I agree. We were also a pro-Trump state with our governor downplaying the virus for far too long!

Same here in Florida.

"Sunday Morning" senior contributor Ted Koppel talks about the latest efforts to address the coronavirus pandemic with the Biden administration's chief medical advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who says the goal of 100 million vaccinations in 100 days is entirely achievable. Fauci also discusses how politicization of public health measures (like wearing masks), mixed messaging from the Trump White House, and claims that COVID-19 is a hoax have thwarted America's efforts to limit the pandemic's toll."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S88_IByZsDM

Same here with Iowa being all Rep. for Governor, Senate and state houses.  No vaccine here for IB group...and age lowered to 65+, teachers, firefighters, grocery store and all those.  Here, it's don't even ask until February!

Jane

R.I.P Captain Sir Tom Moore, you are-were, an inspiration...You raised 38 million pounds for our UK National Health Service, yet due to your health issues of Pneumonia you could not have the Covid vaccination that could have saved your life, so sad and ironic that you raised so much money for our NHS yet they were unable to pay it back and save you...You done our Country proud...Yes " TOMORROW WILL BE A GOOD DAY "

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-55881753


Although i never knew you, i am proud that i also come from Hertfordshire - Bedfordshire, not too far from your family home...
...I am also proud to be British...

Jackie...

Captain Sir Tom Moore was an inspiration to us here too. RIP sir.

Received my Covid vaccine call-up text, booked my chosen appointment online for Tuesday 9th Feb 8.40am, have also booked my taxi to my GP surgery...Because of my underlying other health issues and my PP-MS, i have made it onto our first top 4 priority groups list...Like Jenny ( Denver ) i feel i have won the lottery...

Hurrah for you, VJ!  Here, there is no waiting list, no registration.  They announced by email, they had 100 doses and to call a number after 2:00.  I dialed it 35 times...all busy...and at 2:35 the line said the list was full. 

Jane

Jane, this state has a very strong Alaskan Native voting bloc, and their culture revers elders. So they pushed for and received that all those 65 and over would be a second-tier. They started sign-ups on January 6th and I signed up on January 11th and soon received a confirmation and that I would receive an email as to the time and date at one of the local health centers.

Jane...
... our top priority group is vaccinating down to the 70's age group by middle of February, (15th ) we have enough vaccine supply to cover these dates...As i am not 70 till mid March i thought i might miss out but, i have been added into the clinically extremely vulnerable group by my Neurology Clinicians recommendation due to my other underlying medical conditions.......link to UK rollout schedule..

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55045639

Jane...i hope you strike lucky...dont give up...

VJ...we don't have enough vaccine in this country at this time.  Our last Administration left nothing...just endless lies about covid...and our Governor is not the brightest crayon in the box. 

Patricia...hurrah for the Native Alaskans!

Less Than Half of Nursing Home Workers Got COVID Shots in First Round, CDC Says
Low figure puts pressure on next round of vaccinations, now underway
by Emily Paulin, AARP, February 3, 2021
Many nursing home staff are turning down the vaccinations even though they are the primary drivers of infections.

"The roots of staff skepticism
The national findings match anecdotal evidence that's been echoing through the states for weeks. Maryland's acting secretary of health, Dennis R. Schrader, pegged his nursing home staff refusal rate at somewhere between 50 and 65 percent. In Virginia, Christian Bergman, a member of the state's COVID-19 long-term care task force, estimated that as many as 90 percent of workers had turned down the vaccine at some homes.

Many long-term care workers are skipping COVID-19 vaccines because they're concerned that the shots are ineffective or unsafe, the CDC says. Worries about potential side effects, which have so far been minimal from first doses, are also driving resistance. The report cites a recent survey of long-term care workers that found that among the 55 percent of workers in Indiana who said they would decline a COVID-19 vaccine if offered, 70 percent mentioned side effects as the primary reason.

Many long-term care workers are hourly employees with little to no sick leave or benefits and may not be able to afford to get sick from side effects. Certified nursing assistants, who make up the overwhelming majority of care workers at nursing homes, make less than $15 per hour on average, and getting to work is often their top priority."

tinyurl.com/elr2breh

Our Governor has removed ALL covid restrictions, beginning Sunday morning.  So....group as many as you want where you want...indoors, probably since the temps at 0-10 everwhere during the day....and no masks required, no limits of any kind.  Happy SuperBowl Super Spreader!  Great news for a state that's 3rd from the bottom in vaccinations.  No way to get an appt for one when there are some doses available.  Her words are "Be Patient, Iowans."
 

jane

Be patient for what? Your own new case of the virus?

