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I think the incredibly historic accomplishments of these vaccines are unfortunately dulled quite a bit in this moment by the practical issues of how badly the U

I think the incredibly historic accomplishments of these vaccines are unfortunately dulled quite a bit in this moment by the practical issues of how badly the US government and states are still bumbling the distribution of the vaccines. I'm not talking the mundane details of the logistics of shipping, etc. getting those boxes out. That's well understood. I'm talking strategy of who gets vaccinated, how they find out, how they get in line to receive the vaccine. How government tracks and ensures that the population is getting to an effective level of immunity. I have not seen a whiff of that information and management system being put in place. We're still random walking our way through this crisis. CVS has more information on the vaccination status of people in the country than the government does, for fuck's sake. It's almost as if we're leaving it to everyone to figure it out themselves, or on a voluntary basis. Do you know how you're supposed to get the vaccine? Has anyone contacted you or given you information? Have you seen any information on when you specifically are to sign up to receive the vaccine? A more contagious/virulent variant of the virus was just detected in Colorado, today. And we're still letting a patchwork of counties figure it out as it comes.

packetlost 6y ago
Each state is handling the logistics themselves, but overall it seems that healthcare and state/government employees will have appointments set up through their employers. For the next several months, it's going to be elderly and then those whose jobs are deemed 'more important', which means communication will likely come from employers first for most people until general availability.
- supernova87a 6y ago
  Employers are now responsible for ensuring the general public's health? Just for this initial stage? How frightening that is to realize. And for the rest of the population later? A massive abdication of responsibility / competence by the government.
  - packetlost 6y ago
    No, that is not at all what is happening. The government is deciding what occupations constitute early access to the vaccine. For now, they are prioritizing medical workers and government employees, especially those providing essential public services. The only possible way for that to work is through the employer themselves. This has always been the case, and has been publicly stated as such (frontline medical workers, assisted living workers, etc.). It was always going to be based on occupation initially. Once there's enough for general availability, individuals will likely be able to schedule vaccinations themselves or be contacted by their PCP to schedule one. Just because you have not seen any communication does not mean it is not happening.
  - kube-system 6y ago
    > Employers are now responsible for ensuring the general public's health? Just for this initial stage? In the first stage, yeah, because the employees are mainly healthcare workers.
  - adolph 6y ago
    Delegation of operations outside of one's core competencies to others with proven track records of success seems smarter than reinventing the wheel from first principles. Employers, insurance companies and providers from med centers to corner pharmacies have a wealth of experience in delivering products into people's arms. Why let that go to waste?
- BurningFrog 6y ago
  Sure, but to OPs point, "overall it seems ... will have appointments set up..." isn't where we should be several weeks after the vaccine started shipping.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
visarga 6y ago
I asked myself the same question but in my country (in E.E.) I discovered the government has created an app for self registration in 3 stages - medical personnel first, then elderly and at risk people, then general population. I can't register yet. I assume US has something similar at the very least.
- rswail 6y ago
  Your assumption is incorrect. There is no Federal government registration system in the US. I'm in Australia and we are slow walking the process instead of using the equivalent of "emergency authorization". That's a risk that our Federal government is taking based on our very low case counts and infection rates. Whether they roll it out efficiently between themselves and the individual state health authorities is yet to be seen. Our Federal government has badly failed in its aged care response, which is its responsibility, while complaining loudly about states implementing border controls and other measures based on the economic impact. Basically, governments that are run by inheritors of the Reaganite/Thatcherite "small government", "states rights" mindset are ignoring the fact that public health does not respect internal borders. This has occurred in the US, the UK, and, to a certain extent, in CA and AU.
smileybarry 6y ago
I had the same questions myself, though not in the US but in Israel. We started vaccinations on the 20th and reached 500k yesterday, now up to 100k daily. (out of 8.8m population) The media tried to cover all the how-s, when-s and what-if-s and did okay, and if you google for it you can find a government website with details about the vaccination campaign. Finding out who's first in line was also easier than expected, that same info website has a link with a list of groups. The gist of it is: medical teams, elderly people, people aged >65, at-risk, then anyone who wants. It's a fairly long list but if you're interested see [1]. Re: signing up, at first it was via phone calls but later on HMOs (health orgs) made it possible to sign up via their apps. Once you sign up it's usually about a week. Some people somehow got an appointment for February but it was moved up to early January very quickly. E.g., my dad. -- [1]: From what I know and can find online now, after medical teams we vaccinated: nursing home caregivers & residents; then anyone over the age of 65 who signs up; then immunosuppressed people (implants etc.); then people with majorly reduced lung capacity; then personal caregivers. Those are all titled "first priority". "Second priority" is: other risk groups such as diabetes, obesity, serious lung disease, hypertension, etc.; then high-exposure groups such as teachers, prisoners and guards, first responders. After that, anyone who wants to be vaccinated can sign up. "Priority" also means "wave" at the moment; meaning until we vaccinated all (interested) people aged >65 I, a healthy person <30, can't get the vaccine.
rswail 6y ago
That is a US specific problem. In fact, it's a US Federal government specific problem. If you push responsibility from the Federal government to the states, each state has to work it out themselves. While the US is a republic of 50 states, there are some times where "states rights" should require them to work co-operatively to establish a standard for all 50 states. The current administration, throughout the entire pandemic, has abdicated its responsibility to co-ordinate this. The fact that states were forming their own co-operative approaches (see NY/NJ/CT et al) demonstrates the issue. Basically, the current administration castrated the CDC from performing its function, with political interference in what the CDC did and what the CDC announced. The current vaccine distribution is effectively "wholesale" with 50 retailers and then the Federal government abdicates any further responsibility.
lm28469 6y ago
> Do you know how you're supposed to get the vaccine? Has anyone contacted you or given you information? afaik if you don't know or haven't been contacted you're not on the list yet. You know it's your turn when they tell you it is. > A more contagious/virulent variant of the virus was just detected in Colorado, today There are 10 articles a day about new "mutant and more virulent strains" around the world which aren't supported by any evidences

packetlost 6y ago

Each state is handling the logistics themselves, but overall it seems that healthcare and state/government employees will have appointments set up through their employers. For the next several months, it's going to be elderly and then those whose jobs are deemed 'more important', which means communication will likely come from employers first for most people until general availability.

