arms and hands.

My brother has an interesting theory about why Orange County's website is such a mess: if they're in danger of running out of vaccine, they may prefer to let people blame the system for not getting an appointment and take care of the ones who can get through (or have a teen ager to help them) while they wait for more supplies. It would be interesting to see if an easier to navigate version of the website suddenly pops up at about the same time the supply of vaccine increases

Since we have almost no community transmission here there isn't as much urgency and the first vaccinations for those in most need will likely start next month. By then we will have millions of examples of all the vaccines in use so I expect it to be completely safe, never mind by mid year or so when I expect it will get to me.

Unless you have specific medical reasons to expect side effects - in which case you will be advised not to take the vaccine until there's further data - both of these objections are stupid. Particularly the second one.

I'm hearing of a disturbing number of people who aren't taking it when given the option.

That tingling is the nanites digitizing your nervous system. You should probably have someone blow on your cartridge like an old nintendo and that will probably clear right up.

Let's see, I have asthma, going by BMI I'm firmly in obese territory (I'd probably be mildly obese in a fatassitude measurement system that was actually accurate), and I'm a non-front line essential worker. Let's see where I'm at.

"Other essential worker" gets me... one step up from "everyone," so not much help there.

Being an asthmatic fatass bumps me up another category, so I can get it in late April/early May, which I'm guessing will get pushed back to May/June.

As far as getting the virus, I'd rather not have it, but I'm not too concerned. Chances are I've already had it and didn't show any symptoms. But, yeah, I'm getting the vaccine as soon as I can because I don't want to spread it to others, and I want shit to get back to normal.

Ever heard of Smart Body Index?

Not until now. It seems like a better system, but still has flaws, like not taking muscle mass into account. Although, taking muscle mass into account is difficult to do without getting out calipers or being submerged in a tank of water.

Typically, my fat and muscle mass fluctuate, but my weight stays about the same. Usually, between March and November I do a lot of physically strenuous work, but barely any during the winter. I look a lot different in June than I do in January, but my weight is still the same.

Although, thanks to COVID, in 2020 instead of doing that kind of work four days a week, I did it a total of four days in the whole year, and I've gained 50 lbs. Hopefully I can get back to it in the spring. If not, I'm getting a gym membership because I feel like absolute shit.

BMI or even SBMI doesn't factor in muscle so here is a site that does where you only need a flexible tape measure * to get a pretty accurate measure of your body fat percentage. Here is a real world example. Not being a know-it-all but my job entailed meeting weight & body fat standards and I still track my body fat for health reasons, so at least in this subject I have perfunctory experience.

Army Body Fat Calculator

I am 58 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall. My neck is 15.5 inches and my waist is 35 inches. I come in at 18 percent body fat. The science is if your neck gets bigger and your waist gets smaller, your body fat percentage is going down. The neck (measured just below the Adam's apple) is muscle & tendon, etc. Granted nobody in the army is so obese that they have fat on their neck to begin with, so this may not work for everyone. It's quite accurate though and if you take the measurements the same way every time - no cheating - it will tell you if you are heading in the right direction.

* some cheap tape measures will stretch over time, affecting their accuracy. They only cost a couple of dollars, so every couple of months gat another one of the exact same brand & style.

The best "BMI" calculator is an electronic device - either a scale or a hand held device. I've used both. But it sends a signal in one hand/foot which travels through the body and out the other hand/foot. The faster the signal travels, the higher the fat content of the body as the signal moves easily through fat and slower through muscle.

This will return a much more reliable indicator of how much of your body is fat. Mine is currently about 46%. So, I need to drop at least a quarter of my weight to be within "normal" range.

https://www.google.com/search?q=fat...WTXc0KHeyTAQUQ_AUoAnoECBcQBA&biw=1920&bih=937

This is the method I use to determine if I'm too fat:

1: Look in a mirror and just eyeball it.

2: How much physical activity can I do before I feel like I'm dying? If it's less than an hour I have a problem. If it's less than ten minutes, I have a big problem.

My method is (1) Weigh myself and (2) is my girlfriend complaining about it?

Hell, I died within six minutes yesterday.

Admittedly, I had drunk two bottles of wine and three glasses of Welsh Whiskey Cream Liqueur the night before, had to climb three dozen steps (in a facemask) and THEN don full PPE gear (THREE LAYERS) to process COVID tests.

Damn Biden inauguration getting my urge to drink in relief/celebration up.