I am so sorry, Jane!  Stay as safe and as healthy as you can

Jane...the mind boggles, " be patient " is she familiar with the terms of " timing is everything " and " the sooner the better "

She's a walking disaster, as you can see.  So, I do what I can...double mask when I have to go out and order my groceries for outdoor pickup at WalMart, and do all my socializing on line with family, zoom, and texting.  I'm not ready to get really sick yet.  My BIL was in the hospital for 5 days with covid...I don't want that.

jane

While looking for info on your governor, I found this and realized she is an ignorant mini Trump. I am so sorry.

https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/government/iowa-governors-bill-would-reduce-public-school-funding-by-millions-analysis-says-20210201

https://www.radioiowa.com/2021/01/07/iowas-governor-says-a-lot-of-questions-remain-about-presidential-election/

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/virus-outbreaks-stoke-tensions-in-some-state-capitols-including-in-iowa-and-missouri/ar-BB1ds8jF

This is very good to know, very helpful!

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/simple-hacks-to-make-your-face-mask-more-effective/vi-BB1drWQE?ocid=msedgntp

Oh yes, Patricia, she's a Trump follower to the core.
 Several large cities here are keeping their mandates in place.  She, like Trump, has screwed up our vaccine distribution...and now saying she'll have a state-wide website to register.  Uh Huh....probably in "two weeks" like Trump's "health care plan." 

I'm just staying home and trying to survive as best I can.

Jane, we started Democratic in 1959 with statehood but soon lost out to aggressive Republican tactics primarily aimed at the multitude of military bases in this state. There is now a tight lock on Republican control and the state voters' inertia. Even among the Republicans, once you're voted in, you're gold. Lisa Murkowski's father was elected for over twenty years.

 When he retired, she ran for his slot, and his people ran her campaign as a simple changing of the guard. There was a lot of talk about nepotism, but it didn't go anywhere. However, I have to say that while I often disagree with her positions, such as the NRA funds her, she is a decent legislator.

However, the governor has practically a Trump photo shrine prominently in his office. He is fighting a recall notice in the courts with over 80,000 signatures. He attempted to severely cut University and school funding and anything that wasn't energy-related and ran up against the Native voting bloc as well as strong opposition his first month in office.

From Alaska's Public Media


"Health officials want Alaskans to know COVID-19 vaccines have not killed anyone in the state — or in the country.

They're responding to a misleading report this week from conservative blog Alaska Watchman, which posted an article titled "At least five Alaskans died and 111 suffered adverse reactions after COVID vaccines."

The Watchman article relied on data from the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, but failed to explain that data doesn't mean vaccines caused deaths or adverse reactions.

Responding to questions about the report, Alaska's Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink said there's been a lot of misinformation about vaccines. Red herrings about their safety — such as the Watchman report — are not helping the vaccination effort.

Dr. Anne Zink: Even if you have someone who's on hospice and expected to die, after they've gotten vaccinated, if they do pass away, we've asked the CDC, 'Do you want someone like that to be reported into their system?' And they say, 'Absolutely.' They want anyone who has died post-vaccine for any reason to be put in.

You can see this in the trials as well: For example, in the trials, one person was struck by lightning. It's reported in the trial data. It doesn't mean that the vaccine caused them to be struck by lightning, they just want to look for any potential reaction and any potential side effect.

Then what the CDC does is look at the baseline rates of those arrhythmias, of lightning strikes, and see if there's a difference between people who were vaccinated and not vaccinated to determine if that's a potential risk. All of that VAERS data is on the CDC website, and can be seen by anybody in the public. You can go and take a look at it.

Unfortunately, people are misinterpreting that data as an adverse reaction (to the vaccine), when it's just humans being humans. It's a way for us to make sure we're reporting in data, for the CDC to look at it and make sure there's no abnormal patterns in it.

Casey Grove: So to be clear, the report that we're talking about came from this website, The Watchman. For them to report five people have died after getting the vaccine and more than 100 have had adverse reactions — does that set back the vaccination effort, to have that misinformation out there?

AZ: Well, just in the emails that I got, in the time they released it today, there's a lot of people who emailed me who said, 'I read this, and I'm really concerned. What does this mean?'

So it takes time. I'm always happy to answer questions, and so is our team, to explain where the data really comes from, and why five people did not die from the vaccine. Five people died after vaccination, but looking through their history, they had multiple underlying health factors, and some of them were actually on hospice and expected to pass away.

It's important to put the data into context. Unfortunately, if it's not put into context, it can really scare people from potentially choosing to get a life-saving vaccine that can protect them from a virus that has been ravaging our world, and has been causing incredible loss, both with people getting sick and dying, and unfortunately, the real economic consequences that come with a lot of people being sick and being out, as well. We are all better off, more healthy and well, together. And this vaccine is a strong and useful tool to get there as quickly as possible.

