This phenomenon has become more noticeable, at least to me, in recent years, and I can’t figure it out:
My elderly folks called their doctor's office to see about getting a flu shot. They were told that they had no idea when or if they'd get any of the shots this fall.
The folks go off to one of the local drugstores and discover that their pharmacy is giving flu shots, albeit on two days only--one in October and one in November--on a first-come, first-served basis. So the folks get their shots there and pay nothing since it's covered through Medicare.
Also, both colleges that I've worked for always manage to get a limited number of flu shots for their students and staff, so I can get one there for ten bucks, as opposed to $20 to $30 or more at the doc's.
What I don’t get is how the college health centers and drugstores can get flu shots but the doctor’s offices can’t–or at least they can’t until later in November, if at all. What gives?
I’m not sure why these “public clinics” get more flu shots than doctor’s offices either…
However, I do have something that might be of help to people looking for a flu shot. Just found out about this the other day.
It’s a flu shot finder by Zip code. Shows about 30 different public clinics in my area in the next 6 weeks. My folks said it had a bunch in their area also. Looks to be extensive.
Well, if you listen to Dr. Mercola (mercola dot com), no, they’re not. He gives tolerable reasons.
I find it bewildering that first the desperate need to get flu shots is hyped, causing literal panic. Then, the next spring, they tell us that the flu shot didn’t really help the people who were told they needed it most, ie, the very young and very old. Repeat.
If the flu shots don’t help, then why bother scaring people into getting them?
I got the flu last year. I’d had my shot 6 weeks earlier. I couldn’t tell you if it was weaker than it would have been, because I don’t know what it would have been like. Or maybe it was a different strain. Anyway, at least my kids managed not to get it from me (and only the baby had gotten a flu shot).
Flu shots are safe and useful, but if you are 30 and in good health a flu most likely won’t kill you or cause any kind of serious complications. If you are 30 years old and pregnant, you should get a shot. If you commonly come into contact with people who genuinely need flu shots, you should get one as well to reduce their risk.
Vaccines in general are targeted by woo-woos who claim everything from autism to mind control is caused by routine vaccinations. Those people are the same nutballs who think crystals are better than antibiotics and that laetrile is good for something besides making you poorer.
I can’t say that I’ve heard this comment made, and I work in the medical field (IANAD/N), most often with people with suppressed immune systems. Typically if someone does get the flu vaccination and then ends up getting the flu, they happened to catch a particular strain that wasn’t accounted for in the vaccine. This happens - they can only plan for the most likely strains each year.
I get vaccinated every year because of the patients I work with. Last year, I spoke with a nurse who works in a small clinic that sees a lot of patients with AIDS, and he said he couldn’t get a shot for himself, much less his patients. I have no evidence for this, but I suspect that a lot of the shots get gobbled up in bulk by large hospitals/pharmacy chains/etc, from what I’ve seen of the availability of the vaccine. Small offices might not get any/many, and/or might save what they have for the most needy of their patients.
I don’t want to hijack further on the “who should get one?” thing, but I’ve never had one before (didn’t see the need), but now I’m a full time public librarian in a service area with a lot of homeless people. Obviously, they tend to be in poorer health than the average citizen, unvaccinated I’m sure, etc. Should I get one this year? I’m 25, in reasonably good health, and I’ve never had any flu at all.
