Post by notsopicky on Oct 19, 2021 15:26:49 GMT -5
pugz, OMG, so sweet. My kid (10) wants his vax like yesterday--to see his cousins & grandparents, hang out at his friends' houses, go to birthday parties again, and eat inside a restaurant!
CDPH (Chicago) is pre-ordering the pediatric vaccine doses this week in preparation for the ACIP meeting on nov 2nd and 3rd, so once CDC director signs off, Chicago will be ready to jab the 5-11 yo kiddos!
I called my pediatrician today to ask what the plan was when the vaccine is approved. The answer was, “We haven’t really decided if we’re doing that.” My follow questions we’re all answered with, “We just don’t know.”
I called my pediatrician today to ask what the plan was when the vaccine is approved. The answer was, “We haven’t really decided if we’re doing that.” My follow questions we’re all answered with, “We just don’t know.”
Which is exactly why I hope I can just go to CVS or something.
I do not want to wait on the Pedi's office at all.
I called my pediatrician today to ask what the plan was when the vaccine is approved. The answer was, “We haven’t really decided if we’re doing that.” My follow questions we’re all answered with, “We just don’t know.”
Just like the adult vaccines I feel like it will be easier to get them via mass vaccination clinics or pharmacies vs your personal doctor.
I called my pediatrician today to ask what the plan was when the vaccine is approved. The answer was, “We haven’t really decided if we’re doing that.” My follow questions we’re all answered with, “We just don’t know.”
Which is exactly why I hope I can just go to CVS or something.
I do not want to wait on the Pedi's office at all.
I agree. I’ve just been reading so much about how pediatricians will be key - I thought there might be some sort of plan.
Post by chickadee77 on Oct 19, 2021 17:35:27 GMT -5
I asked my pedi and they said they weren't even doing the 12+ shots (we're in FL so I don't know that any pedi is doing them in-office). Honestly, I chuckle ironically that they're a very pro-vaccine practice, but the two pedis made a private practice to be more religiously active (they do a lot of mission work and community outreach to fosters) so I'm curious about how the covid vax is discussed by them. Politics have never, NEVER come up, but it seems one could guess...
Post by breezy8407 on Oct 19, 2021 18:36:35 GMT -5
I mentioned this last week, but considering our pediatrician didn't have enough staffing and/or appointments for flu shots, I am guessing I will be looking elsewhere for my kids' covid vaccines.
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
Our district just sent out an email that the day after Veterans Day will be a non-instruction day for the kids and a work from home day for teachers. I'm guessing that having Veterans Day on a Thursday would lead to high numbers of school staff calling in on Friday so the district is just proactively cancelling class.
Post by neverfstop on Oct 19, 2021 20:23:17 GMT -5
Our Pedi is part of the largest group in Houston & he said they were NOT going to be doing them at their local branches offices due to refrigeration requirements, but would set up a few vaccine clinics around town....
The local schools have scheduled (and are soliciting volunteers for) mass vaccine clinics starting 10/30 and running the next 6 or so weekends. Each weekend a different school site in the county. They want to be ready to hit the ground running at the earliest possible moment. So perhaps your pediatricians are counting on on something like that.
Post by seeyalater52 on Oct 20, 2021 7:51:54 GMT -5
Anyone else with kids in daycare dealing with completely unworkable covid requirements?
The state recently changed requirements for exclusion with testing to return so now if you have even one symptom (including runny nose) you need a PCR to re-admit. PCR here takes 24 hours to return, so that’s basically 1.5-2 daycare days depending on when you can actually get the test done (which for pediatrics is really challenging since not all sites will swab kids plus there are no walk in testing sites anymore so you need to make and wait for an appointment.) My toddler has a runny nose literally every day so I just wipe him down before we go in and hope for the best. About half the time they take him and the other half they refuse him or send him home midday with runny nose as his symptom.
In addition, they still can’t float daycare staff between classrooms - which I agree with from a covid safety perspective but due to staffing issues in general our daycare and every other daycare I’ve called is accommodating that by shortening their daily operating hours. So centers that used to be open until 5:30 or 6 to accommodate working parents who commute now require pickup at 4:30 or 5.
How in the world can anyone who works full time make this work? I have the world’s most flexible job so I basically just muddle through, but it’s killing my soul and really making me worry about what is going to happen if/when I change jobs if it doesn’t change.
