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How is the vaccine rollout going in your country / area?

I get my second dose next week, 11 weeks after first dose. Finally! Then we head up to the Cotswolds for a staycation!
We had our first ‘staycation' last week, up in the Lake District. The roads were really quite empty, as were the fells - because hotels and B&Bs aren’t allowed to open until mid-May, the only visitors would have been staying (like us) in self-contained, self-catering rentals. Ours was a very stylish barn conversion, on a farm quite near Ambleside (spotted in a Sawdays email update).

We were very lucky with the weather: lots of sunshine, and no rain (not at all usual for the Lakes!), though still not very warm. Three excellent hikes - up Pike O'Blisco from the Wrynose Pass, up Loughrigg from the south, and a gentler walk along Loughrigg Terrace above Rydal Water & Grasmere. And then two fabulous outings in our inflatable kayaks. Up until now we'd only paddled them in the canals near us in East London, so it was lovely to get on the open water: one good exploration of Grasmere, and then an afternoon on the much larger Coniston Water.

All that is only tangentially connected to vaccines (sorry, Pauline!). But I'm happy to say that I got my second dose 11 days ago, and Philippa gets hers in a week's time, 11 weeks after our first ones(I got in early for the second dose, because I've been volunteering at the local vaccination centre quite a few times now, and there were a few doses going spare at the end of one session!).
 

Here are the stats that I found for Canada, as of 04:00 today.
Only 2.7% of the Canadian population has been vaccinated so far.

This is only the first dose, as we have been told we won't get the second dose for 16 weeks after the first.
Of course, we do not manufacture any vaccines in Canada...they are all bought and imported from other countries.

DH and I had our first vaccines this morning, the Pfizer version.
In our province, it is all being done by your age in increments of 5-10 years at the moment, but it is moving along well.

Someone behind us at the centre today was trying to sneak in to get a second dose...they were escorted out!
 
The roads were really quite empty, as were the fells - because hotels and B&Bs aren’t allowed to open until mid-May, the only visitors would have been staying (like us) in self-contained, self-catering rentals.

That must have been nice! Hotels open half way thru our Cotswolds stay. I wanted to wait until after my second dose to travel but now regretting that choice! Haven’t been to the Lakes since 1988!
 
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You should go again!
 
It's possible that the one last potential danger with this pandemic will be the spread of variants, enabled by the rush to restart tourism. Some countries are on the verge of offering free vaccines to tourists, just so they will be encouraged to travel there. Others have relatively high vaccination rates, but tourists are keeping the infection rates still relatively high.
Make your choices carefully.
Joe, what countries are considering offering vaccines to tourists? Serbia did for a few days (mostly to people in surrounding countries rather than tourists) but I do not think they are doing it anymore..
 
Here in Basilicata, we both have had our first vaccine shots - one Pfizer and one Moderna. Our second shots are 6 May and 1 June. I qualify early, they are only doing those 70+ at this time, due to a medical condition and am considered under the "fragile" category. Valerie qualified as my cohabitant.

We reserved online and there is a large tent (they call it the 'Qatar' as that country donated it last year) at the main hospital in Potenza where we had to go. We were given dates at that time for our second shots.
 
In San Diego the roll-out was a bit disorganized for a very short time. As of today, we are 47% vaccinated with at least one dose and 21% fully vaccinated. Traffic is back to pre-pandemic times, unfortunately. People are mostly unmasked outside, everything is open and my fingers are crossed regarding variants. We are a community of "outdoor living", year-round, so people find it difficult to be inside, understandably.

My private provider got right on it and has done a great job with vaccinations. My first Pfizer injection was 1/21/21; a good omen in my mind as the actual numbers seemed so perfect and it was the day after the Inauguration. The atmosphere at the site was ebullient with lots of relief floating around. No reaction on my part, just relief and a big smile that kept on for days.

My second shot, also at the same site in La Jolla, went smoothly until bedtime, when I had an odd experience with sleep. Sort of like a half-sleep, sort of dreamy. Then, in the morning, OYE.....I was very ill for the next 24 hours, so about 30 hours altogether. On that 3rd morning I woke feeling very normal. I was sicker than I'd remembered for decades but am grateful. Everyone will have a different reaction according to their own immune system so I've stopped comparing my experience.

Stay healthy, everyone!
Ciao,
Cheryl
 
Cheryl, I'm visiting in San Diego this week and it has been a bit unnerving for this east coaster. I've become so accustomed to racing through any out-of-my-house experience with my head mostly down, well distanced from everyone and trying to get it down and get out. Here I'm amazed at the lack of social distancing indoors, it feels a little creepy to be so close to others in the supermarket for example. Everyone I've seen on public transit is using masks, however, that was reassuring.
 
Cheryl, I'm visiting in San Diego this week and it has been a bit unnerving for this east coaster. I've become so accustomed to racing through any out-of-my-house experience with my head mostly down, well distanced from everyone and trying to get it down and get out. Here I'm amazed at the lack of social distancing indoors, it feels a little creepy to be so close to others in the supermarket for example. Everyone I've seen on public transit is using masks, however, that was reassuring.
Yes, understood! I just mask up whenever I'm near people and am so used to seeing people out & about that I feel pretty relaxed. I don't go inside anyone's homes besides my family, though, or hang out in crowded venues. I've eaten outdoors a couple of times but not making a habit of that, either.....Hope you can relax enough to have a fun vacation!
 
Here in Tuscany the rollout is moving along. You apply online and reservations fill up quickly. We got my husband in first on the fragile list for 8 April and his second dose of Moderna is 1 May. We live on the outskirts of Florence but our reservation site has been closed for weeks. I signed up on the Siena list and had my first Pfizer shot on 22 April and am scheduled for the second one on 13 May at the Abbazia di S. Salvatore, Monte Amiata. It was well organized with hand-painted yellow Vaccini signs leading through the mountain town to the vaccination center. Plus, we got to travel through the Crete Senesi, one of my favorite spots in Tuscany. Restaurants were not open on 22 April but we stopped in a bar for two prosciutto panini and sat at outside tables. We are looking forward to another day trip on 13 May.
 
People may not get vaccinated now and just wait for the pill.
While that might be true for some part of the population, I think that most people will prefer getting the vaccine than taking the chance of getting sick and then getting a treatment for it. Especially with all the benefits being opened up now for those with a vaccine certificate.
Add to that the horror stories from India, reminding us that globally this pandemic is far from over, and the fact that even after emergency approval, it will take months and years to assess the side effects of a new treatment.
Pfizer are sitting good IAC, they are already talking about the need for a third dose of the vaccine.
 

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