On the topic of flu hysteria - Is it possible to get the shot from your dr

[sbj405]

Just curious. I don't get them, but I have read a number of stories about the elderly and pregnant women waiting several hours in the frozen food section of the local grocery store to get their shot. Are doctor's offices not getting them?

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

1. Not mine

and we have a preemie son at home so we are supposed to have priority. At least our son got his shot.

[Lars39]

2. Nope, doctors' offices are NOT getting them.

I live in a county of 45,000 people. The only place getting the shots is the County Health Dept. They received 300. That's it.

[Bluebear]

3. They are not.

Case in point, the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston (world-reknowned clinic) is out of them. Yesterday I saw 700+ people waiting at a supermarket, some bring wheeled past the Swiffer WetMops in hospital gurneys.

[Shopaholic]

4. Neither my family doctor or my arthritis specialist got the ones

they ordered. And they say they aren't going to get them either.

[NJCher]

5. same here

called my doc today and they said they couldn't get the vaccine.

Cher

[oneighty]

6. This is the year

of the "Great American Die Off."

It is a devious plan to cull the population of the weak, the aged, the ill. It is the Republican way.

Any senior citizen voting for this group deserves the results.

IMHO

The New World Order!

180

[Booster]

13. Does anyone remember years and years ago when the

Government was giving free flu shots and a whole lot of elderly people died (I believe hundreds) from the shot? I totally believe that it is a way to weed out the elderly, and I'm still not totally convinced that the government didn't figure out a way to use AIDS to their benefit - both of these problems controlled by the government. God, I hate to think like that.

[sbj405]

17. I work for the government and they usually give them away free.

:O maybe it's their downsizing policy.

[The Icon Painter]

7. We Did

Both my husband and I had no difficulty in getting our flu shots yesterday at the office of his cardiologist in Atlanta, GA. Of course, we are both over 65 and are cardiac patients so that may have had something to do with it. My cardiologist still does not have the shots available to his patients.

[Ruby Romaine]

8. Visit Canada-get your flu shot there.

[sbj405]

11. Well they have bus trips for seniors to get their meds.

It won't be long before we're sending people over for flu shots.

Send big "stay away flu" vibes to all DU'ers.

[Philostopher]

20. The Canadians don't have a surplus either.

And the Canadian Medical Association is recommending they save them for Canadian citizens. Can't say I blame them, either -- it's not their fault we didn't get our shit together. There's a thread about it somewhere in LBN.

[Occulus]

27. likely won't work

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/cpress/20041015/ca_pr_on_na/cross_border_flu_shots_2

[CBHagman]

9. I was told that there's still a chance.

I called my internist's office and asked about their usual flu clinic. They said they would know next week whether they'll get any vaccine.

An article in the Health section of the Washington Post suggested that the family doctor or pediatrician is the first place to go. However, given what I've read since then, I am not optimistic.

Keep trying, though.

See also this link:

www.findaflushot.com

In the meantime, I Cheneying HATE the Bush administration, including HHS, the FDA, and CDC.

Whew, that felt good. Now if I can just survive the winter...

[oneighty]

15. I called my VA Hosp.

They say to call back the middle of next week. They expect they may have vaccine then.---But,

I doubt it. I hope for all the elderly and weak that it is a mild flu season.

180

[Aunt Anti-bush]

10. My mother's doctor has it...

She's elderly so she got it, but the nurse there told her they are under orders to ration it to ONLY those who are in dire need.

[CAcyclist]

16. Rationing

Next time the Repbulicans raise that old chestnut again, we have some new ammo.

[proud patriot]

18. yep "rationing" and when bush in the last debate said

we would have rationing under Kerry's healthcare plan
I was thinking we have rationing now you bastard.

Doctors in our county were asked to to turn in their supply
so it could be equally distributed to those in the greatest
need .

A 79 year old woman died yesterday waiting in line in our county.

[Aunt Anti-bush]

22. A guy died near here, too.

http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/westmoreland/s_262096.html

Mr. Kregecz, 74, died Tuesday when he suffered an apparent heart attack while waiting in line for a flu shot at the Eckerd Drug Store at the Norwin Hills Shopping Center.

(snip)

[Aunt Anti-bush]

21. They're rationing it all right.

The local news tonight showed TONS of people walking around like zombies looking for where to get a shot. They were showing many who were turned away. This is not America anymore.

[ogradda]

26. sure

let's see..the president isn't a senior and not in a high risk group - i'm sure he didn't get one and saved a badly needed dose for someone in need. after all, he's a compassionate conservitive right?:eyes:

[tapper]

12. My 89-year-old great aunt can't

Her doctor doesn't have them. She said today that the senior citizens complex where she lives did take 16 people to a drug store to get shots, but they had to wait some hours.

It's ridiculous. Her location ought to be top priority -- it's a combined retirement home and nursing home -- a logical rationing system would have shots rationed for every single person in that place, and would send someone there to do everyone, rather than expect seniors (and their families) to be responsible for getting their own. (Can you imagine what could happen if the flu gets into that place?)

I haven't heard any of the grocery stores in my area having them -- I know the pharmacy where I get my drugs had signs up last week indicating their planned flu clinics had been canceled.

