Because it is not ONE vaccine. I need a flu shot, Covid, and pneumonia which I think would be about $400 if I had to pay OOP. This week I’m paying $100 for a teeth cleaning because I’ve exhausted my dental benefits and still had to pay about $1500 on top of the benefits earlier this year. I’ve paid $2000 for prescriptions. My deductible for medicare is $4000. I’m still paying a medical bill from last year at $85/mo…I was very (very) lucky to get in a medical trial for my eyes that is saving me $700+ a month. My oncologist offered me a new test this week and I had to ask how much it would cost before I could agree to it
I can afford it, but I expect my insurance to pay for preventive care like immunizations. My main concern if those who cannot pay. That would be even more difficult if barriers like needing a prescription are put in place.
I am hoping that Virginia makes it so a medical professional is the pharmacist. For the past 10+ years - with one exception 12 years ago when I went to the health department for a bunch of boosters - I get mine at Target/CVS. I am always there. Pre covid I didn’t even make an appointment. Just walk up and boom. Done. Now I make appointments online so it’s a little more annoying that I must be there at a certain time, but still. I’m in an out usually in minutes.
as I’ve said before. I don’t have a pcp. I don’t have any real qualifying conditions. I could say I had asthma. I was on inhalers 15–20 years ago, but I stopped going to the ENT after 4 years of 4 allergy shots/week couldn’t even get me to close to maintenance level. And they ran tests that showed the albuterol inhalers weren’t improving my lung function. So no more inhalers. So that doctor is out.
My OB-GYN can prescribe it, but they don’t have a messaging service - like most places around here. You call, get put on hold, passed around, leave a message for the nurse who says they’ll call back that day. You’ve got a 25% chance of that happening. So usually you repeat the call back several times before receiving a return call. And then it’s 50-50 if their response is what you were asking in the first place. Fortunately, I don’t do this song and dance often, but I listen to it daily with my coworkers who take care of their parents’ affairs. And I’m not looking forward to that process. I might rather just skip it and take my chances. And $200 is also per person. So it’s $400 for both of us. H would have an easier time with his cancer doctor prescribing it. They are not local, but they do have a messaging service. But h doesn’t care to get it. He will if I do and tell him he should. But he seems very resistant to getting it; much like his 90 year old Dad. He lives in a house where it’s been passed around at least 4 times lasting several weeks where everyone was on death’s door - and they don’t mask. And he hasn’t gotten it once despite only having the first two shots!
I’m grumpy. My internet/tv is out again one week after the tech fixed it. And xfinity promised they’d text me back after an hour which was up 40 min ago…
Seems like your husband’s father won the genetic lottery with respect to COVID-19 – it looks like some people are considerably more resistant to infection than others. (Or maybe he got very mild or asymptomatic infections – still a win for him in the COVID-19 lottery.)
CVS in my area (eastern MA) has both Modernas. For over 65 they recommend the mNEXSPIKE. Getting mine today. Many appointments available. I usually wait a bit but my son and partner are visiting from California in 2 weeks so I just realized I probably should go ahead. My tai chi teacher said he was knocked flat by the mNEXSPIKE : the dose is 20% of the SPIKEVAX, but more targeted.
We got Pfizer Friday. I had a headache after 12 hours that went away in a few more hours, and sleepy to 24hrs. H got a headache and achy at 12 hours and his symptoms lasted to the 36 hr mark. Over all not bad. H said it was the worst he felt on the boosters.
My understanding (though I could have misunderstood) is that my Covid vaccine was covered by Medicare Part B. I will say for those who are not yet on Medicare and are struggling with understanding coverage that I had that problem with the flu vaccine for years prior to retirement. Finally someone let me know that my insurance only covered it in a doctor’s office, which seems totally inefficient for everyone. There were times in that decade where I did pay out of pocket and times when I just skipped it. And occasionally I was in the doctor’s office sometime in the fall and got it there. It can be so frustrating with our health insurance system to get something so simple, small, and helpful taken care of!
I am wondering if it is too early….I have an mNEXSPIKE scheduled for this afternoon. There seems to be some COVID around, low level. I always wait to get a flu shot later in the fall. What do folks think about the timing of a COVID shot? I was in a study that showed antibodies fell at 3 months, but there are other aspects to the immune system.
If you have HMO insurance (like Kaiser) they want to do everything in house. My husband had Kaiser because his company paid 100% for employees if they chose that option but he could never run to Publix for a flu or covid shot like I could w/ a PPO - he had to find a convenient Kaiser location to get them, usually a walk in but still not convenient. He said he’s looking forward to Medicare in January, although he won’t like the cost!
Yes, I would have waited until October but we are leaving in 2 weeks for Europe and we had fall break here in our county so lots of families traveling out of town/country and wanted their shots first.
I was able to schedule my COVID vaccine at our local supermarket pharmacy, tomorrow afternoon. No questions about underlying conditions. I’m so glad I will get it before my trip to Texas.
I decided to wait. My county level is low right now. My son is coming from the Bay Area and his county is low too, and he agreed to mask on the plane. In 2023 I got the vaccine mid-October and got COVID mid-November and was in the hospital. The hospital ER mid-Nov. was full of people but there was another virus going around too.
The added anxiety is whether the vaccines we want will be available if we wait.
The 2023 vaccines were against XBB.1.5. But the JN.1 variant with significant antigenic differences from XBB.1.5 starting appearing in fall 2023, taking over by that winter.
“Fortunately”, the current variants are all descendants of JN.1, so they are less different from the 2024 vaccines against JN.1 or KP.2 (or 2024 infections) than the JN.1 and descendants were different from the 2023 vaccines against XBB.1.5 (or 2023 infections). (This may also be why the winter 2024-2025 wave and summer 2025 waves were smaller than the prior year waves.)
