Vaccine Appointments - I think I figured it out

[dreamshark]

Mostly posting this because it might be of interest to others who are with Health Partners or Park Nicollet and are still waiting for a vaccine appointment.

Usually (according to website FAQ) Health Partners gets their vaccine allocation for the upcoming week on Friday and that's when they start contacting people to offer appointments. This week Minnesota got a surprise midweek shipment of Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and rushed to distribute the doses to a limited number of clinics. HP's allotment has been sent to some little drive-in clinic in Bloomington that I never heard of. Since they had new vaccine available, they sent out a limited number of "Your turn is here!" emails. I wasn't interested in the J&J vaccine so I kinda skipped past the Bloomington Clinic and clicked on all the rest. None of them had new vaccine. But Amery, Wisconsin, had just 3 unclaimed appointments left from last week (Moderna). 

SO... if you are a Park Nicollet or Health Partners patient in the eligible group (over 65) and are fine with the J&J vaccine, there are probably still slots available there. They don't advertise this (probably not wanting to be overwhelmed) but I have learned from a friend that if you just call the Park Nicollet Appointment Desk and politely ask, the receptionist will look for an available cancellation or unfilled slot anywhere in the system. They won't necessarily find one, but they are nice about looking. My friend called once last week with no luck, but called back today and got an appointment. 

We're continuing on with the appointment I scored in Wisconsin, planning it as an exciting Out of Town Expedition. My same helpful friend (who knows Wisconsin awfully well for a lifelong Minnesotan!) recommended that we leave early and stop at the Franconia Sculpture Park. That has the advantage of getting us out of the metro before rush hour and making a nice day trip of it. I've packed a lunch and checked to see that the Sculpture Park is open, and Richard is actually awake and eating breakfast now. So, that's the plan. So if somehow the vaccine appointment falls through we'll still always have Franconia. 

Comments

[pameladean]

Oh, what a great idea! I was thinking that Wisconsin is really awfully pretty and it was a shame to drive there in rush hour and just get jabbed and go home again. But it's not the greatest time for hiking; the paths are likely to be icy. But a Sculpture Park sounds perfect.

P.

[pameladean]

Have you discussed why you aren't interested in the J&J vaccine? Do you want to? ("No" is a fine answer, of course.)

P.

[dreamshark]

Because it is clearly less effective than the two mRNA vaccines. Not a worthless vaccine by any means, but less effective than the other two. I understand why the health establishment is anxious to get people to accept it, because from a public health perspective the most important thing right now is to get as many people vaccinated as rapidly as possible. So I'm not really interested in turning people against the J&J vaccine. But I'd rather have the one that reduces all symptomatic illness by 95% rather than the one that reduces ONLY SEVERE ILLNESS by 85%. Wouldn't you?

[pameladean]

In an ideal world, sure. And I didn't mean to seem to in any way be challenging your decision. It's just that generally you are in possession of more information than I am and it's better organized in your head, so I thought I'd ask. I'd already decided to just take whatever was offered to me, but in the event I didn't have to see if I really meant it, because I was offered the Pfizer vaccine first.

I did see an article recently saying that 56 days out, the efficacy of the J&J vaccine rose to a little over 90%, which is cheering. It also has fewer incidences of unpleasant though after-effects, and some people set more store on reducing their odds of those. It's an individual decision for sure.

P.

[dreamshark]

Efficacy rose to 90%? Really? Are you sure it isn't that weasel-worded declaration where they completely redefine what they mean by efficacy? ("prevents serious disease and death" instead of "prevents disease?"). Because that's what I've seen. I would really prefer that when people in authority use statistics to make their point they use them honestly. Using two drastically different definitions of "efficacy" to compare two numbers is not honest.
But the CDC really wants people to make the same determination you did and take whatever f-ing vaccine you are offered. From a public health perspective, that's a laudable goal. But I can't help resenting seeing facts misrepresented deliberately in order to mold the public's behavior, so it is hard for me to keep my mouth shut about it.
And absolutely, there are advantages to the J&J vaccine. Clearly the best choice for people who would have a hard time with the 2-dose requirement. And massively more convenient for the people handling and distributing the vaccine. But mostly, with the new infusion into the vaccine supply from J&J we now have a reasonable chance of getting our population effectively immunized within the next 3 months. And that is huge.

[davidwilford]

I just got my appointment e-mail from HealthPartners this morning and was able to schedule an appointment in Woodbury next Wednesday for the Pfizer vaccine. I also tried to schedule an appointment in New Richmond and Amery first, but was told there were none available, but as you'd related your experience I just kept trying until I found one available in Woodbury. Glad I got a heads up from you about the process, thanks!

[dreamshark]

From my experience in Amery, I suspect that you can get in there if you keep trying. If you care, try calling and asking. They might even put you on a waitlist.

[dreamshark]

Unless the reason you couldn't get an appointment there is because they didn't get any vaccine this week. That seems more likely if there were NO slots available within hours of the emails going out. It seems pretty clear that Health Partners is getting really screwed in terms of vaccine distribution and has to rotate the locations where they send vaccines week by week.

[carbonel]

I have never before in my adult life been so annoyed at being a particular age (64.5).

Want vaccine now.

[dreamshark]

Yeah, that really sucks. And it probably doesn't help to hear everybody you know bragging about their vaccinations. Apparently "vaccine selfies" are now a thing, which is a constant irritant to people like yourself who are not quite eligible.

I suppose it does drum up demand, though. Pits the two most American base instincts against each other: "You can't tell me what to do!" vs "Hey, I want what they got! No fair!"

[davidwilford]

As my mother told me, I'm lucky I turned 65 in December. Erin wasn't lucky enough to get an invite from HealthPartners though, even though she's 66.

[dreamshark]

I think it will be coming soon.