My wife and I got our second Pfizer vaccinations almost 3 weeks ago through Sutter Health at a vaccination clinic they have set up behind Costco. It was very well organized and the all the the staff could not have been more helpful and courteous.

Our son has his MPH from Cal in epidemiology and biostatistics and he was working for Fitbit in San Francisco when 6 Bay Area counties shut down in March 2020. He been working from his home in the East Bay ever since and is now a Google employee since Google recently bought Fitbit.

One of his roommates recently volunteered for 3 days at a vaccination site in the San Jose area which gave him his vaccinations in return for his volunteer time. Google has given approval to my son to do the same and his name has been given out to vaccination clinics. So if any of you have children or know others who are not yet eligible, they should check into volunteer opportunities like this. They may be able to get their vaccinations much sooner this way.

I got my first dose via Yolo County--drive through site at River City HS in W.Sac. Scheduled for dose #2 at the end of the month...

Glad others have been able to find appointments close to home! I’ve been helping my mom long distance because she’s not super computer savvy and all I can say is the MyTurn site is not very helpful. Her county and local pharmacies say they are getting stiffed on doses being reallocated to other areas and were only scheduling second doses. Anecdotally, I have young, healthy friends getting lucky at places like the Tulare fairgrounds mass site because the eligible folks just aren’t showing up, which is how I started following the trail of readily available appointments up Hwy 99.

I've heard of similar inconsistencies based on locations. Some young folks getting it while others, like my brother in-law, who probably should have been near the top of the line given his age and medical history, have had a hard time getting it.

I was one of the lucky ones and received my first dose in December. But I couldn't get my wife scheduled. The your turn website for us was a waste of time. I started checking all the provider websites daily. I finally found an opening up in the gold country and took her up there last week for her first dose. As mentioned earlier, Newsome is directing the bulk of the available vaccines to the central valley and LA.

My understanding is that LA County was hit hard, and both areas have large Latino communities. A friend who works in assisted living got Covid, and said he felt like he got hit by a truck. Others felt little.

Is the MyTurn site the State site?

yes, myturn.ca.gov is the state site, but far from the one stop shop it was advertised as. Allows you to make appointments for some county or health system locations and tells you which Safeway stores “might” have doses - redirects to Safeway’s site to actually check stock. But there are additional county locations and health systems that are running their own signups that don’t reflect on the state site that you kind of just have to know about. Walgreens, CVS, and VA are federally managed and have their own separate signups.

Right now, doses are being redirected away from other areas to LA and San Joaquin Valley. Indeed these are hard hit areas, lots of poverty, and happen to be Latino-heavy areas. Coincidentally, these probably happen to also be the zip codes where the recall will be won or lost, so read into that what you will.

I mean...you could say that about the LA basin in any election. :p Lotta people there.

The herky-jerky vaccine roll-out has been frustrating, BUT...people are getting the vaccine, which is what really counts in the end. I'm happy that Yolo County (among others) is making a concerted effort to get the farm workers, in particular, vaccinated in these early stages.

After a few frustrating days on the my turn website, I called Kaiser and they were able to book me an appoint. I got my first shot 2 weeks ago in Oakland, and 2nd shot is next Friday. The minor frustration was that the day of my 1st appointment, I got the notification from the County of San Mateo that I could get my shot 0.5 miles away. I just kept my appointment with Kaiser in Oakland, which means I have to make the drive again next week. But a small inconvenience in the big scheme of things.

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Yolo county moves into Orange tier this morning. Aggie football anyone?
BTW, looking for a bright spot on the spring season, we will only have 4 months to wait before fall ball, less if we go to the playoffs :).

I got my first Moderna dose today @Cal Expo. My phone was giving me bad directions and a police officer asked me what I was doing there. He showed me where to go but followed me there to make sure I went lol

haha back when I went to the state fair every year, the Cal Expo Police didn’t mess around. Billyclubs first, questions second. They gotta be bored with no events, just chasing bums along the American River fenceline.

They said there'd be signs telling me where to go. There weren't. I don't blame the cop for being suspicious of someone walking around + not looking like they knew where they were going but the volunteer greeting and directing people outside the clinic kinda rubbed me the wrong way on the way out. Asked if I knew the way out. Then he suggested a way that suggested he thought I was homeless. Ummm, I know I need a haircut and was wearing a jacket but come on man, that's just ignorant !

did he give you directions to the nearest railroad bridge or something? It stinks that it wasn’t well run, but at least you got your shot. Around here the pharmacy staff have had pretty short tempers with everyone. I think the dumpster fire that is the distribution effort is wearing on them, but no excuse to be rude or unprofessional.

Rumblings and rumors about Gov Newsom soap opera ...

He was suggesting a bridge over Exposition. Come to think of it, maybe I'll give the guy a little slack. He might have drawn that conclusion from seeing me talk to the police officer who followed me. I just went back the way I came.

My son began volunteering at a vaccination clinic in San Jose yesterday and was able to get his first shot the Moderna vaccine in exchange for helping for 3 days. His job was to thank everyone for getting vaccinated and congratulate them as they came out. He also assisted them with any further questions. He said all the staff and volunteers were very helpful and courteous and the clinic was running smoothly. That was my experience also at the Sutter Health Clinic behind Costco in Sacramento also.

I got my second dose of the Moderna vaccine yesterday, and I sure am glad I scheduled today off based on the experiences some of you have shared. Good advice, thanks.

Maybe about 2 hours after the shot I started feeling light-headed. Not tired enough to sleep, but I wouldn't trust myself to drive right now. Some arm and leg soreness, but to be fair the leg soreness might be from walking around Cal Expo to the clinic, and then the store later.