@@@ June COVID THREAD

[Susie]

noodleoo, I would keep an eye on Walgreens if it's near you, and other retail pharmacies.  Yesterday the nearest Moderna for me was 88+ miles away to the north, and today there's one about 70 miles away to the south, with a first available appointment on 6/28.

I'm still not jumping because we'll be away, and 70 miles is still pretty far.  But retail pharmacies are definitely adding Moderna sites with sooner than mid-July availability.  This one is in Poughkeepsie, NY -- IDK whether you are in western or eastern MA.  

[sporklemotion]

Jun 22, 2022 8:49:22 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

OMG!!!! Sorry, I'm turning this thread into my personal venting outlet because I can't believe how frustrating this roll out is. I really prefer Moderna for DD2, but basically nowhere here has it! Other parents on FB are also trying to hunt it down, so obviously demand for it is high. I found out that our local Wegmans will be carrying Moderna, so I've been checking the website frequently hoping to snag an appt as soon as they update it (so far it still has no info for under 5s). I decided to call today to see if I could at least get an idea of when they might open them up and they told me they won't be starting until MID JULY!!! WTF?!? I asked why so long and she said something about corporate approvals. This is so fucking ridiculous! They couldn't have planned for this ahead of time so they could be ready when it was approved? FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!

The only other place that *may* carry Moderna is our pediatrician (so we are lucky there). They open appts tomorrow AM, so hopefully I can get DD2 in. But they already sent out a note through the portal that appts will be limited, so they suggest we look elsewhere. 

It is just so demoralizing.  Why does this have to be so hard?

Oh and MA finally updated their vaxfinder website.  I searched for Moderna by age and there is exactly one place that is listed:  UMass Amherst, which is 1.5 hours away.  My sister actually lives there, but they only do appointments on weekdays so I couldn't even combine it with a trip to visit her.  And the insult to injury is that they take walk in appts!!!  Not fair.  

seeyalater52, I finally figured out where the clinic in Newton you mentioned was.  If you hear of any more like that, can you let me know please?  

I’m not super plugged in because my kids are over 5, but I’m in Metro West. On my local FB someone said that Boston Children’s has Moderna and are doing them in Boston or Jamaica Plain. They said you can book online if you have an account or call (expect a 30-40 minute wait on hold).
Another poster found an appt. at Walgreens in Somerville.

If I see anything else, I’ll post. Good luck!

[seeyalater52]

Jun 22, 2022 9:10:44 GMT -5 sporklemotion said:

Jun 22, 2022 8:49:22 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

OMG!!!! Sorry, I'm turning this thread into my personal venting outlet because I can't believe how frustrating this roll out is. I really prefer Moderna for DD2, but basically nowhere here has it! Other parents on FB are also trying to hunt it down, so obviously demand for it is high. I found out that our local Wegmans will be carrying Moderna, so I've been checking the website frequently hoping to snag an appt as soon as they update it (so far it still has no info for under 5s). I decided to call today to see if I could at least get an idea of when they might open them up and they told me they won't be starting until MID JULY!!! WTF?!? I asked why so long and she said something about corporate approvals. This is so fucking ridiculous! They couldn't have planned for this ahead of time so they could be ready when it was approved? FUCK FUCK FUCK!!!

The only other place that *may* carry Moderna is our pediatrician (so we are lucky there). They open appts tomorrow AM, so hopefully I can get DD2 in. But they already sent out a note through the portal that appts will be limited, so they suggest we look elsewhere. 

It is just so demoralizing.  Why does this have to be so hard?

Oh and MA finally updated their vaxfinder website.  I searched for Moderna by age and there is exactly one place that is listed:  UMass Amherst, which is 1.5 hours away.  My sister actually lives there, but they only do appointments on weekdays so I couldn't even combine it with a trip to visit her.  And the insult to injury is that they take walk in appts!!!  Not fair.  

seeyalater52, I finally figured out where the clinic in Newton you mentioned was.  If you hear of any more like that, can you let me know please?  

I’m not super plugged in because my kids are over 5, but I’m in Metro West. On my local FB someone said that Boston Children’s has Moderna and are doing them in Boston or Jamaica Plain. They said you can book online if you have an account or call (expect a 30-40 minute wait on hold).
Another poster found an appt. at Walgreens in Somerville.

If I see anything else, I’ll post. Good luck!

Boston Children’s would also be my suggestion. They are booking now for Moderna and are holding clinics pretty regularly so as they book up they’re offering more days. noodleoo I’d call: [phone] if you are not yet a patient.

[seeyalater52]

We are vaxxed. I cried more than he did. 😭

[scm1011]

noodleoo, the Somerville Walgreens has a moderna appt for 6/29 right now!

