Will you be able to get a COVID vaccine?
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@Mary-Anna I can let you know when pharmacies here have them in stock. Shoppers Drug Mart is the general go to for both flu and COVID vaccinations - in Quebec it is called Pharmaprix.
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Some info from Katelyn Jetelina, M.D. Her blog on substack is Your Local Epidemiologist.
Is it okay not to get the Covid-19 vaccine anymore? Does having had a vax + some boosters provide any long-term protection? For how long?
The science hasn’t changed: The vaccine is still safe and effective. What has changed is the environment: most of us now have some level of immunity, which is why Covid-19 is no longer an emergency.
Immunity has two layers: short-term antibodies and long-term memory cells (T cells). Covid-19 antibodies fade within about 4 months, so without a recent vaccine (or infection), you’re more likely to get infected and more likely to spread it to others. Memory cells last longer and help prevent severe illness—this doesn’t seem to fade for healthy or young individuals, but not everyone’s immune system holds onto that protection equally well. That’s why high-risk groups are prioritized for ongoing vaccinations, like pregnant women, children under 2, adults over 65, and those with chronic conditions.
Lots more good info here:
https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/covid-19-vaccine-license-change-12
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@wtg my doctor has been saying the same for a few years. I've been getting them anyway. I'm pretty close to the age barrier.
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Many states are in the process of delinking from CDC panels and doing approvals on their own. This is because some pharmacies (like CVS) are unwilling to provide vaccines in their states because they believe existing state policy mandates CDC approval.
New Mexico for instance:
https://www.nmhealth.org/news/vaccine/2025/8/?view=2267
This ruling came out a day after I told Governor Grisham (on her BlueSky account) to do precisely this. Must have been my forceful note!
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New England states are exploring banding together to do something similar
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This is all part of the "soft secession" process. It's just a bit more organized than one-issue challenges to this or that federal policy. Blue states are indeed coordinating resistance to federal rules and requirements in ways that challenge the idea of a long-lasting political union. We will be in the end-stage of that process when wealthier states find ways to stop sending revenues to the poorer red states that fleece them.
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SK:
If you have a portal for out of office questions for your provider, might that be a good alternative to such a question in a meeting?Nevermind.
I see wtg already asked about this option, and you looked into it.
(Your obligatory PCP change sounds like a humongous nuisance.) -
I'm unhappy to see Massachusetts is one of only three states where CVS won't dispense the vaccine with or without a script. (I wonder why. Same question re Florida with all their retirees.) One son who lives in MA is working as a paramedic (exposure!).
I hope other pharmacies there will fill scripts. -
SK:
If you have a portal for out of office questions for your provider, might that be a good alternative to such a question in a meeting?Nevermind.
I see wtg already asked about this option, and you looked into it.
(Your obligatory PCP change sounds like a humongous nuisance.) -
You non-geezers in reasonably good health might not need to be too concerned if you don't get a booster this year...just a thought, with a bit of evidence behind it...
I was checking out the BBC's coverage of Kennedy's testimony at a Senate hearing today. Saw this bit. I bolded what I thought was pretty interesting.
Robert Kennedy has been pressed about the decision to tighten rules for the Covid vaccine in the United States, and Senator Elizabeth Warren has also just asked for more information.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently restricted eligibility of the booster shot this autumn, meaning it will only be routinely offered to all those over 65 years old.
Some younger people will still be able to get it for free, but only if they have an underlying medical condition which makes them particularly vulnerable.
That decision brings the US into line with most other countries, including the UK, where the vaccine is now only available through the public health system for certain vulnerable groups - although it can also be purchased privately at high street pharmacists.
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cpqnnle1pd4t
Here's the NHS schedule:
Who should have the COVID-19 vaccine
You can get the winter COVID-19 vaccine if you:
are aged 75 or over (including those who will be 75 by 31 January 2026)
are aged 6 months to 74 years and have a weakened immune system because of a health condition or treatment
live in a care home for older adults
Their geezers are older than our geezers.
I also thought I would check the WHO COVID vaccine recommendations.
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/covid-19-vaccines/advice
I would have had a lot more faith in the CDC's decision if Kennedy had just said up front that the US is doing what the rest of the world is doing. But I'm pretty sure this was an arbitrary and capricious decision, not one based in science and sharing of information with other health organizations. Instead he just talks about cleaning house and reinforces the notion that he ignores real science and medicine and implements his wacky ideas.
