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A Sad but True Tale of Two Cities: Here in Houston, Texas we have such an excess of available vaccines they’re trying to incent (bribe) the people who haven’t taken one. They’ll come pick you up and bring you to the clinic, give you free Starbucks, etc... I already got both moderna doses, but my son is holding out for the eventual offers of hookers and blow. #ProudDad

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Had my AZ shot Monday just gone. Nothing at all so far. However I was told by the doc that the clotting side typically occurs 4-20 after not immediately, so far so good. Now I have to wait 2 weeks to get the normal flu shot as well. Then the second AZ jab in August. Not thinking any more favourably about Bill Gates and Microsoft yet either.

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Got my first AZ a few weeks ago at a respiratory clinic down here in Plaguetown. Minor soreness no more so than I have had with a flu jab in the past (experience may vary). Disappointed I still don't have 5G from the microchip yet.

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I was one of the fortunates who got the shot shortly after our first responders; one of the side benefits to being a frequent flyer at the VA. Got the Pfizer. Don't want to frighten anyone but I got sick as hell for two days. I had the Corona last year, it knocked me down for three weeks. Sickest I've ever been. The shot was just like having the disease again, but after 48 hours no problems. No reaction shot #2. Glad I got it and thankful that it was a possibility. I never, ever, want to have the Corona again. That was no joke.

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JB had one here in the UK about 11 weeks ago, 2nd next Friday.

Felt a bit ill the next day but not for long. A few friends have had bad sickness and sore arms, nothing else.

Our rollout was planned by actual experts, the British Army, so that's why it's gone well compared to the EU. You get a blue envelope with your appointment and a website to change date/time if needed and download the vaccine certificate to prove that you have been vaccinated. For once you cannot fault our government for the rollout (other aspects yeah)

Honestly if you are offered the vaccine take it, sort term issues but long term gains. It looks like it's effective against the Indian variety as well according to data today so that's a benefit.

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I got the Oxford/AZ one as well. Have had both. Only side effect for me was I felt really tired for a couple of days after the first one. No side effects at all after the second one.

Seems to be working well for the UK, most of the clotting stories seem to be driven by 24 hour news looking for the latest panic. What are the odds? 1 in 500,000? The odds of clotting from the Covid are higher, plus you get the illness at the same time!

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But then I just read this cheery article in the Conversation, which suggests that the R0 of the Indian variant could be over 7 (original one was 2.5, the "highly contageous" English one is about 4.5): https://theconversation.com/covid-is-surging-in-the-worlds-most-vaccinated-country-why-160869 Suggests that low-efficacy vaccines (like AZ?) then you can't get to herd immunity. Hmm. Guess we'll see.

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I booked mine yesterday, after a colleague shared this helpful governement site on the office socials: https://covid-vaccine.healthdirect.gov.au/eligibility Multiple clicks later I was booking a visit to my local GP for an open slot on Friday. I had been waiting for someone (perhaps my GP) to tell me that it was my turn, but that doesn't seem to be a thing. AZ for me too. Seems to be working for the poms, and it's not as though there's another option. My colleagues have had mild to no side effects, so I'm hopeful that the weekend won't be wasted.

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My first jab (Pfizer) is in since last Sunday (we jab 7 days a week, 12 hours a day). Jab 2 is planned for late June.

Over here in Europe we are treating this crisis like a war. Problem was that in the early part of the war politicians were running the show and not logistical pro's. Well, we paid for that mistake. Amateurs focus on strategy, pro's go for logistics. This was a logistic problem. Everybody that can and is/was allowed to handle a syringe is being mobilized. Firefighters, dentists, pensioned doctors, nurses, the military ... For a time syringes looked to be a problem, but now we have around a billion in stock (and for Covid we only need around 35 million ;-) ).

At the moment shots are administered in a number of ways:

- GP's are shooting those that aren't mobile. Think the old in care homes, the handicapped etc. With those almost inoculated GP's and their support staff are now used as auxiliaries for the mass vaccination centers.

- At 140 mass vaccination centers (https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/coronavirus-vaccinatie/vraag-en-antwoord/waar-zijn-de-priklocaties-voor-coronavaccinatie ) most of the population is vaxed. You are invited via a letter to make an appointment, either online or by phone. If you are not picky on time (we vax here from 08.00-20.00 and on Sundays too) you can have an appointment within a week, if you're lucky even the next day.

- Hospitals administered to their staff first and is now being readied to act as an overdrive device boosting capacity from 1 million jabs per week to 2.5 million.

AZ is being phased out at the moment, Denmark and Austria already stopped using it, in the rest of the Union it is only administered to the 60+ crowd. Around 20% of that group politely declined and those will be given Pfizer, Moderna or Janssen at the end of the queue (so after the 18 year olds). Spare AZ is shipped to former colonies or as aid given to friendly states. So it's highly possible AZ first ordered in the Netherlands will find its target in the arm of a Queenslander.

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I'm booked in for my first A-Z jab in a couple of weeks. I'm keen to get it despite having a blood clot from a physical activity in my calf eight years ago, I've flown internationally a few times since that clot including two trips to see family in the USA and I had no issues, and flying has a much higher incidence of clots than any vaccine jab.

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