And I worry a lot about inertia in the childcare market for this stuff too. If they can get away with charging full tuition and employing fewer people what’s to say that they won’t just keep the “reduced” operating hours forever? Especially since wages are (rightfully) rising for childcare workers right now. If there isn’t an end in sight for this we are going to have to reevaluate our care options which sucks because we really both need to work to afford to live and we very much cannot afford a nanny or dedicated in-home care, even for a couple of hours in the afternoons on top of daycare costs, which are exorbitant. We are exactly in the weird middle area of earning enough that it is more cost effective to work than pay for daycare but not earning enough that we can afford different/better care options or a stay at home parent.
Post by Velar Fricative on Oct 20, 2021 7:58:32 GMT -5
seeyalater52, I wish they would at least accept antigen results. Sure, PCR is more accurate but antigen tests aren't bad at all especially when any symptoms are present, which is exactly what they're requiring the tests for. We need to rely more on antigen tests to keep society open even if results may miss some infected people.
And I agree about the childcare market. Demand will remain reduced for some time, so I don't know what that means for the field in general. But there's no way society can fully reopen without affordable childcare options. This is tough.
seeyalater52, I wish they would at least accept antigen results. Sure, PCR is more accurate but antigen tests aren't bad at all especially when any symptoms are present, which is exactly what they're requiring the tests for. We need to rely more on antigen tests to keep society open even if results may miss some infected people.
And I agree about the childcare market. Demand will remain reduced for some time, so I don't know what that means for the field in general. But there's no way society can fully reopen without affordable childcare options. This is tough.
I agree. Not being able to use rapid results is such an incredible time suck and really doesn’t make sense given the requirements to test based on symptoms.
The crazy thing is that I’m not sure whether the childcare market demand is reduced right now in my area. Waitlists are INSANE. We had a really hard time finding a spot and ended up at a center half an hour in the wrong direction from work because it was the only place that could take him. So many centers have closed or eliminated classrooms (1 infant class vs 3 classes etc) that capacity is way down so even if demand has lowered the competition is still fierce for the spots that still exist. It’s completely unworkable from all angles. I’m also acutely aware of the privileges I have as a WFH professional not in a coverage based role where I even have the flexibility to try to accommodate some of this stuff. There is absolutely no way a shift worker could do this and remain employed.
seeyalater52 , I wish they would at least accept antigen results. Sure, PCR is more accurate but antigen tests aren't bad at all especially when any symptoms are present, which is exactly what they're requiring the tests for. We need to rely more on antigen tests to keep society open even if results may miss some infected people.
And I agree about the childcare market. Demand will remain reduced for some time, so I don't know what that means for the field in general. But there's no way society can fully reopen without affordable childcare options. This is tough.
I agree. Not being able to use rapid results is such an incredible time suck and really doesn’t make sense given the requirements to test based on symptoms.
The crazy thing is that I’m not sure whether the childcare market demand is reduced right now in my area. Waitlists are INSANE. We had a really hard time finding a spot and ended up at a center half an hour in the wrong direction from work because it was the only place that could take him. So many centers have closed or eliminated classrooms (1 infant class vs 3 classes etc) that capacity is way down so even if demand has lowered the competition is still fierce for the spots that still exist. It’s completely unworkable from all angles. I’m also acutely aware of the privileges I have as a WFH professional not in a coverage based role where I even have the flexibility to try to accommodate some of this stuff. There is absolutely no way a shift worker could do this and remain employed.
That's a good point. We don't know what kind of childcare mothers who quit the workforce had before covid. The waitlists are probably due more to worker shortages.
seeyalater52 , our daycare pretty recently started accepting antigen test results to return, but we were PCR-only to return after single symptom (including runny nose) for over a year so I hear your pain. And the shortened hours that you mentioned, yes, we're also seeing that. Being a working parent right now is so challenging.
My 1st grader still needs PCR to return after single symptom. Fortunately she doesn't have a runny nose quite as constantly as my toddler. It's still rough though.
My current vent is that I am exhausted of scares and false alarms that just don't have to be as stressful as they are. Last Fri. we got an email at 7:51pm from DD's after school camp that they had a positive case at her site, and there were 19 close contacts. They did not say the 19 had been contacted. I figured we were absolutely headed for quarantine. 1.5 hour later, we got a text that all contacts had been notified. We had not been, so DD was spared. Yay! But I spent 1.5 hour of my Friday night thinking my kid was quarantined, running through all the plans I had to break, all the "Plan B's" I needed to come up with for childcare over the next 1.5 week, etc. Then oh wait no. This could've been handled so much better.
