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For those of you thru hiking the AT this year, are any of you planning on getting the vaccine during the hike?
If so, will you go home to get each shot or try and get in the state you are hiking in?
Do you know if you have to get the second shot at the same location as the first?
I am trying to figure this out and there does not appear to be much info yet about the logistics of getting it while away from home.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
IMHO, at some point this summer your going to be able to walk into any pharmacy any where in the country and get the vaccine. Until then who knows.
I have seen in some places where the vaccinations are being switched to just be in pharmacies for some reason. But I think different states have prioritized slightly different groups. And I think it will be a long time before we see wide spread vaccinations. Only about 15.5M people have received 2 doses and a little more than 40.25M have received just a first dose. That's 3 months worth of vaccinations. I realize that some of this is picking up. However, the US reportedly bought 100M doses. That's enough to vaccinate 50M people. We have a population of approx 330M people. Then you have the issue of how quickly those doses can be made available to the actual population and then account for the doses that get lost due to improper storage (this has already happened). So, I doubt it will be in the "near future" where one could walk into any pharmacy, home state or not, and get vaccinated. The supply isn't there. The distribution isn't there. And the storage isn't there. Oh, and now they are talking about needing a 3rd "booster" shot after about 3 months of receiving the 2nd dose.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nanatuk
Color me "not a believer."
Some states that I am aware of have priority rankings for the vaccine and access to the vaccine is run through state registries. Some states are allowing employees in their state access to the vaccine if they are nonresidents. There are 74 million children in the US and the children vaccination trials are following behind the adult trials in a step down fashion. That may reduce the overall number of people available to be vaccinated but as Pennypincher points out, there won't be enough vaccine doses to cover everyone for some time. Keep in mind you need two doses for of either of the two current US vaccines, the second dose is at 3 or 4 weeks I believe and that depends on the vaccine producer. You might be about 300-400 miles down the trail, and in many cases, that puts you in another state. Johnson and Johnson has a likely soon to be approved vaccine that requires one dose but production is limited and I seriously doubt you will be able to pick the one you want until everyone is offered to be vaccinated. Your age, medical condition, and occupation primarily drive your ranking.
I recommend you investigate the states you think you will be in to see if you would even be permitted on their registry.
I do understand people haven't always thought through what they are asking and I see that from your questions this is more exploratory. Essentially you'd be taking someone's spot from that state because you were hiking were you not to go home. So you'd like to get vaccinated along the way because you think that is important but not important enough to at least wait until you are vaccinated to go?
Your question was answered and I am not leaving this open. Over 500,000 people have died from Covid-19 in the USA in just a little over a year. It's not a lot to ask for a little more patience until we are all vaccinated.