I am So Very Angry !

The problem is ...

I don't know WHO to be angry with.

OR ...

to be grammatically correct ...

I don't know with whom to be angry.

OR ...

I don't know at whom to direct my anger.

However it should be stated, I AM ANGRY.

Someone, somewhere, jumped on some five-minute study that found that people under 65 years of age who took the H1N1 flu vaccine BEFORE they took their seasonal flu vaccine suffered dire consequences (the consequences weren't identifiied of course -- the study was too fleeting).

So, the policy in ONTARIO (I can't speak for other provinces), was set as follows:

• those over 65 years of age CANNOT receive their H1N1 shot until the Ministry deems it necessary (possibly sometime late in November) but they SHOULD get their seasonal flu vaccine as soon as possible (there are exceptions, of course).
• those under 65 CANNOT receive their seasonal flu shot until after they have received their H1N1 vaccine (and people are actually being given a "Proof of Vaccine" once they receive their shots).  My doctor even spoke to this when he told me, back on the morning of October 22nd, that he could be sued if he gave me my seasonal shot before I received my H1N1 shot and I subsequently came down with H1N1.  He was adamant that he was not allowed "under threat of lawsuit" to give me the one until I had received the other, because I was under 65 years of age.

Now, based on the above understanding, one would expect that ONCE I RECEIVED my H1N1 shot, I could then receive my seasonal flu shot.

Yes?

No?

One would think so.

Logic would say so.

The City of Ottawa website certainly suggests so; lifted from their Q&A page on the topic:

Q:  Can the seasonal influenza vaccine and the H1N1 vaccine be given at the same time? Can the H1N1 vaccine be given at the same time as other vaccines?

A: The H1N1 vaccine may be administered concurrently with seasonal influenza vaccine or other vaccines. If H1N1 influenza vaccine is administered at the same time as both seasonal influenza and pneumococcal vaccines, the latter two should be given in the arm opposite that used for the H1N1 influenza vaccine, due to the higher frequency of local reactions to the adjuvanted H1N1 vaccine.

 Q:  Can I get the H1N1 vaccine if I have already had the seasonal influenza vaccine?

 A:  Yes, you may receive the H1N1 vaccine after the seasonal influenza vaccine. If not given concurrently, there is no minimum interval required between the two influenza vaccines. If you got the H1N1 vaccine first, you may receive the seasonal vaccine after. The seasonal influenza vaccine will protect only against the seasonal influenza virus. To be protected from the H1N1 virus you must be immunized with the H1N1 vaccine.

Q:  Will this year’s seasonal influenza vaccine also protect against the H1N1 virus?

A:  No, having been immunized with this year’s seasonal influenza vaccine will not provide protection against the H1N1virus, but it will provide protection against circulating seasonal influenza viruses.

Given the answers to the above questions, one wonders WHY my doctor was not permitted to give me my seasonal shot at any point in the process.  The middle question clearly states that you can take either shot in any order!  So why the "can't give you your seasonal shot until after you've received the H1N1" nonsense from my doctor?  Nothing in the answers above even suggests that someone HAS TO receive the H1N1 shot -- it is, after all, a voluntary program.  Everyone is simply being encouraged to be inoculated.

The Ministry of Ontario website states:  Everyone who wants the H1N1 flu shot and the seasonal flu shot can get them. But flu vaccine programs will be delivered in phases.

Unfortunately, the accompanying PHASE chart indicates that people under 65 "will benefit" from the seasonal flu vaccine in late December or early January.  So I guess the medical community is interpreting that to mean that they are not permitted to give the seasonal flu shot to anyone under 65 years of age until then even if they have already received their H1N1 shot.

How do I know this?

My girlfriend went to "our" doctor yesterday morning (in my tight circle of friends, several of us all go to the same family doctor).

This is the same friend who had waited in the queue at Barrhaven on its first clinic offering and had managed to get her H1N1 shot on October 28th.

I had sent her, via e-mail, the above Q&A excerpt so she was aware that there was no issue as to timeline between vaccinations.  So she fully expected that when she arrived at her doctor's appointment yesterday morning, armed with her "proof" of having received her swine flu shot, he would give her the seasonal flu shot.

Wrong!

They have not yet been "given permission" to give the seasonal flu vaccine to anyone under 65 years of age.

She argued.

And in their discussion, he asked if she had suffered any reaction to the H1N1 shot and he made reference to his arm also having been quite sore after having recieved his H1N1 shot. He's a doctor so obviously he's in the 'high priority' group (they did not discuss where or when he received his vaccination).

Now, we know that he is over 65 years of age -- so he would also have received his seasonal flu shot (assuming that he follows his own medical advice).

Therefore, he himself has the very protection that we are trying to get for ourselves.

But apparently, someone, somewhere -- be it the Ministry of Health in their edict or my doctor in his interpretation of that edict -- is making a very big mistake.  I do know that my doctor would not be acting unilaterally here -- he is very active in the medical consultation community and would be basing his actions on advice from ????????.

If when I visit our doctor next week they have not yet altered their position on this policy, he will be bombarded with evidence to the contrary.  Unlike my girlfriend, I have a printer and I will arrive for that visit armed not only with my proof of H1N1 vaccination, but also the print-outs of the information I keep finding on the Ministry web-site.

I expect to leave his office next week having received my seasonal flu vaccine.

Why esle did I sit outside for two and half hours on Monday, subjecting myself to two full days of pain and suffering that I could have done without?

I did it because I wanted to be able to receive my seasonal flu shot as early in the season as possible -- by December or January, I will most likely have had the flu!

I have received my H1N1 vaccine -- how dare the Miinistry of Health prevent me from being further protected from a different strain of the flu when the vaccine for it is readily available from my family doctor. Are they trying to ensure another chaotic series of line-ups for the seasonal flu shot once this pandemonium for the H1N1 vaccine ends? Is nobody up there thinking logically?