Soooo, I wake up this morning to the news that CDC and the FDA are pausing the J&J vaccine. Not a mandated stoppage, but a recommended pause. If the provider and the patient feel it's worth the risk, it can still be given.
An hour before my appointment, Walgreens canceled my appointment.
The one-shot vaccines like the AstraZeneca in Europe and the J&J appears to cause a sinus thrombosis (blood clot on the veins that drain the blood from the brain) in rare cases, and they don't know why, or even if there is a cause from the vaccine.
It happens in the general, un-vaccinated population at a rate of 5 per million.
With the J&J vaccine it happened 6 times in 6.85 million doses. Literally less-than one in a million.
So at first blush, it appears the vaccine actually reduces the rate of occurrence.
So, I snagged an appointment tomorrow morning at the Arlington Municipal Airport in Sonomish County. It's a mile from this Pilot up here. They have a mass drive-thru vaccination site. I got a 0915 time.
It's for the Phizer vaccine, so I'll need to find another dose of Phizer in 3-6 weeks. The second dose must be the same manufacturer.
Getting a second dose can be tricky. Providers are shipped doses in pairs, so they might not have any spare second doses that aren't already spoken for. In an article I read, the head of the Nevada HHS suggested going in and asking for a first dose, instead. They'll have those, and then they'll have a spare second dose for someone else. That's from an official official. Just lie, she said.