[noodleoo]

Jun 22, 2022 10:12:40 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

noodleoo , the Somerville Walgreens has a moderna appt for 6/29 right now!

I missed it!    Stupid work.  Thanks for trying, guys! 

Off to make my H call Children's... still hoping we can get an appt with the pedi tomorrow.  <fingers crossed>

[jeaniebueller]

Jun 22, 2022 9:02:16 GMT -5 picksthemusic said:

Got the kids boosted last night! So grateful to have it done, finally. They will be going to summer school so won't be having much chance to isolate or be away from others too much, so we figured it would be a good idea instead of waiting for before school starts again in the Fall.

ETA: I'm so sorry for those of you experiencing frustrations with the <5 rollout. It's such a cluster, and I wish more folks cared about how it was done and made it a priority.

I did the same thing, I was going to wait but than figured that she might as well be protected more since she is doing a few activities this summer. Her only side effect as a sore arm for about a day.

[seeyalater52]

Jun 22, 2022 10:27:16 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

Jun 22, 2022 10:12:40 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

noodleoo , the Somerville Walgreens has a moderna appt for 6/29 right now!

I missed it!    Stupid work.  Thanks for trying, guys! 

Off to make my H call Children's... still hoping we can get an appt with the pedi tomorrow.  <fingers crossed>

Any luck yet? If you’re still looking for a Moderna vaccine appt, Walgreens at 16 BEACON ST SOMERVILLE, MA. 02143 has appointments as early as tomorrow!

[noodleoo]

Jun 22, 2022 18:46:16 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

Jun 22, 2022 10:27:16 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

I missed it!    Stupid work.  Thanks for trying, guys! 

Off to make my H call Children's... still hoping we can get an appt with the pedi tomorrow.  <fingers crossed>

Any luck yet? If you’re still looking for a Moderna vaccine appt, Walgreens at 16 BEACON ST SOMERVILLE, MA. 02143 has appointments as early as tomorrow!

OMG thank you soooo much!!! I got an appt there for Monday!!! I can’t believe the appts were still there. I love you!!!! ❤️

[seeyalater52]

Jun 22, 2022 19:38:15 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

Jun 22, 2022 18:46:16 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

Any luck yet? If you’re still looking for a Moderna vaccine appt, Walgreens at 16 BEACON ST SOMERVILLE, MA. 02143 has appointments as early as tomorrow!

OMG thank you soooo much!!! I got an appt there for Monday!!! I can’t believe the appts were still there. I love you!!!! ❤️

I’m so glad!!!!! It’s messed up how much we have to crowdsource since the powers that be are doing so little to get this to kids but I’m proud of all the parents out there sharing info and figuring it out for ourselves. I’m glad I could be a small part of it.

[gerberdaisy]

I am impressed by the number of people that have been able to get their kids vaxxed already! There is no one in our area that is offering it before Saturday, and even then its only Walgreens. Pediatricians are either not offering it or have not decided yet, we don't have CVS minute clinics, and the County has already said they will not be offering clinics.

Its disappointing and surprising considering, well I'm in NYS and would expect differently, and its just such a different response than previous roll outs. Glad other areas have it together more!

[vlinder]

Sometimes I am reminded how fortunate I am to live where I do. Our peds office had a form to fill out starting last week for interest in the vaccine for under 5s. They called yesterday morning to see if DS could come in that day, which unfortunately didn’t work for us, so I asked if he could get it at his well visit on Saturday, which didn’t work for them, but they did have an appointment for this Friday morning! They are doing Moderna right now.

Our county health department is doing both Moderna and Pfizer vax clinics for under 5s. A local pharmacy is offering both as well. The closest chain pharmacies all have Pfizer, though locations within 30 minutes have Moderna.

[noodleoo]

And after all that, I managed to get an appt at our pedi office for Tuesday, which is way easier since it's 5 mins from our house. They don't have a lot of appts and they started scheduling this AM, but I checked last night and it was open already so I snagged one of the first appointments. Canceled our Walgreens appt so someone else can use it.

I kept telling myself not to go nuts over this, that if I just waited a week it would be fine. But I apparently have no chill LOL! I'm sure in about 2 weeks there will be appointments available everywhere. Actually, if you want Pfizer, I could have gotten her vaxxed earlier this week. It is so strange!

[icedcoffee]

Wait--do we not want Pfizer? I have DS2 schedule for Pfizer on Tuesday. That's what the rest of us have so we decided to just keep it going.

I can't keep shit straight anymore.