Then last night, we got an "urgent/must read" covid update from daycare. A parent of a child in the program realized she couldn't smell her dinner, took an at home test, and was pos. They mentioned which classroom her kid was in, and that the child would test, but that there were no quarantines/close contacts at this time. I guess I appreciate that they are being transparent, but OTOH, this is not "urgent/must read" for anybody. There is no action item.
This is 2 scares in 3 school days, and this seems basically to be the going rate. No wonder parents are balls of stress and anxiety. Why must childcare providers add to it? We're 1.5 year into this, how have we not reached better communication practices yet?
I've never really thought about testing to return. Every time my kid has been sick, we've taken him to the doc and they run a covid test as a matter of course. Huh. I bet it is required though.
seeyalater52, not daycare but our school is being ridiculous. DD had cold symptoms starting on Saturday. We tested her on Sunday, received negative results Monday night. I kept her home on Tuesday anyway to give her another day to cough and blow her nose in peace. She’s never had a fever and feels otherwise just fine. I called the school to see what they needed for her to return and they told me she couldn’t be coughing at all. What?! She’s fully vaccinated with a negative PCR. It’s not Covid! She could have a lingering cough for another week. She barely coughed last night so I’m sending her anyway.
My pediatrician's office always said pre-covid not to worry about a runny nose and it's completely normal for small kids to have a runny nose for most of winter. Can't imagine having to deal with the incessant runny nose now.
Apparently a lot of daycares are shutting down rooms for quarantine but still charging full rate tuition. I don't understand how anyone can make that work. I get that employees need to be paid, but you can't expect parents to pay without care.
My DS(5) has to have a negative PCR test to return to school with 2 or more symptoms. And he has to stay home until his cough, runny nose & congestion is mostly gone. He's on his second sickness in 3 weeks. He's going to miss so much of kindergarten.
I wish antigen tests could be used for symptomatic return to school purposes.
I am a volunteer in the medical reserve corps for my county, and worked this spring as a vaccinator assistant at county-run clinics. They were mostly at the convention center and arena. I haven't been volunteering recently due to moving, work going crazy, etc., but they are continuing to have PODs at various community locations including high schools and middle schools in an effort to reach the 12+ crowd. The middle school PODs are usually like 4:30-7:30pm (which is a hard time for me to volunteer because it's during daycare pickup, after school care pickup, and dinner). I am super hopeful, though, that these ongoing efforts will mean that we're prepared to easily replicate these PODs at elementary schools as soon as 5-11 is approved. I told H that I am planning to return to active volunteering when that happens because the need will spike. He's on board with holding things down at home so I'm free to help. I hope our district's schools do this.
Our pedi has been doing covid vaccinations for 12+ for the last few months, and their flu shot clinic went pretty smoothly. But I feel like PODs at schools are way more efficient, with all the benefits of familiar setting for the 5-11 kids. I feel like the arena/convention center approach would be overwhelming for elementary age kids.
Post by dutchgirl678 on Oct 20, 2021 9:39:00 GMT -5
With 13-yo DD we made an appointment at CVS as soon as it was available. For 10-yo DS we will try to find him an appointment as soon as it is out so we can have him get his second dose before our international trip on 12/17. I have not heard anything from our school district about vaccine clinics, but I know there is enough supply to be sent to pharmacies and doctor's offices that they won't need to do the large arena approach this time.
seeyalater52 our solution was my husband quit his job. That was it. I reached a breaking point of my kids in and out of school/daycare and couldn’t face another runny nose winter of my toddler running around the house half supervised while I tried and failed to work.
seeyalater52, we have had the PCR requirement the entire time and it did suck but we could often time it right and only miss one day. My DS gets motionsick and sometimes still vomits from it so having to get a PCR for straight up carsickness a couple time really stung. My DS aged out of his daycare at the end of August and now is in a PK5 class at a Catholic school who apparently thinks covid is over. They have no testing requirements at all for symptoms or return after illness and only exclude for fever and vomiting. A kid in his class went MIA for a while and told all the kids upon return that he was out with covid. We were never notified. So we went from one extreme to another and I feel like we are in the wild west now. I kind of miss the draconian PCR because it did make me feel a bit safer knowing classmates were abiding by it too. Maybe the grass is always greener?
I have an extremely flexible job as well and have basically just been killing myself juggling everything with trying to work FT and deal with 3 kids and covid testing/quarantines/school closures since March 2020. I have golden handcuffs here, not of money but of flexibility. My job is pretty stale for me now and my plan had been to start looking around when my youngest was 4 and I felt like things were under control on the kid front. Covid put an end to that plan because there is no way I could get a new job and then be this flaky of an employee.