Are you ready for the vaccine?

How have you guys been hoilding up? There are claims that there will be a vaccine for Coronavirus by 2021. Are you ready for it? What are your thoughts about it?

I think the timeline of when vaccines will be available widely to the general public is way too optimistic.

The best case scenario looks to be second half of 2021, leaning towards Q4. And that’s best case.

There’s also the issue of logistics. And in the U.S., let’s just say it’s currently looking like a sh*tshow.

Take for example, the Pfizer vaccine…

The Pfizer vaccine is unusually difficult to ship and store: It is administered in two doses given 21 days apart, has to be stored at temperatures of about minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit and will be delivered in dry ice-packed boxes holding 1,000 to 5,000 doses. These cartons can stay cold enough to keep the doses viable for up to 10 days, according to details provided by the company. The ice can be replenished up to three times. Once opened, the packages can keep the vaccine for five days but can’t be opened more than twice a day. The vaccine can also survive in a refrigerator for five days but can’t be refrozen if unused.

Health officials haven’t figured out how to get the ultracold doses to critical populations living far from cities, according to a ProPublica review of distribution plans obtained through open records laws in every state. Needing to use 1,000 doses within a few days may be fine for large hospital systems or mass vaccination centers. But it could rule out sending the vaccine to providers who don’t treat that many people, even doctors’ offices in cities. It’s especially challenging in smaller towns, rural areas and Native communities on reservations that are likely to struggle to administer that many doses quickly or to maintain them at ultracold temperatures.

The government’s vaccine program, Operation Warp Speed, has projected optimism about its readiness to distribute the vaccine. On Monday, Gen. Gustave Perna told NPR, “I think we’re in a good place,” saying that “with the right planning, we can execute it with zero loss of vaccine.” But the federal program is only going to be responsible for delivering vaccines to the states, which must then figure out on their own how to get the shots to the people who need them most. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked each state to turn in distribution plans on Nov. 2, imagining a scenario in which a vaccine with Pfizer’s specifications came first.

ProPublica obtained full preliminary plans for 47 states (Hawaii, Pennsylvania and Minnesota say they’re still working on theirs). Many struggled with how to handle a Pfizer-like vaccine. Washington state’s Health Department does not have its own warehouse that can store the Pfizer vaccine at a cold enough temperature. Arizona expects the Pfizer vaccine cannot be handled by the state’s rural communities and tribal lands. North Dakota and Oregon aren’t sure how to take care of migrant workers. Kansas’ plan appears to mistakenly assume shipments will be far smaller than 1,000 doses. Georgia’s Public Health Department is relying on local districts and counties to work out their own details.

Here’s more color on making the vaccines along with some interesting photos.

Industry analysts and company executives are optimistic that hundreds of millions of doses will be made by next spring. But the companies — backed with billions of dollars in federal money — will have to overcome hurdles they’ve encountered in the early days of making vaccines. Moderna’s and Pfizer’s vaccines use new technology that has never been approved for widespread use. They are ramping up into the millions for the first time. Other challenges include promptly securing raw vaccine ingredients and mastering the art of creating consistent, high-quality batches.

“The biology of scaling manufacturing is a very temperamental activity, and there were many, many different attempts over the months until we cracked it,” said Paul Mango, deputy chief of staff for policy at the Department of Health and Human Services.

I’m not too sure. I’ll probably wait until 2022. How about you?

I’m ready to have the vaccine on Day 1. But as the government is organising this that probably won’t be for several months yet.

Inside Look at Covid-19 Vaccine Distribution | NBC Nightly News

How do you distribute a billion vaccines worldwide at subzero temperatures?

My country will start vaccination of doctors, teachers and police in February 2021. It can’t come soon enough. :frowning:

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I’m of two minds about the vaccine. I don’t know, maybe I’ll see how it turns out for the first people who’d get it. If you ask me, the leaders should take it first. Or I don’t know. What if they have a different vaccine than the public. It kind of remind me of the movie Kingsmen. Salvation for the selected few - the rich people!

I think I can decide for myself as this is my body, my life, my choice A Time Of Test – COVID-19 Pandemic Read this article I read just recently. This is time of test and it’s every man for himself.

The vaccine wouldn’t reach people like me first anyway. Personally, I can’t wait for it.