Did she tell the Navy provider that she was allergic to eggs? I was in the Navy (and my wife was a Navy nurse), and I find it hard to believe that a Navy provider would give a vaccine that was contraindicated for a person.
I remember filling out the same pre-vaccination questionnaire when I was in the Navy that I do in doctor’s offices today, which included the question asking if you are allergic to eggs.
I got the shot but I think I was already immune - my wife and kids all got H1N1 but I never got sick. We all got immunized later just to be safe.
I looked a couple of days ago, and they only had locations waaaaaasy out in the burbs. But I should look again. (My asthma isn’t super-bad, and I’ve had the seasonal flu shot, so I’m not really that stressed about it.)
I’m sticking with:
You can disagree. You can be one of the “PANDEMIC PANICKERS” and spout all you want about how deadly this is going to be, but so far the evidence is not on your side and never has been.
And I’ll stick by: If you wanted or needed it, you found a way to get it.
If you haven’t gotten it yet, you’re not trying hard enough. They’re giving it out for free in many towns in drive-in clinics. You drive up, say you want the shot, they hop in your car or do it through the window and you drive away. If you REALLY needed the shot, you’d have gotten yourself to one of these towns, even if it was hours away. If you don’t have it by now, you really didn’t make it a priority.
If you want to claim you just don’t have the resources to get yourself to where the vaccine is, but you are still in the high risk group, all I can say is if you havent gotten h1n1 by now, keep doing what you’re doing and odds are in your favor for not getting it.
You don’t know what you are talking about.
Here in Connecticut, there has been no easy way for a non-high risk individual to get the vaccine to date. As I have stated repeatedly, high risk individuals are still being prioritized for vaccination.
They have been offering free public H1N1 clinics here, but I have yet to see a public clinic that has given the vaccine to anybody but high-risk individuals. Here is the current guidance from the CT DPH. This guidance was last updated on December 10. The vaccine is still restricted to high-risk individuals.
Also, here in Connecticut, it would do no good to drive to another town, because all of the public clinics to date have been only for the residents of that town.
Also, I don’t think it’s true that most people have either had the vaccine or been exposed to H1N1, nor have I seen any reputable source state that the epidemic is over. Do you have a cite for any of this?
Incidentally, cost is not an issue for anybody. The federal government is providing the vaccine for free to clinics and health providers. The issue to date has been availability of the vaccine.
“…never has been?”
There was enough concern about the H1N1 outbreak for Congress to appropriate $7.65 billion back in July to address it.
We get free flu shots at work. I got the Seasonal shot the day it became available, as usual.
The H1N1 vaccine was in short supply, so it went to employees who needed it more because of their job descriptions. Not being one of them–and not being in a high risk group–I just waited until more vaccine arrived. Got mine last week.
Since it was free & convenient, I was glad to reduce my chances of getting sick. Then there’s the Herd Immunity thing, for people in our population who can’t take the shots but might have serious problems with the flu.
I figure the vaccines must work, since our bean counters have been very pissy about expenses lately. But we’ve all been urged to get the shots–as the supply allowed.
(TV news has been carrying bulletins about free H1N1 vaccine clinics–but usually for high risk patients only. Or other sub-groups.
And, every time I’ve gotten a flu shot, the info card asked about egg allergies.
I am not in a high risk group, and given the high demand for the vaccine, I feel that it would be selfish of me to get it.
U.S. Congress does not listen to or dissemenate facts.
“During the week of November 29-December 5, 2009, flu activity continued to decline in the United States as reported in FluView. The number of states reporting widespread flu activity decreased from 25 to 14.”
I was vaccinated as well as over a half of the population of Quebec. (over 4 million out of nearly 7,800,000 population)
I’m another who clicked no, because I had the actual H1N1 flu before the vaccine was an option. Yes, officially diagnosed. If I hadn’t already been sick, I would have gotten the vaccine as soon as it was available, not least because I’m pregnant and asthmatic and so firmly in the high-risk group.
A random stat. Neat.
There’s a thread on this topic in GD, so you might want to check that out instead. One thing noted is that epidemics don’t have to go away once their activity starts dropping, and that that so far H1N1 hasn’t shown itself to have a “time of the year” unlike seasonal influenza. So there’s no good reason to believe that it’s all over.
And there’s no good reason to see it as any more of a threat than any other flu.
Some people need to think that life is out to get them to feel important. (That they matter to “life” or “existence” or “god” whatever…)
And some people believe anything the media hypes.
h1n1 is a flu. Anyone with asthma or any other lung weakness should get innoculated against any flu they can. For the rest of us, get the shot if you can, but at worst, you’re going to get a flu for a few days. I’m still waiting for the global collapse of society that the flu is going to cause.
Since the vast majority of the people I know have had the flu or the vaccine, in my area at least, the worst is long since over. (Worst was last week in September, first week in October).
I’m sure that’s not the case elsewhere as the flu might hit other places hardest at other times. Maybe CT is getting hit hardest now. But studying the CDC numbers, h1n1’s worst is over simply because there are more people out there that have become immune either through shot or exposure than there are people who
haven’t.
The break down(US population in Millions:
Total Population: 300
Immune:
People over 64: 40
CDC estimate of cases through November 19: 47
CDC estimate of vaccines administered: 83
Total of the above: 170
Remaining: 130
Therefore: The worst is over.
Most Americans are immune to h1n1.
And that Remaining number gets smaller every day.
I’m not in the high risk group, and it’s not widely available to all in our area yet. I probably wouldn’t bother with it when it comes available, but we’re planning a trip out of the country in March, so I might get it in the next month or two. I’d hate to get it while traveling and screw up a good vacation.
Nope, and not going to. I’m not in any of the risk categories and I’ve never received flu vaccines in the past. Just don’t see the need until I’m closer to an at-risk category.
My university was doing vaccinations for free (all students and staff) so I got it.
I have no intention of getting vaccinated - I don’t see any reason to. I hardly ever get sick, maybe once every few years. I’ve never had a flu shot in my life, and I see no reason to start now. Despite what the media wants us to believe, H1N1 is the flu, not The Return Of The Bubonic Plague. So I might get sick for a couple of days - BFD.
I never used to be particularly concerned about getting the flu vaccine either until I actually got the flu on two different occasions. The first time was Christmas of 1995, and the second time was in the spring of 2001. Note that I still remember the dates–that’s how memorable it was for me.
Many people confuse the flu with a typical cold. Many of the symptoms are similar, including sneezing, a runny nose, coughing, and the feeling of being tired and unwell. Hell, I got a cold about two weeks ago–big deal. However, with a cold, while I might take a day off work to rest at home, the flu is different.
When I got the flu, I was out of work for a week. I was completely out of it for about 2-3 days, in bed, delirious, alternating between sweating and chills, not knowing if it was night or day. I lost about 5 pounds each time (the only upside, BTW).
BTW, influenza has nothing to do with so-called “stomach flu” (i.e. gastroenteritis), which is generally due to a stomach virus.
When I hear people blithely dismiss the flu, I generally conclude that they have never actually experienced it. As my wife (a nurse) puts it: “If you’re so sick that you feel like you’re going to die, you probably don’t have the flu. If you’re so sick that you’re afraid that you won’t die, then you probably have the flu.” 
Then, too, you never know if a particular strain might not end up like the 1918 flu pandemic that killed an estimated 50 million people (about 3% of the world’s population). Most of those who were killed were young, healthy adults.
I always get my flu shot–every year, without fail.