When I booked a Rez for Novavax online at Rite Aid, the pharmacy tech called me the morning of teh appointment to let me know that they were out of stock but had Pfizer & Moderna, but she also told me which other neighboring Rite Aid’s still had Novavax in stock per her computer. So, instead of bait-and-switch, prolly more just poor customer service.
Could be. I was told to “complain to Corporate” about why the site allowed scheduling for a vaccine they didn’t have (and hadn’t had for a while). Regardless, I’ll be steering clear of Rite-Aid for a while for ANYthing.
Yes, not having enough Novavax shots is the least of RiteAid’s problems right now. (they filed for bankruptcy last month)
I didn’t know that Rite-Aid has filed for bankruptcy. Maybe that was why my closest Rite-Aid closed a few months ago.
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https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pdf/freeresources/seniors/seniors-vaccination-factsheet-final.pdf indicates that there are three different vaccines preferred for senior citizens:
- Fluzone High-Dose: basically like 4 regular inactivated virus (egg grown) shots.
- FLUAD: a regular inactivated virus (egg grown) vaccine with an adjuvant added.
- FluBlok: a recombinant protein vaccine, where the viral proteins (not whole viruses) are produced by bacteria that infects insect cells (no eggs used).
Regarding pharmacies, Costco is probably the cheapest if you have to self-pay.
Thanks for this info. In the past (before age 65, I got FluBlok a few times). Last year I got the shot equal to 4 shots. I would like to try to get the FluBlok again, so I will see who has it. The scheduling websites for the pharmacies don’t detail which flu vaccines they have.
yes, they are also closing a bunch of stores. I was really impressed that their pharm tech called me before I drove to the store.
Walgreen’s moved into a lot of Rite Aids here in Maine.
We’re all “at risk” – only afterwards you’ll know what your personal severity actually was, or whether you’ll end up with long term impairment/issues. Up to 29% lower odds of possibly ending up with long-term CoVid, is worth me taking my lunch break at a nearby CVS one day.
(Then again, when my wife read about symptoms like “brain fog”, she’s diagnosed me with pre-CoVid.)
Maybe think of it like “smoking”. We all know a chain smoker who never had lung cancer and died age 95. But, if there are clear odds that you personally might be effected by dangers of smoking, rather than being the lucky one - you’d probably try to follow the health advice?
Absolutely.
…and then there are cases who have gotten every single shot and never got CoVid - despite eating out in restaurants all the time, never having worked from home, being around first-responders. That’s the problem with individual anecdotes: they mustn’t be basis for us assessing probabilities.
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I feel you. I thought it would be long gone by now. I’m going to be traveling, so I got the most recent vaccine a couple of weeks ago. Last week, one of my co-workers got COVID. It is his second time and he is much more sick than the first time he had it. An acquaintance who only had the primary series of vaccines, got sick earlier this month. She was hospitalized. I can’t believe this virus is still impacting people the way it is.
H and I got the latest Covid booster along with our flu shots and RSV shots two weeks before traveling to Europe last month. We are happy that we did it and did not come down with Covid like many others we knew who returned from traveling. We travel, eat out both inside and outside, go to concerts and pretty much live our lives like we did pre Covid. I have had Covid twice (extremely mild) and H has had it once (also mild). We will continue to get vaccinated as recommended so that we can be with vulnerable family and do the things that we love to do.
As an aside I read that this year’s flu vaccine should be very effective based on the viruses out there. I have had the flu twice in my life and was sick enough both times (even 35 years ago!) to have to go to the emergency room for IV fluids. I always get vaccinated against flu.
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I fit your last scenario. I’ve gotten all the shots. Twice this year I’ve traveled with my BFF. Riding in the same car, sharing a bed in a B&B, doing everything together. Both times, she came down with COVID and I didn’t. Yes, she also got all the shots, so it’s weird.
I figure the latest shot not only reduces my chances of getting COVID, but will make any case I do get not as severe.
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I’ve had every vaccine and never had covid that I know of. I’m cautious where possible but I fly, I eat in restaurants, I go to indoor sporting events, etc.
I also personally knew no one in 2020 or 2021 that died from covid, but I do know 2 people this year that died, and I don’t think either had preexisting conditions. It seems so surprising but it’s definitely still a real risk. And, I do know some long covid people, and I would NEVER want that.
Give me the vaccines over the alternative any day!
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I got the flu vax yesterday. Absolutely no reaction. I generally do not have adverse reactions with the exceptions of one of the covid boosters gave me shivers one night and both shingles shots left me feeling lousy the next day. But I know several people who had shingles and I sure don’t want to get it! I get all the recommended vaccines.
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I get all my vaccines. Although I have been putting off the shingrix since so many folks on here had terrible reactions. But it’s on the schedule for the week after Thanksgiving.
I’ve had influenza three times that I remember. Twice after having the vaccine but in a bad match year. Anything to prevent that again. I was so happy to hear that this year is a good match after reading about the wave that Puerto Rico is having and figuring it will eventually get here.
But I totally agree that Covid infections are feeling way more random than they did earlier. Probably it’s due to folks having varying degrees of immunity from vaccines and infections. I know so many stories from the last few months of one member of a family getting it and no one else. Or people having big exposures (like riding in the car together for 5 hours) and not getting it. Vaccines work well on a community-wide basis but individuals get different levels of protection. My youngest D had chicken pox after the vaccine (and not a light case), she also did not have immunity to HepB from infancy when they ran a titer before she went to college. And just recently she discovered she didn’t have immunity to measles or rubella during a pre-conception appointment!
Trust me, the reaction from the vaccine is a whole lot better than getting the real thing.
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Oh, I know! I had shingles about 5 years ago! The doctor told me I could wait 3 years before getting vaccinated, but then Covid and all those shots. I have an appointment.
An aside, but our family seems to be shingles prone. My husband has had them twice. He had the earlier less effective shot and got them just recently. He caught it really early, while we were on a trip and we went immediately to an urgent care and got him on an antiviral. All three of my young adult daughters have had them. And me.
I put off having a shingles vaccine for years - had a bad case of chicken pox aged 20 and was worried I’d have a bad reaction to both the earlier vaccine and Shingrix. I had both Shingrix vaccines the year and had no adverse reaction to either shot! It seems impossible to tell in advance how one will react.
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Strange. CDC says no reason to wait.
Who knows? What primary care physicians say and what the CDC says are not always in alignment. I’ve got a 68-year-old husband who routinely gets bronchitis with any upper respiratory infection and his PCP doesn’t think he should get Paxlovid if/when he gets Covid! He doesn’t take any meds or have any conditions that would preclude taking Paxlovid, if you wondered. I’m getting him to an urgent care to get a prescription if he ever tests positive.
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