Hello Fellow CLL Friends!
Wondering if there is anyone in this wonderful community who’s a Massachusetts resident and is going for their first or second Covid vaccine in the coming days?
I have CLL and live in CT but still not eligible to get the shot here yet. Would really appreciate if I can accompany someone from MA as a caregiver and get a shot (based on new eligibility criteria in MA).
Thank You! Be safe and healthy everyone!
TM
wouldn't your disease make you eligible in ct.
Each state sets its own criteria. In Louisiana, as I suspect in some other states, being vulnerable due to cancer is not yet a qualifier.
Like most states, we started vaccinating healthcare workers and nursing home residents first. The next phase included everyone over 70. It was frustrating to me that people with immune disorders were not included while any perfectly healthy 70 old could get vaccine. We dropped to age 65 recently which got me in.
It really just depends on the state as to when a person qualifies. Our cdc does provide guidelines but they are not binding on the states. It has provoked one of those ongoing debates we have in the US of whether we should have national vaccination program or at the state level. I personally see advantages and disadvantages to both routes.
Leo, I don’t know about a Connecticut resident getting a vaccine in Massachusetts. My initial reaction is that with vaccines at a premium, being a resident of the state is a requirement.
I had heard rumors here in Louisiana that we have people crossing the state line to Mississippi to get vaccines. Well as it turns out it’s not just a rumor. My son, his wife and his in-laws from Louisiana found Mississippi vaccination sites and got vaccinated last week.
So at least we know it can happen. Each state makes its own guidelines. I would have thought being a resident of a state is a requirement and it probably is in most states. Massachusetts has a vaccine shortage so I would think getting a vaccine there would be hard. I would have thought the same thing of Mississippi, but it was actually quite easy to get on the list there.
As you said, the eligibility criteria varies by state. I Connecticut, they are vaccinating anyone over 65. In New Jersey and soon in New York, they are vaccinating anyone with underlying conditions. But there are no appointments available for months. In Massachusetts, I see a lot of availability everyday and anyone accompanying 75+ years old is also eligible to get a vaccine. There should have been a better way than this.
It’s the way we are built in the US, for better or for worse. We don’t have a covid or vaccine strategy like a Germany might. We have fifty strategies.
That has advantages and disadvantages. I can certainly see how a strategy in New York might need to be different than a strategy in Montana.
That said, and admitting I am biased, I think vulnerable people like us should be up for vaccines right after health care workers and nursing home residents. We might be even at more risk than nursing home folks but for the fact we have a greater ability to isolate.
The original plan in La had vulnerable people with cancer in tier one roll out. Why it changed, I don’t know, I hope it wasn’t for political reasons.
Vaccination in every state seems to be a moving target. I’m not sure that the Massachusetts plan is working so well, especially the latest deal where if you accompany an over 75 person as “caregiver” you can get a vaccination. People are taking advantage of this and posing as caregiver, making deals for money. Not bringing out the best in our population. Massachusetts seems to be lagging behind in the vaccination process, still on over 75s and not enough vaccine. I’m pretty sure you need proof of residence here in Massachusetts and think there would be no advantage to crossing state lines at this point when there isn’t enough vaccine to go around for the state’s own residents.
There are a lot of issues here as there are everywhere. Massachusetts has stopped giving out vaccinations at its hospitals and focused its efforts on a handful of large vaccine distribution centers at sporting venues, etc. and as noted earlier in the week they added a rule allowing the person accompanying an individual over 75 to receive a vaccination, too. I was able to schedule an appointment not because of my status as a cancer patient but because I have an elderly mother. As always, thanks Mom 😁.
Initially, this new rule presented me with a dilemma since I had already scheduled an appointment for my mother and of course you are unable to retroactively add a caregiver. I was unwilling to cancel her appointment or move her back in line as I didn’t feel that was fair to my mother. Fortunately, when I went back in the system I was able to schedule an appointment that was only one day later than her originally scheduled appointment for both of us. I then cancelled her original appointment.
The system asks for the caregiver’s address and requires an insurance card to be uploaded. I don’t know if living out of state precludes one from qualifying as a caregiver. Initially my reaction was it would but upon thinking it through Massachusetts is bordered by five other states and Maine is only a stones throw away, although it doesn’t touch our border, so there are definitely many situations where caregivers are close but out of state. Given this I’d guess caregivers from another state would be allowed to receive a vaccination but I don’t know this for sure.
Person receiving a vaccine in Massachusetts must live, work, or be a student in the state. You have to sign a form stating this. There doesn’t seem to be any separate form for a caregiver living across state lines, but the rollout was pretty hasty, so maybe that wasn’t thought through.
Thankfully, I was able to get a vaccine last weekend in NY. A leftover at the end of the day in one of the pharmacies. Now waiting to get the next one in a few weeks.
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