Hokay, so apparently in CA I'm in Tier 1B - anyone over age 65 (cue usual stupid comments from WF Assholes), along with

• Those at risk of exposure at work in the following sectors:
  • Education and Childcare
  • Emergency services
  • Food and agriculture

Now, given that I work at home, have my groceries delivered, have limited exposure to strangers except for the occasional foray to the mom&pop local grocery (which requires masks and provides hand sanitizer), and the most dangerous thing I have to do is venture out onto public transportation or Uber to the credit union in my old neighborhood to get quarters for the laundry room because no one local including GODAMN THEM TO HELL FOR ALL ETERNITY FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO THE SUBPRIME MELTDOWN BANK OF AMERICA has quarters, I think I'll wait a while until those listed above get their vaccines and the lines at the pharmacies thin out a bit.

Just got an email from the CEO this morning. He's wanting to start bringing everyone back to work starting in March. This is all in phases and on a vaccinating schedule. First vaccines will be given to over 65 and required to be onsite. Everyone else's eligibility will be determined and sent an email.

Still hoping I'm so far down the list that I won't have to return to onsite working.

I just look at my fat gut and I know I'm fat. The rest of my body is pretty normal.

How did the 2nd dose treat ya?

The side effects are awesome abs?

Fucking shoot me up, Bones!

In queue to get pricked now

Arm's sore, probably should call out work tomorrow.

that's what she said!

Gawd, you're boring. Get some new material, willya? Asshole.

Discovered that, due to age (cue Stoopid responses here) in L.A. County I'm ahead of:

Those at risk of exposure at work in the following sectors:

• Education and Childcare
  
• Emergency services
• Food and agriculture

Yanno what? I live alone, I work at home, and when I had to move during the first wave of the pandemic in April, I'd have starved without Uber and Instacart because everything else was shut down, and because selfishly I hate waiting on lines and figured I'd wait till the panic crowds thinned out, I can wait a while.

Well intentioned for sure, but I would also point out that ultimately the answer to the pandemic is getting as many people vaccinated as possible. The order doesn't matter as much as just getting it done. I'm not going to push my way to the front, but if my doctor (or whomever) decides that I can get in line I'll just go ahead and do it.
Speaking of my doctor, I was in his office for a minor matter today and he told me that he and everyone in his clinic who wanted it had gotten it. He said the first shot (Moderna) wasn't a problem, but he said the second one made him tired and nauseous for about 24 hours. I mentioned that I had gotten pretty well knocked on my butt by the first shingles shot and he said he would put the side effects for the Moderna shot somewhere between the flu shot (minimal) and shingles (pretty tough). When I mentioned that I heard that the Johnson and Johnson version was coming in somewhere between 60% and 80% effective, he said he had heard (grapevine) that it was closer to 90%. Boy, would it be nice if that's true! An effective one shot vaccine storable in a regular fridge....let's hope!

A few other considerations: I was due for shingles and tetanus boosters last year but, yanno, lockdown. If I could spend a week in bed with side effects, I'd get the whole thing done in a day.

Also, my primary care doc ditched me a couple of years ago because I was unable to suit her schedule, so I am currently without a regular physician. (It's SoCal... don't ask.)

So, priorities. Wait until the hysterics in my age cohort run and get their shots and the lines thin out. The Instacart folks who deliver my groceries and the cashiers at the dollar store and the mom-and-pop grocery store in my neighborhood are at greater risk. When they're safe, I'm safer.

Too bad you're not in Orange County...my sister's family has a couple of incredible doctors who kept my mom going well after her warranty expired, if you get my drift!

Ok boomer.

Oh, nvm.

Cynical as it may be, I think one reason why the olds are at the front of the line for the vaccine is because they represent a big-ass voting bloc. But you know what they say when ships sink..."old people in nursing homes first."

Actually, knucklehead (and I say that because ordinarily I respect your posts), it's because most people my age have preexisting conditions. Some are due to lifestyle choices (smoking, obesity, inactivity) and some are based on family history.

There's osteoporosis and diabetes in my family history but, because I'm aware of that, instead of most of my ("Well, yanno, when you get to a certain age, you just start falling apart") peers, I take care of myself.

I'm probably in better shape than the average overweight couch potato half my age.

So it's more pragmatic, as in 'we don't want to keep overloading the health care system with massive amounts of dying seniors?' I suppose that makes sense. I'm still a little perturbed by it, though. I'm a walking preexisting condition at 40, and the only reason I got the vaccine is because I work in health care (with seniors!). Honestly though, if I were in my 70s or 80s I'd want younger people to have the vaccine before me--even with my medical history. I know it's verboten in the US to talk about the possibility that we are all living far beyond our normal life spans, but the fact people in their 90's are getting the vaccine before people working in essential industries just doesn't sit right with me. Maybe I'm a monster, I don't know. Probably.

I think you need to look at it from the POV that you, immunized, can help more people stay alive.