I'm legit losing it because I saw people post about their 5 year olds getting a booster and I was all "OMG DO WE NEED THAT?" and then remembered I took the 5 year old 2 weeks ago for it.  LOL

[melmaria]

Jun 23, 2022 9:30:27 GMT -5 icedcoffee said:

Wait--do we not want Pfizer? I have DS2 schedule for Pfizer on Tuesday. That's what the rest of us have so we decided to just keep it going.

I can't keep shit straight anymore.

I'm legit losing it because I saw people post about their 5 year olds getting a booster and I was all "OMG DO WE NEED THAT?" and then remembered I took the 5 year old 2 weeks ago for it.  LOL

LOL at the bolded.  I feel you.

My kids just had Covid in early May, so I'm not in a panicked rush to get their vaccines, but my feeling is that I'll get whatever our pedi has available.  If they had never had Covid, I'd probably have a slight preference for Moderna (because my understanding is that you get a little better immunity sooner with Moderna), but still, I wouldn't be that worried about it either way.

[noodleoo]

Jun 23, 2022 9:30:27 GMT -5 icedcoffee said:

Wait--do we not want Pfizer? I have DS2 schedule for Pfizer on Tuesday. That's what the rest of us have so we decided to just keep it going.

I can't keep shit straight anymore.

I'm legit losing it because I saw people post about their 5 year olds getting a booster and I was all "OMG DO WE NEED THAT?" and then remembered I took the 5 year old 2 weeks ago for it.  LOL

I personally want Moderna because it is 2 shots vs 3, so she will be fully vaccinated sooner and it is one less shot to deal with (my kids don't do great with them).  So for Moderna, it is 6 weeks to fully vaccinated vs. Pfizer is like 13 weeks (3 weeks between 1st and 2nd shot, then 8 weeks to the 3rd).  The dosage for Pfizer is much lower, which is why they need 3 shots.  

ETA:  this is a good summary of the differences (hopefully not paywalled):

www.nytimes.com/2022/06/18/us/covid-vaccine-timeline-children-under-5.html

[icedcoffee]

Jun 23, 2022 9:36:56 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

Jun 23, 2022 9:30:27 GMT -5 icedcoffee said:

Wait--do we not want Pfizer? I have DS2 schedule for Pfizer on Tuesday. That's what the rest of us have so we decided to just keep it going.

I can't keep shit straight anymore.

I'm legit losing it because I saw people post about their 5 year olds getting a booster and I was all "OMG DO WE NEED THAT?" and then remembered I took the 5 year old 2 weeks ago for it.  LOL

I personally want Moderna because it is 2 shots vs 3, so she will be fully vaccinated sooner and it is one less shot to deal with (my kids don't do great with them).  So for Moderna, it is 6 weeks to fully vaccinated vs. Pfizer is like 12 weeks (3 weeks between 1st and 2nd shot, then 8 weeks to the 3rd).  The dosage for Pfizer is much lower, which is why they need 3 shots.  

Oh gotcha. That makes sense.  My kids like shots (don't ask ha).  I'll just KOKO and save the moderna for others.  I'm so tired of COVID.  lol sob

[chickadee77]

Jun 23, 2022 6:43:42 GMT -5 gerberdaisy said:

I am impressed by the number of people that have been able to get their kids vaxxed already! There is no one in our area that is offering it before Saturday, and even then its only Walgreens. Pediatricians are either not offering it or have not decided yet, we don't have CVS minute clinics, and the County has already said they will not be offering clinics.

Its disappointing and surprising considering, well I'm in NYS and would expect differently, and its just such a different response than previous roll outs. Glad other areas have it together more!

Same. Earliest I've seen is Monday for Pfizer. We're currently out of the country so I'm hoping by the time we get back, something Moderna will have popped up.

[Susie]

Keep checking, Moderna folks.  Every day vaccines.gov is listing more and more sites closer to me.  Tomorrow Walgreens will start booking out to Fri. 7/8, which is my ideal date to get DS vaxxed -- first Friday after vacation, so he can have any next-day fever at home on my watch.  There's a Walgreen's under an hour from me with Moderna, that has availability starting today.  Today was also the first time they showed up on vaccines.gov.  I'm going to snag him an app't tomorrow for 7/8.  If by 7/8 I can trade it for one that's a shorter drive, great -- but if not, it feels good to have a plan.

[melmaria]

Well, I asked our pedi if she recommended that we get our kids vaccinated sooner given upcoming international travel (rather than waiting 90 days post infection), and she said yes. Shrug. So I guess I'll be heading out to get my DDs their shots this week.

[melmaria]

Our community vaccination site says they are only doing shots in arms, not in the thigh. I can't really picture my baby getting a shot in her arm...is that weird?

ETA - disregard, one part of the website wasn't updated.

