Feds now prioritizing vaccines to states by elderly and speed of vaccinations, rather than just by adult population.
They’re also recommending moving ahead to all 65+ and those with at risk health conditions rather than trying to “finish” some of the earlier priority groups. Also they’re not holding back dose #2 for people and counting on future production to deliver that in a month while they give out everything now.
Broadly seem like good ideas.
But what about the inmates? 
My Big Medical provider sent an email today saying that I am qualified for the vaccine and they’re ready to t̶a̶k̶e̶ ̶m̶y̶ ̶m̶o̶n̶e̶y̶ schedule my shot. I was nearly as offended as the first time some whippersnapper called me pops.
There appears to be plenty of supply in Charlotte if they’re starting to flog it via email.
Curious what your thoughts are on this specifically. Are you nervous about production and distribution in time?
JNJ saying they expect trial results late Jan/early Feb, with vaccines available to be given in March.
Well it depends on how long they keep giving out everything they have. If they only do that for the first month, then new production, which is generally rising over time as things ramp up, could be used to start giving the 2nd doses per the original schedule. Right now they’ve only given out about 1/3 of their available supplies, so the bottleneck now is clearly state/local level distribution and not supplies.
If they keep doing single doses to new people instead of going back to the people who got their first after a month, then you’re going to see more vaccinated people getting sick and I’m not sure how that will play in the press. The evidence from what I can tell suggests that you will really be better off after the 2nd dose, but probably the first one is enough, after the 1.5-2 weeks it takes your body to build up it’s immune response, so that if you get sick you’re very unlikely to need to go to the hospital for it. This is why the UK, with their lower capacity NHS healthcare system, is prioritizing first doses since they’re in real trouble in terms of hospital capacity vs current and soon-to-be-hospitalized cases.
For whatever clarification this might provide, I have some new information . . . . new to me, at least:
There is a requirement for a three to four week separation between your initial inoculation and your second, or booster, shot. However:
That span of time is a minimum requirement, not a maximum restriction. Let me offer an example:
If you are inoculated and then, for whatever reason, six or eight weeks should elapse before you can receive your booster, it’s not a problem. Said another way:
If your initial inoculation and your booster are separated by more than four weeks, you are not required to go back to “square one” and start the entire process over from scratch.
Obviously in the above, until you receive your booster, your vaccination is incomplete.
I do not know the answer to the following questions and I wish I did know:
If your initial inoculation is with Pfizer can your booster be with Moderna?
If your initial inoculation is with Moderna can your booster be with Pfizer?
Did your medical provider say how much will you be charged?
The FDA is not recommending mixing vaccine types for your second dose.
Yes, you could get your second shot later than 3-4 weeks and it will probably be fine (although you will be less protected in the meanwhile, as you say). But remember the point of this is to help your immune system realize that covid is a serious / ongoing threat and not just a one time thing it can forget about, and your short term antibodies, etc from the first vaccine will only last about 2-3 months. So you would certainly want to get the second shot before those had faded away or you might still not trigger the longer term immune memory response which is the point of the second shot.
I do not know the answer to the following questions and I wish I did know:
If your initial inoculation is with Pfizer can your booster be with Moderna?
If your initial inoculation is with Moderna can your booster be with Pfizer?
I highly doubt that has been, or will be, studied in light of the fact that they still need to study safety and efficacy in children as a much higher priority that figuring out if you can mix and match.
JNJ - Sounds like they’re really close to finishing the analysis, already hearing 80-85% efficacy estimates.
85% efficacy with a single shot (that doesn’t require cryogenic storage) seems objectively better (at least in terms of the logistics of reaching herd immunity) than 95% efficacy if two shots are administered on schedule with a cryogenic stored product that has to have 5 doses distributed within 15 minutes of being thawed 
Cuomo would rather grandstand about his favorite groups getting vaccine priority (prisoners, homeless, drug addicts), backed up with threats of huge fines and tons of paperwork, than actually get anyone vaccinated.
Across New York State, medical providers in recent weeks had the same story: They had been forced to throw out precious vaccine doses because of difficulties finding patients who matched precisely with the state’s strict vaccination guidelines — and the steep penalties they would face had they made a mistake.
Regular people aren’t expected to get anything until the summer. Under the new HHS plan, states that are being slow about vaccinations will get fewer supplies (although maybe that will change again under Biden)
NJ residents, I mean, probable one time smokers, time to get your shots.
“No documentation of the medical condition or your age will be required,” Persichilli said, per NJ.com.
Yes! Had I known about JJ I would have waited over PFE (2 step hassle) . Also it’s more “traditional” vaccine tech. I wonder how it’ll do against the new variants or if it targets the spike protein
Agree about no mix and match. Def. immune response after 2nd dose on time. They said they’re doing a 1 week grace period here.
Negative. I get that sort of marketing email from them several times a year with absolutely no indication of cost. They’re not quite as bad the dermatology/plastic docs, but not far removed. 
But you’re not in the press … 
So, does that mean smokers are as anointed on the woke scale as prisoners? What about former smokers? I smoked for 40 years. Does that put me as high as the ?
So if you live in that socialist paradise of New York, Canadia or even farther abroad, the fastest way to get your vaccine might be to take a trip to… Florida.
No paperwork, just an ID that shows your 65+ and be persistent in trying to get a local appointment. Admittedly both NY and FL seem to have vaccinated about the same % of their population, just in FL it might actually include you instead of some prison inmate.