supernova87a 6y ago
Employers are now responsible for ensuring the general public's health? Just for this initial stage? How frightening that is to realize. And for the rest of the population later? A massive abdication of responsibility / competence by the government.
- packetlost 6y ago
  No, that is not at all what is happening. The government is deciding what occupations constitute early access to the vaccine. For now, they are prioritizing medical workers and government employees, especially those providing essential public services. The only possible way for that to work is through the employer themselves. This has always been the case, and has been publicly stated as such (frontline medical workers, assisted living workers, etc.). It was always going to be based on occupation initially. Once there's enough for general availability, individuals will likely be able to schedule vaccinations themselves or be contacted by their PCP to schedule one. Just because you have not seen any communication does not mean it is not happening.
- kube-system 6y ago
  > Employers are now responsible for ensuring the general public's health? Just for this initial stage? In the first stage, yeah, because the employees are mainly healthcare workers.
- adolph 6y ago
  Delegation of operations outside of one's core competencies to others with proven track records of success seems smarter than reinventing the wheel from first principles. Employers, insurance companies and providers from med centers to corner pharmacies have a wealth of experience in delivering products into people's arms. Why let that go to waste?
BurningFrog 6y ago
Sure, but to OPs point, "overall it seems ... will have appointments set up..." isn't where we should be several weeks after the vaccine started shipping.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

visarga 6y ago

I asked myself the same question but in my country (in E.E.) I discovered the government has created an app for self registration in 3 stages - medical personnel first, then elderly and at risk people, then general population. I can't register yet. I assume US has something similar at the very least.

rswail 6y ago
Your assumption is incorrect. There is no Federal government registration system in the US. I'm in Australia and we are slow walking the process instead of using the equivalent of "emergency authorization". That's a risk that our Federal government is taking based on our very low case counts and infection rates. Whether they roll it out efficiently between themselves and the individual state health authorities is yet to be seen. Our Federal government has badly failed in its aged care response, which is its responsibility, while complaining loudly about states implementing border controls and other measures based on the economic impact. Basically, governments that are run by inheritors of the Reaganite/Thatcherite "small government", "states rights" mindset are ignoring the fact that public health does not respect internal borders. This has occurred in the US, the UK, and, to a certain extent, in CA and AU.

smileybarry 6y ago

I had the same questions myself, though not in the US but in Israel. We started vaccinations on the 20th and reached 500k yesterday, now up to 100k daily. (out of 8.8m population) The media tried to cover all the how-s, when-s and what-if-s and did okay, and if you google for it you can find a government website with details about the vaccination campaign. Finding out who's first in line was also easier than expected, that same info website has a link with a list of groups. The gist of it is: medical teams, elderly people, people aged >65, at-risk, then anyone who wants. It's a fairly long list but if you're interested see [1]. Re: signing up, at first it was via phone calls but later on HMOs (health orgs) made it possible to sign up via their apps. Once you sign up it's usually about a week. Some people somehow got an appointment for February but it was moved up to early January very quickly. E.g., my dad. -- [1]: From what I know and can find online now, after medical teams we vaccinated: nursing home caregivers & residents; then anyone over the age of 65 who signs up; then immunosuppressed people (implants etc.); then people with majorly reduced lung capacity; then personal caregivers. Those are all titled "first priority". "Second priority" is: other risk groups such as diabetes, obesity, serious lung disease, hypertension, etc.; then high-exposure groups such as teachers, prisoners and guards, first responders. After that, anyone who wants to be vaccinated can sign up. "Priority" also means "wave" at the moment; meaning until we vaccinated all (interested) people aged >65 I, a healthy person <30, can't get the vaccine.

rswail 6y ago

That is a US specific problem. In fact, it's a US Federal government specific problem. If you push responsibility from the Federal government to the states, each state has to work it out themselves. While the US is a republic of 50 states, there are some times where "states rights" should require them to work co-operatively to establish a standard for all 50 states. The current administration, throughout the entire pandemic, has abdicated its responsibility to co-ordinate this. The fact that states were forming their own co-operative approaches (see NY/NJ/CT et al) demonstrates the issue. Basically, the current administration castrated the CDC from performing its function, with political interference in what the CDC did and what the CDC announced. The current vaccine distribution is effectively "wholesale" with 50 retailers and then the Federal government abdicates any further responsibility.

lm28469 6y ago

> Do you know how you're supposed to get the vaccine? Has anyone contacted you or given you information? afaik if you don't know or haven't been contacted you're not on the list yet. You know it's your turn when they tell you it is. > A more contagious/virulent variant of the virus was just detected in Colorado, today There are 10 articles a day about new "mutant and more virulent strains" around the world which aren't supported by any evidences