Sunday, October 25, 2009

But Americans don't wait in lines!

Saturday morning, we stood in a looonnngg line.


For six hours.


The line started around in the back parking lot our our local health department, wrapped around the parking lot, spilled onto the sidewalk, and went down around the block. We arrived at 6:30 and didn't arrive home until 12:30. Yeah, six hours.


For a flu shot.



Now, I'm not normally a reactionary parent. I let my kids do stuff. I rarely have hand sanitizer in my purse, or even my cupboard (but I do use it at work; riding the train makes it a necessity!). I think it's been around 3 years since my kids have gotten any sort of a flu shot, let alone the H1N1 flu shot. But this year, I'd rather have them get the shot and know it's done, rather than waiting to get the H1N1 virus from school or church or whatever.

No, the part that makes me crazy is that we live here. This is America, after all. Americans don't stand in lines for flu shots. Maybe for U2 tickets, or to be the first for a Harry Potter book or Guitar Hero game. But not for a flu shot. We have the best doctors, the smartest scientist, even the fastest swimmers. And yet people who want a shot for something like the flu have to stand in lines for hours for them. And thousands who want to get them show up but are turned away.

I live in a county with over 1,022,000 people, for whom our county doled out 7,000 H1N1 shots on Saturday. That is 0.00685% of the population of our largish county who could get shots from their county health department.

I think it's despicable. I think it's outrageous that our country isn't more prepared for this. Regardless of whether you want the shot or not, you should be able to get it. You shouldn't have to be turned away by a county health worker with a county sheriff at her shoulder, keeping the peace. It's just wrong.

What do you think about the H1N1 vaccination?

5 comments:

K. Bitton said...

I asked about it last week at the doctors office(for all of us). They told me that babies and pregnant women aren't on the High Risk list, therefore we would have to wait until mid November(after we'll probably already have had it), when the vaccine will be ready at mass. I agree with you this is America.

Britt said...

Wow! What a joke.

Ginger said...

We're not getting it. Lane is leery about vaccinations anyway. We never get the flu shot either. This isn't saying I'm totally against it but I guess my husband is.

Thomas Family said...

I talked to a few doctors too, and they told me not to do it because it has mercury in it.. I don't really know what mercury does to people but they said especially in children they don't recommend it. All of this was after Jayven and I were exposed to the H1N1 at school. Neither of us got it tho.. They said the seasonal flu shot will protect us enough that we shouldn't need it..
I can't believe you were patient enough to wait in the line.. lol

Amy Sorensen said...

doesn't make you feel very good about the government taking over health care/insurance, does it???? They had, what, six months at least to produce the vaccination.

We don't do flu shots so in theory this doesn't affect me, but I DO think it is an example of the path we're heading down...