CG: Do you think people will be so worried about it, they just won't get the vaccine? Are you seeing that already?

AZ: I am worried people won't get the vaccine because of misinformation. I am concerned by the number of people who are expressing that information — they don't have the context behind it, and they're taking that as that five people died from the vaccine itself.

I am concerned that that is not only going to slow down vaccine efforts, but more importantly, for that individual trying to make an individual decision. It's really important they have the information at hand and in full context to make the best decision for them and their family.

CG: There's still hundreds of appointments for vaccines available through February, at least here in Southcentral. Why isn't the state opening up those appointments for teachers or other groups? And are you getting a lot of pushback for that?

AZ: Yes, we are getting a lot of pushback, for sure. We are pausing a bit on this senior level right now. We just really want to make sure those 65 and older, are vaccinated as soon as possible. They are the group that represents just over 10% of the population, but over 70% of the deaths and over 50% of the hospitalizations. It's been challenging for some of them to navigate the website, the call line, and to know that it's their turn to get vaccinated.

However, we understand every single day we wait is a day that someone else isn't getting vaccinated. That looms large on our shoulders. We want to get vaccines out fast, and we want to do it fair.

So we are looking at when we open up the next tiers, overall. We've had a bunch of meetings with the communities: Most are telling us that while there's appointments open, many of them are getting filled up — it's just taking a bit more time. They have plans for a lot of that vaccine.

We are really trying to give it this week to see how many how many of those appointments are filled. We will be looking at the data next week. And then really making a decision about where we move forward.

CG: When can we anticipate the opening of additional tiers for eligibility?

AZ: I think that mid-February, we'll be communicating some clarity on the next tiers, as well as sharing the information about what 1C is looking like, so people know what's up and coming next.

As I think many people are aware, there's a third vaccine now going through the FDA review process. So we want to see what that looks like — because that will change our March allocation — to see if we can move through more tiers more quickly. I suspect some communities will be opening up additional vaccine sites in February to the beginning part of the next tier. However, I think most communities will be moving into the next tier with the March allocation."


LISTEN HERE:

http://media.aprn.org/2021/5%20Anne%20Zink%20int%20FULL.mp3

More on the same Conservative Republican efforts to stop people from bring vaccinated


https://www.alaskapublic.org/2021/02/08/twitter-suspends-reporter-relaying-alaska-legislators-covid-19-vaccine-skepticism/

Lots of people here seem to not want to trust the shots. So many done now that if something was going to go wrong then it would have happened by now. Have got to trust the Med. People.(after they say they have taken the shots themselves.) Same with prescriptions people take. If older take a gamble. Lots of these if people start taking while young are going to have some problems. Doctors hand them out so easy now. Growing up I never remember people taking any drugs other than a Aspirin. My Gran had a few herbs that she would brew up. A kind for everything.

Lots of people here seem to not want to trust the shots. So many done now that if something was going to go wrong then it would have happened by now. Have got to trust the Med. People.(after they say they have taken the shots themselves.) Same with prescriptions people take. If older take a gamble. Lots of these if people start taking while young are going to have some problems. Doctors hand them out so easy now. Growing up I never remember people taking any drugs other than a Aspirin. My Gran had a few herbs that she would brew up. A kind for everything.

I had my 2nd vaccine on Fri. Saturday sore arm Sat evening severe muscle pains in abdomen for a short really short period of time. Then slight nausea before I went to bed. Awoke during the night several times drenched in sweat! Awoke this morning feeling fine! So glad it is all over.

I had my first shot on 2/18, and my second will be on March 18th. I had no reactions to the shot even tho I have a history of reactions to meds. They came to my home in a program for homebound seniors after I notified them that I wouldn't be able to make it to the site with my sprain.

From CNN, "The US is on the dark precipice of 500,000 coronavirus deaths. Words can't describe the magnitude of such a loss. But officials say we may be at the beginning of the end. Cases and hospitalization rates are dropping in some states, and the Biden administration says 2 million more vaccine doses have been delivered following weather delays. Still, the next few months will bring tens of thousands more deaths, experts say, and Dr. Anthony Fauci says basic precautions like masks could be our reality all the way into 2022. Australia started its mass vaccination program today, and across Europe, leaders are working on plans to ease lockdown restrictions soon."

Hurrah for you, Patricia! 

I haven't been so lucky...yet.  Hoping soon the Iowa Governor will get her act together.   

Lets hope, Jane!

So glad you got your first shot Patricia. Wonderful program you have there with someone coming to the house to give it to you.

It's a home health program from the association of US health centers. I assume it's a country-wide program, but I had never heard of it before. I'm not even sure of the correct name.