I'm in a real quandary now!
As I've already discussed here, I don't relish participating in these horrendously stupid line-ups to get the H1N1 shot that my doctor insists I need.
He is, after all, my doctor and he knows my history and it was he who advised me many years ago to take the seasonal flu vaccine because of my respiratory difficulties.
And, on his sage advice, I have taken the seasonal flu vaccine for many more years than it has been offered province-wide.
I used to have to pay for it!
Then in later years, there was always a clinic set up at my workplace so I was able to get my shot there if I hadn't already received it at a routine doctor's office visit.
I would like to get my seasonal flu shot this year as soon as possible.
But, my doctor's hands are tied. He cannot give me the seasonal flu shot yet.
The powers-that-be have decided that I can't get my seasonal flu shot until AFTER I've had the H1N1 shot, OR, some time in December/January.
I will most likely have caught a flu by then (let's hope it isn't the H1N1 version).
Following is the protocol for delivering the seasonal vaccine (excerpted from the City of Ottawa's FAQ page):
"According to the Ministry of Health, those 65 and over are at a much greater risk of becoming ill with seasonal influenza than with H1N1 influenza. Evidence is showing that in general, those 65 and over have built up an immunity to H1N1-possibly because they have been exposed to a similar virus earlier in their lives. It is therefore recommended that those 65 and over get the seasonal influenza vaccine as soon as possible and the H1N1 influenza vaccine once it is available to this age group (sometime in November). The Ministry’s vaccination program has been set up this way to best protect everyone."
OK - that means that John, who is over 65 and has already received his seasonal flu vaccine, can receive his H1N1 vaccine as soon as it is being offered to the general public (possibly as early as next week) -- if he chooses to participate in the line-up fiasco. At which point he is doubly protected because, according to an article I read in the newspaper this morning -- the seasonal flu vaccine has for many years contained a component of H1N1 virus -- so what the heck is all the commotion about a dedicated one?
BUT, the FAQ adds some confusion to the issue on the very next question when it explains:
"Adults who were born before the year 1957 are at lower risk of contracting the H1N1 virus. There is evidence to suggest that this age group has been exposed to viruses in their lifetime that are similar to the H1N1. Therefore they may have antibodies that are protecting them from coming down with this H1N1 influenza. However, there is always the potential for infection and the Canadian government is offering all Canadians the vaccine if they want it. Due to limited supply of vaccine, the current recommendation is to offer those people who are considered at risk (such as health care workers, individuals under 65 years of age with chronic medical conditions, pregnant women, very young children, household contacts of infants less than 6 months and persons who have weakened immune systems) in the first round of shots. When this group has been immunized, the rest of the population, including the snowbirds, will be offered the vaccine. We do not know at this point when enough vaccine will be available and can not guarantee that it will be available before your trip. Please keep checking the Health Unit web site for up-to-date information about our clinics."
Now I don't know about your math, but the way mine works, in 2009, anyone born before 1957 is going to be 52 or older, not 65 or older. So, it would seem to me that had the policy been to encourage anyone 55 years and older to first get their seasonal flu shot there would have been a signifantly larger portion of the population removed from those queues at the clinics every day. And that demographic could have waited until the very end of the line because their seasonal flu shot contained a component of the H1N1 virus (if in previous years it always contained a component, this year it would have to as well -- more people might get the seasonal vaccine than might get the dedicated H1N1 vaccine).
And I notice that the rationale in both answers was very similar: apparently both groups (those over 65 and anyone born before 1957) are somewhat protected from the H1N1 virus.
So I ask you.
Why can't my doctor give me my seasonal flu shot right now? Eventually, when the powers-that-be have worked out all the wrinkles in the delivery method for the H1N1 vaccine, I'll get my swine flu shot -- probably from my own doctor. I know I'm high risk but that, to me, says I should get the seasonal flu shot as soon as possible since the H1N1 vaccine is nigh-on impossible to get!
If I could at least have my seasonal flu shot, (did I mention that it contains a component of the H1N1 virus, and that I was born before 1957 and therefore it is assumed that I have some degree of immunity to the H1N1 virus) I would be protected to the same level that John is and eventually we could walk into our respective doctors' offices and get our H1N1 vaccine (you know it's going to come to that).
Did I mention that I don't buy the "logic" being spun by the powers-that-be?
Wonder what story they'll have for us tomorrow on this issue?
There was another story in the paper that referenced something about the flu "season" lasting six to eight weeks and it has already started.
I would suggest that it had started well before we were hearing about it. I can't be the only person who noticed that prior to Health Canada's issuing approval for the vaccine, we weren't hearing very much about the flu in terms of numbers of incidences in Canada.
But wow, approval for the vaccine is given on October 21st, and the next day the numbers start rolling out and pandemonium breaks out right across the country!
I went to my local pharmacy yesterday to have a prescription filled. Usually, it would take about 15 minutes for such a request. This time, it would be about an hour because they were "backlogged with Tamiflu orders which have to be filled first." That means that the flu is well under way in my community.
No wonder everyone is flocking to the clinics with a "me first" sense of urgency.
No wonder I'm not going near the clinics.
But if the season had started well before the vaccine was approved, and we are about to enter week two since approval was given, is there even time to inoculate everyone before the season has run its course?
The way the queues are moving, I think not!
Did I mention that I don't see why I should have to wait in stupid line-ups for a shot that I could take later in the season just like my husband will?
Did I mention that I want my seasonal flu shot now?
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