# Vaccination @ the Chemist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 16, 2010, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccination-the-chemist/560816 "2010-11-16T03:01:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccination-the-chemist/560816/21 "2010-11-16T15:18:00Z")
I’m an Aussie too. The one year I missed the free Flu-vax at work I got one and just injected it in my thigh. I am however a former registered nurse, but really a smart 10 year old could learn to administer IM injections. Upper outer quadrant will do the trick. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccination-the-chemist/560816/22 "2010-11-16T15:20:51Z")
Heck, I’ve been taught how to give an injection in an advanced wilderness first aid class - it’s not rocket science. It’s important to have a trained person administering the shots but I think people are overestimating the amount of training needed here. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccination-the-chemist/560816/23 "2010-11-16T15:22:33Z")
> [@Rebo](#): > > Drugstores are allowed to give vaccines. An “immunizing professional is on duty.” My husband got a flu vaccine from Walgreen’s, paid for by his company. I got mine at my place of business, for free. I got mine the other evening at a RiteAid store. The pharmacist took my insurance card, then returned and told me it wasn’t covered. OK, so I paid cash. Only I found out later that it _was_ covered. And the “phamacist” looked like a homeless dude who put on a white lab-coat.☹ ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccination-the-chemist/560816/24 "2010-11-16T18:02:12Z")
I was surprised I could get an MMR in March of 2006. This was at a Dominick’s (grocery store) pharmacy. ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccination-the-chemist/560816/25 "2010-11-16T22:37:46Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Heck, I’ve been taught how to give an injection in an advanced wilderness first aid class - it’s not rocket science. It’s important to have a trained person administering the shots but I think people are overestimating the amount of training needed here. Intellectually I realise a vaccination doesn’t need to go in a vein or anything, and it really does just amount to a shot in the meaty part of the arm or leg, but I suppose it’s just conditioning. I expect injections to be given by an RN or a GP, so just found it a bit strange at first. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccination-the-chemist/560816/26 "2010-11-17T00:27:57Z")
> [@GreedySmurf](#): > > Intellectually I realise a vaccination doesn’t need to go in a vein or anything, and it really does just amount to a shot in the meaty part of the arm or leg, but I suppose it’s just conditioning. I expect injections to be given by an RN or a GP, so just found it a bit strange at first. I’ve had to give injections to my wife for a certain medical condition, and I’m as far from a medical professional as you can imagine. (I’m a software engineer.) It took about an hour of training. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccination-the-chemist/560816/27 "2010-11-17T01:23:27Z")
> [@GreedySmurf](#): > > Intellectually I realise a vaccination doesn’t need to go in a vein or anything, and it really does just amount to a shot in the meaty part of the arm or leg, but I suppose it’s just conditioning. I expect injections to be given by an RN or a GP, so just found it a bit strange at first. The real issue, the one that needs a professional is the what and where, not the how. Many drugs have a narrow theraputic range, have nasty ‘side’ effects, are only well tolerated by a portion of the population, or specific placement needs\*. Training someone to put a well chosen drug in a well chosen place is the easy part. Heck back in the day, taking a blood pressure was an MD only procedure, now most don’t know how\*\*. \*Not just any meaty place will do, there are vessels and nerves to be avoided. \*\*That may be an exageration. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccination-the-chemist/560816/28 "2010-11-17T04:05:37Z")
> [@groman](#): > > Now if a dental hygienist wants to take over novocaine duty next time I’m getting a filling, that would make me a little uncomfortable. My dentist told me that when they were taught to give novocaine injections, they had to practice on each other in pairs in front of the class, while everyone else chanted, “Shot! Shot! Shot!” ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccination-the-chemist/560816/29 "2010-11-17T07:47:14Z")
> [@groman](#): > > If I remember correctly, being a pharmacist in Australia requires an undergraduate degree, while PharmD is a 4 year graduate degree in the United States. This, of course, tells you nothing about their qualifications to administer immunizations, but might contribute to the perception that it’s somehow out of line. Being a _physician_ in Australia only requires an undergraduate degree (albeit a 5/6 yr one instead of a 3/4 yr one). An Australian BPharm would be equivalent to an American DPhram (& vice versa) just like a MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery) is the equivalent to an MD. I almost made an ass of myself getting my flu shot this year (it’d been a _long_ time since I got one). The pharmacist took me into this little private consulting room with a table & chair. As I rolled up my sleeve he casually mentioned that they didn’t do it in the arm. There’s only _one other place_ I remember ever getting an injection. So while he was preparing the syringe I stood up and started to unbuckle my belt. :smack: He quickly clarified that he meant _my shoulder_. Whoops. :o ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccination-the-chemist/560816/30 "2010-11-17T12:34:59Z")
There are some medical conditions that require regular injections. For instance, someone without a stomach needs regular vitamin B12 injections. In the US, these are typically performed at home. You get a Rx for syringes and B12. Can this not be done in other countries? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccination-the-chemist/560816/31 "2010-11-17T12:52:22Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > That’s certainly what happens at my workplace. Someone (a nurse, presumably) comes in and we all line up for our vaccinations. I’m not sure I’d presume that. We nursing students get a lot (in my school’s case, almost all) of our IM practice by doing flu clinics at offices and community centers. We do it for free in exchange for the practice or required hours for class, so it’s win-win all around…except maybe for that first patient of the day who gets a very nervous and inexperienced student stabbing them. We get better very quickly after that! > [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > I’m an Aussie too. The one year I missed the free Flu-vax at work I got one and just injected it in my thigh. I am however a former registered nurse, but really a smart 10 year old could learn to administer IM injections. Upper outer quadrant will do the trick. “Upper outer quadrant” isn’t a site we use much anymore; too much risk of hitting the sciatic nerve. Also too many obese patients, who were getting medications intended for the muscle deposited in fat instead. Deltiod is the preferred spot, with the vastus lateralis used for patients with double mascectomies or for very large IM doses. I absolutely agree with the “a reasonably bright 10 year old could do it” assessment. Nurses like to protect their value by, as a professional group, trying to prevent other professionals from doing “nursing work”, but it’s more out of protecting our jobs than rational risk assessment, IMHO. Giving a vaccine is neither complicated nor very risky. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vaccination-the-chemist/560816.md?page=1)