[Cleita]

14. My husband's dialysis clinic doesn't have them.

They gave us some places to go but my husband can't stand up more than ten minutes at a time without a lot of pain. I'm afraid I don't have access to a wheelchair or a gurney for him. I guess he won't get one unless the clinic is able to score some vaccine. I hope he weathers through this. He is high risk, not only because of his age but because of his disease. I am so frustrated that the people who were supposed to take care of this didn't organize it better.

[Technowitch]

19. I got mine from my physician when I was in for a physical two weeks ago

I'm a healthy 41 year old woman -- but my mother-in-law is 96, and I simply didn't want to risk giving it to her.

At the time though, I'd no idea the flu vaccine was in such short supply. If so, I'd have foregone the shot and simply made sure not to go near Ma if I got sick. (Not that I usually get the flu...)

[BamaGirl]

23. Our pediatric clinic has some

One of my kids go one today. They are only giving them to kids with asthma, heart problems, etc. They told me we better get it today or we'd end up trying to get one from the Health Dept.

[ogradda]

24. nope

my mom had to wait in a costco line to get hers. i went too, but they had a questionare and when they found out i wasn't in a high risk group they wouldn't let me have one. i'm hoping the one i got last year is still floating in my white blood cells somewhere :)

[GodHelpUsAll2]

25. My Dr's office has it

My firends little girl got hers and my granmother got hers. I am of the opinion this whole panic has been created by our wonderful government.

[Ladyhawk]

28. How bad is this bug? The manager of the apartments was

just getting over it when I went into her office. :scared:

Sorry, but any illness can be serious for me, yet I don't like the idea of a flu shot. I've always been suspicious of flu shots. Don't ask me why.

[GodHelpUsAll2]

30. Right now

Not bad. According to the CDC only 4 states have reported cases of the flu. Texas, New York, California, Utah and Florida. And the percentage of cases reported is below the average baseline. I honestly think the hysteria we are seeing way overblown. Yeah the flu is quite unpleasant. And to some can be deadly but in the past 14 years there have been on average 1% of the population die from flu and pneumonia related illness each year. The CDC has lumps the two together for some reason. The numbers I pulled off the CDC web site and the census bureau make me belive that where there is a "shortage" of vaccine as opposed to what the US normally has. The hysteria that is currently going on is not as huge a crisis as it may appear. I have done a little research and all of the information came straight from the CDC and census bureau websites. This is what I found.

According to the the CDC website, there will be 55 million flu shots available, and an additional 1 million doses of the nasal flu vaccine for a total of 56 million flu preventative vaccines. Again, according to the CDC website the 55 million shots equal half of what the US normally has available which would mean that in a normal flu season without the oops of a contaminated batch there would only be approx. 110 million shots available.

The population of the US, according to the census bureau is 294,527,011 as of Oct 16, 2004. So it would appear that in a noraml run of the mill flu season the US only obtains enough flu shots to cover about 1/3 of the total population. This data suggests that there are a whole bunch of people out there that never even get the shot for whatever reason. So I am sticking with my opinion that this flu shot shortage is a mass panic created by the government and the media. I'm still researching for the numbers on what the percentages of the population each year actually get the flu shot.

[Ladyhawk]

31. Thanks for the info.

I'm sure I won't "die" from the flu, but when I get ill, I stay ill longer than most and my depression sometimes becomes life-threatening. I can anticipate it, but I still get really low and bouncing back is hard. That's the problem with my type of depression...I'm never quite rid of it. I wish someone would find a cure.

[DemBones DemBones]

29. My doctor's office staff say they don't know if they'll

get any vaccine this year. I am in a high risk group so I need it and my husband should have it, too.

If you need a flu shot and a store in your area has them, go early. People lined up at 4:30 a.m. at a Kroger here the other day and they went ahead and started giving shots at 7:30 a.m. All the shots were given long before they were supposedly going to start taking the questionnaires and deciding who got shots at ten a.m.

Stupidly, I believed them when they said just to be there by ten a.m. Many others did, too, because I talked to other unhappy people who had called in advance for details on getting the shots and been told the same thing. I'm really annoyed with Kroger for misleading all of us that way.

[GodHelpUsAll2]

32. I'm sorry to hear

you wern't able to get your flu shot. I think society hears "flu shot shortage" and panics Suddenly, everyone who normally wouldn't be in any rush to get a flu shot, runs to the doctor, local pharmacy or where ever to get one before they are all gone. This in turn causes the long lines and mass panic. It's like watching a weather forecast in Texas that calls for snow or ice then sitting back and watching everyone rush to the local Kroger and wipe out the entire stock of milk and bread as if an ice storm in Texas were going to last 3 months. It happens every time.

[Bridget Burke]

33. If it's just "hysteria"--why are you asking?

Just think groovy thoughts & drink herbal tea. That's what lots of others recommend.

A bit more seriously--those who ordered their vaccine from Aventis Pasteur (the French company) are probably OK. Vaccine produced by Chiron, the American company whose plant in Britain had the "problem", was cheaper. Anybody ordering from them--which includes many public health groups--is in trouble.

I'd hope that even those who've secured their own supply are giving the vaccine to those who need it more.

[REP]

34. Got Mine Yesterday; Didn't Wait in Any Lines

I got my shot when I was in to see my doctor. I'm in the "will die from flu" category though I am far from elderly and don't have any chosen conditions like pregnancy. I also can't be around high-risk groups like the elderly and young children, so I always get my shot about this time of year at my doctor's office.