Stopped clock. Blind squirrel. This change in recommendations vis a vis COVID vaccines seems to be a valid one that he stumbled into.
When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier
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You non-geezers in reasonably good health might not need to be too concerned if you don't get a booster this year...just a thought, with a bit of evidence behind it...
I was checking out the BBC's coverage of Kennedy's testimony at a Senate hearing today. Saw this bit. I bolded what I thought was pretty interesting.
Robert Kennedy has been pressed about the decision to tighten rules for the Covid vaccine in the United States, and Senator Elizabeth Warren has also just asked for more information.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently restricted eligibility of the booster shot this autumn, meaning it will only be routinely offered to all those over 65 years old.
Some younger people will still be able to get it for free, but only if they have an underlying medical condition which makes them particularly vulnerable.
That decision brings the US into line with most other countries, including the UK, where the vaccine is now only available through the public health system for certain vulnerable groups - although it can also be purchased privately at high street pharmacists.
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cpqnnle1pd4t
Here's the NHS schedule:
Who should have the COVID-19 vaccine
You can get the winter COVID-19 vaccine if you:
are aged 75 or over (including those who will be 75 by 31 January 2026)
are aged 6 months to 74 years and have a weakened immune system because of a health condition or treatment
live in a care home for older adults
Their geezers are older than our geezers.
I also thought I would check the WHO COVID vaccine recommendations.
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/covid-19-vaccines/advice
I would have had a lot more faith in the CDC's decision if Kennedy had just said up front that the US is doing what the rest of the world is doing. But I'm pretty sure this was an arbitrary and capricious decision, not one based in science and sharing of information with other health organizations. Instead he just talks about cleaning house and reinforces the notion that he ignores real science and medicine and implements his wacky ideas.
Stopped clock. Blind squirrel. This change in recommendations vis a vis COVID vaccines seems to be a valid one that he stumbled into.
@wtg thanks for that info, @wtg.
In my situation, I'm not sure what to do/what I want to do. I have at least one "comorbidity," but it's hard to assess... I also (maybe posted about this above or in a different thread) am in the middle of reestablishing care with a PCP, and my first appointment isn't until the first week of Nov, so that limits my ability to consult. And then there's I'm exposed to a lot of people (students) and all their germiness.....
Anyway, apparently, at the moment, I should be able to walk into a CVS and get the shot of my own accord. But I'd like to know what's most medically recommended for my specific situation, and that's where I feel like info and access is lacking.
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I'm unhappy to see Massachusetts is one of only three states where CVS won't dispense the vaccine with or without a script. (I wonder why. Same question re Florida with all their retirees.) One son who lives in MA is working as a paramedic (exposure!).
I hope other pharmacies there will fill scripts. -
My local CVS in Florida is offering COVID-19 and flu vaccines. There's a chance they put the wrong sign up in the parking lot. I was much too busy to talk to them about their sign.
I had to get as many of my prescriptions as possible and they had up until yesterday changed the pickup date for for my Schedule VI prescription three months in a row while giving me an attitude and acting like I had done something differently let alone wrong.
I wish we could go back to family pharmacies. These chains are guilty of running pill mills and the moment they were sued, they started to make life hell for patients with a legitimate medical need for controlled medications.
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Be prepared, fellow geezers.
Some older Americans on Medicare are facing an unexpected problem: The updated Covid shots — approved last month by the Food and Drug Administration for all adults 65 and up — aren’t being covered, forcing them to decide whether to pay out of pocket.
Allison Engel, 74, said she visited her CVS in Pasadena, California, on Tuesday, where she was told the shot would cost $225 out of pocket.
“They typed everything in, and handed me a rejection letter,” Engel said. “They told me it wasn’t in the Medicare system yet and I should come back in two weeks.”
Engel didn’t want to wait, so she paid out of pocket, and hopes Medicare will reimburse her.
Brant Mittler, 78, of San Antonio, said he and his wife stopped by their CVS pharmacy on Monday where they ran into the same issue.
“The pharmacist tells my wife, ‘We’ve had Medicare patients coming in all day, and everybody’s upset because we can’t give it,’” he said. Mittler said they got their Covid shots Thursday after the pharmacist said Medicare had updated the system there..
