Items

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  2021-01-28

  Freezer Failure

  January 28, 2021, around 11 PM one of my friends called me, we normally don’t talk on the phone so I assumed something was wrong. I could tell that she was driving and her voice was shaky. She told me that a freezer had failed at her mom’s work and that around 1,300 vaccines would be expired by 5 or 6 AM. She was told to try to get anyone she knew to get to the hospital in order to reduce the chance of wasting such a hard to get thing. This was prior to my state lifting restrictions on who was eligible for the vaccine yet. Not everyone could get it, just certain people due to age, pre-existing conditions, and career. The clinic did a good job at still trying to make sure that people who were eligible got to the front of the line, but they knew that they needed to make sure every vaccine was used. My girlfriend and I would not have made it there in time since we were over 3 hours away, but her family all lived within a 30-minute drive. We started calling her parents and brothers to wake them up and get moving. Her mother, oldest brother, and soon to be sister-in-law were all teachers and were going to have to start teaching in person again. None of them would have been eligible until a month or more after going back in person, and they were all decently nervous about being in person unvaccinated. Her family got lucky and was able to get vaccinated that night. I cannot thank my friend enough for calling me to keep the people who have become my family safe.
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  2021-10-29

  A Vial of the COVID-19 Vaccine

  Image licensed under creative commons fair use.
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  2021-02-02

  Southern NM County Mandates COVID-19 Vaccine for First Responders Including Sheriff's Deputies

  This article discusses a recent mandate from the Dona Ana County government, which is seated in Las Cruces, New Mexico, that orders all its first responders to submit to vaccination. To my knowledge, this is the first such mandate in the United States, and it illuminates the relative lack of control first responders have over their lives once they enter their respective profession. The order is likely to be contested, particularly when such requirements have not historically been a condition on employment, The order reads in part, "Being vaccinated is a requirement and a condition of on-going employment with the County due to the significant health and safety risks posed by contracting or spreading COVID-19." The order applies to all paid personnel in the county's law enforcement, fire, detention, and medical professions.
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  2021-02-07

  3 More Vaccine Differences by State Stories

  Shows the differences in individuals included in vaccine phases in different states. It is important because it lets people see the official categories and who should have been when.
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  02/07/2021

  Jo Ann Richey Oral History, 2021/02/07

  This is an interview with Jo Ann Richey about her COVID-19 vaccination experience in January of 2021. She talks about how pandemic restrictions have affected her work and social life. She also speaks about where and how her vaccine was conducted. She includes personal insight into how she hopes the vaccines may change her life and society as whole in the future. Contributed by Clinton P. Roberts, HSE, for Arizona State University for the #RuralVoices and #VaccineStories collections
• 2021-01-14

  Vaccine Clinic and Personal Vaccine

  I work at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA. My role is usually in education with a background in pre-hospital emergency medicine. Because of my background as a paramedic, I was asked to work in the vaccine clinic for the hospital staff as an observer. My position was to keep an eye on the hospital staff for 15 minutes after they received their Covid vaccine, just in case there were any reactions. Thankfully, my shifts have been very uneventful due to the safety of the vaccine. It was fascinating to talk with the staff when they came back for their second dose, as I was given insight into their experiences with the first dose. This meant that when I went in for my first dose in mid-January, I fully knew what to expect. I received the Moderna vaccine. About four hours after getting the shot, my arm felt quite sore. By the night of the vaccine, my shoulder was throbbing, but it was manageable. For the price of some shoulder pain, the opportunity to receive the shot during the first wave was well worth the discomfort. I get my second dose in early February, so I will see then if I feel as crummy as some of my friends and co-workers have after the second dose.