[seeyalater52]

Jun 23, 2022 11:35:09 GMT -5 turbo said:

Jun 23, 2022 10:44:07 GMT -5 Susie said:

Keep checking, Moderna folks.  Every day vaccines.gov is listing more and more sites closer to me.  Tomorrow Walgreens will start booking out to Fri. 7/8, which is my ideal date to get DS vaxxed -- first Friday after vacation, so he can have any next-day fever at home on my watch.  There's a Walgreen's under an hour from me with Moderna, that has availability starting today.  Today was also the first time they showed up on vaccines.gov.  I'm going to snag him an app't tomorrow for 7/8.  If by 7/8 I can trade it for one that's a shorter drive, great -- but if not, it feels good to have a plan.

Strictly anecdotes, but my 3 year old, 30# child (he's small!) got Moderna yesterday morning and has had zero side effects as far as we can tell. Hopefully the same is true for your DS!

My enormous 35lb 21 month old also has had absolutely no side effect symptoms post 1st Moderna dose yesterday morning.

Good luck to everyone!

[seeyalater52]

Jun 23, 2022 11:45:06 GMT -5 melmaria said:

Our community vaccination site says they are only doing shots in arms, not in the thigh. I can't really picture my baby getting a shot in her arm...is that weird?

The Moderna trial vaccinated my at the time 18 month old in the arm. Our site did arm vax for all kids over 12 months. I think your DD is younger than that and for a tiny baby it might be a little harder but honestly I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[melmaria]

Jun 23, 2022 11:48:28 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

Jun 23, 2022 11:45:06 GMT -5 melmaria said:

Our community vaccination site says they are only doing shots in arms, not in the thigh. I can't really picture my baby getting a shot in her arm...is that weird?

The Moderna trial vaccinated my at the time 18 month old in the arm. Our site did arm vax for all kids over 12 months. I think your DD is younger than that and for a tiny baby it might be a little harder but honestly I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Yes, my DD is 8 months.  I just read a different part of the website that says they ARE doing it in the thigh for kids under 3.  They just haven't updated the confirmation page.  So nvm!

[madDawg228]

Thank you PPs with <5 after-vaccination updates. I was able to schedule my 23-month old for an appointment on 06/25!

We've been battling a stomach bug (Memorial Day weekend) and a bacterial-infection rash (for the last 2-weeks), and it just feels like a never-ending cycle of crap.
We all had Covid in January, and local Covid rates have been over 200/100K since mid-April. I've been fearing reinfection, but hope we can beat it until his third shot (Pfizer).

[melmaria]

First shot down! My DDs did great.

[lo]

My 2 year olds are getting it Monday at their well child appointment. It’s Pfizer, although we preferred Moderna, I’m not sure where we can get it in my area and I’m just emotionally exhausted thinking about it, lol. I’m excited!

[dcrunnergirl52]

I know we have some folks in NoVa here. DS3 got the Moderna tonight at the Fairfax County/Mount Vernon Health District office. We had an appt but it looks like they had lots of availability for walk-ins, and you could pick between Pfizer and Moderna.

[tacom]

Both boys got moderna today, but we had to hustle for it (1 hour drive each way, scheduling roadblocks on our hospital’s website with crowdsourced workarounds)

They’re both doing great. Our one year old who is allergic to the world (daily hives, intermittent eye swelling, rashes, several ige and non ige food allergies) got some under eye inflammation that’s typical for him when he’s in a flare, fighting a virus, or his immune system has otherwise been triggered.

I didn’t cry when they were vaccinated but I did feel emotional trying to contextualize all this for my almost four year old on our way to the appointment. It was our first explicit conversation trying to explain to him what life was like before covid - before masks, social distancing, quarantines, “nose tests,” travel concerns. He doesn’t have the faintest memory.

[madDawg228]

For those with Littles getting Pfizer, how long do you plan to space doses 1 & 2?

I'm reviewing this from the CDC - CDC Vax Schedule

They recommend 3-8 weeks (which is a wide spread), because "Some studies in adolescents and adults have shown the small risk of myocarditis associated with mRNA COVID-19 vaccines might be reduced and peak antibody responses and vaccine effectiveness may be increased with an interval longer than 4 weeks. An 8-week interval may be optimal for people who are not moderately or severely immunocompromised and ages 5–64 years, especially for males ages 12–39 years."

The 3-doses is already a long time, and I'm curious what other parents/doctors are choosing.

DS is scheduled for his first dose tomorrow, but I haven't scheduled his other doses yet. We're going to a pediatrician, different from his primary physician. But his 2-yr Wellness visit (with his primary physician) is 4w 3d from his first dose.
I'm going to talk to the doctor we see tomorrow (and reach out to his primary), but I'm wondering if it's easy enough to get doses 2 & 3 from a different office/provider, and if a little over 4w is long enough.