Meeting new people is difficult...

@HootyTheNightOwl I thought about that too, but haven't really been able to find anything yet. Plus there's the pandemic that's exploding again because everyone just denies there is one, including our government.

@NerdyPotato It's worth looking into - even if we do have more lockdowns or you reach a point where you don't want to risk your health over the coming winter. At this point, you're just looking at what's available locally, which you can do from the safety of home if that's where you feel safest.

I'm aware that cases are spiking again... there's a spike in cases in the north of my county, which I'm watching with interest - though I'm not sure how they are tracking it, given that most of the public won't be buying Covid19 tests to test themselves with now.

@NerdyPotato It's probably the same here, too... I can't see many people choosing to buy tests over eating and staying warm this winter.

@HootyTheNightOwl Yep... And I can't blame them. But this peak is "no reason for any preventive measures, though people at high risk need to be careful and should get their booster shot as soon as possible". When asked how to get that, the reply was: "You'll need to wait for an invitation."

So be careful, whatever that means, and get my booster shot that's not available? Thanks, that's very helpful... Not. 🙄

@NerdyPotato I'm scared to get my booster, to be honest #2 and #3 did a number on me that I never recovered from. I almost went down in the wait time after all 3 I've had so far... yet 2 and 3 both hit my menstrual cycle in a way that I have never recovered from.

I get that I could be entering menopause a little early, but it seems a bit coincidental that the vaccines are rumoured to make you infertile - and suddenly, I'm not right in that department and I never went back to what is normal for me.

I don't want to have my booster outside of a proper medical setting, either, given that I've been noticeably unwell to the point where people who don't know me or my medical history have asked if I'm okay. I can't even put that down to the vaccine, though because it's happened when I got blood drawn for some blood work as well and the phlebotomist ended up virtually carrying me.

Have you ever felt like you're going into an episode after having anything to do with needles??? I admit that I don't like needles, but I don't feel like what happens is anxiety induced - or it would be just as obvious before I get the needle, too, as opposed to just afterwards...

@HootyTheNightOwl No, I've never had that experience, thankfully. Well, except I fainted once about 10 minutes after a blood draw, but I was still a kid and they needed a lot. In your case I understand your hesitation and I'm surprised you're still considering it instead of definitely not taking it.

@NerdyPotato They did take quite a bit at that blood draw, (4 or 5 bottles)... so maybe that's why I felt poorly, because it never happened when I got blood drawn at the surgery - which is my preferred place to go because there's a lady there who knows how to get blood out of me using a fine needle. In this case, a different woman was struggling to hit a vein and I didn't want her trying the other side because I had to get more blood drawn the following day.

I told her that if she didn't hit the vein the third time, she could write the bag and I'd get it drawn with the others the following day. I didn't like doing that, but I had to leave the other phlebotomist a chance to hit blood without going in at my wrist.

Even though I went through Covid with my man... I'm still not 100% certain that I would make it through infection without a vaccine because of my bp and asthma. Then I'm thinking that I'm a carer, I need it in that capacity because there's no one to step in for me - and, what if I leave over winter???

Being homeless or living in a hotel/refuge is going to come with increased risk of exposure - but, on the whole, my overall thinking is still in Camp "No, Thank you". I'm just gambling on the fact that they don't start turning away unvaccinated people anywhere along the way.

@HootyTheNightOwl That's a real dilemma. As vaccines don't prevent spread, the only reason to (sort of) mandate it is to prevent too many workers ending up unable to work for months. (An equal valid reason, don't get me wrong on that.) But if in rare cases like yours, the vaccine itself is likely to make you unable to work for quite a while, giving you the choice between taking the jab or getting fired is doing exactly what the mandate is meant to prevent. An exception in such cases is the only reasonable way to go. But then again, that requires insight and flexibility, and most companies and institutions are more comfortable with one rule for all.

@NerdyPotato All considered... I still don't see much of a compelling reason to be vaccinated again, to be fair.

It's not like I'm going to get fired if I don't - the only thing that could happen is that Covid kills me or I get "Long Covid"... my quality of life isn't all that great regardless of if I get long covid or not. So I'm not really sacrificing a huge deal.

I've known for years that I'm not fit to work... even before I was finally accepted as a carer and I'm not getting better - so, in one way, getting sick with Covid and getting long Covid may be a blessing for me, since there's more help for the disabled than there is for people living with domestic abuse.

It's depressing me to be like this every day and want an official diagnosis as to what I have - but, at the same time, I don't because I don't want to force myself through one of those stupid "Work Capability Assessment"... at least, not before they stop lying on the forms and more weight is given to what medical professionals say.