The Plague

I am exhausted.  Good sign, right?  Well, it's probably just because of the day I had.  In addition to the usual errand runs that we do until we drop (because Saturday is the only day to do them), we started out the day in a very tiring way.

Our county health department ran an H1N1 vaccination program today.  It was scheduled to run from 9:00 to 5:00.  I knew that they would have around 10,000 doses, but I thought we should get a jump on things by getting there an hour before the start.  My husband suggested that was probably overkill and we could show up about a half an our early.

We were both wrong.  Holy cow.  There were people who spent part of the night there (are you effing kidding me?).  TEN THOUSAND DOSES PEOPLE.  I don't think you need to sleep in the cold to be first. 

I swear, it seemed like a thousand people were in line ahead of us, though it was probably closer to five hundred.  It was freaking amazing.  At one point, we were told that they had opened up a line for people who had pre-registered.  Since I'd done that, we probably cut an hour off our time standing in the cold.  That was probably an unfair thing to do, because at some point, they took down the link that allowed people to pre-register on the county website, and pre-registration wasn't advertised to begin with.  Still, it probably took us two and a half hours from start to finish.  I was vaccinated (I have asthma), and my daughter was vaccinated (she was delighted to receive FluMist for the first time).  My husband declined at this point, because he is healthy without any underlying medical conditions that have been identified as problematic, though once it's opened up to all, he will do it as well.

I know that vaccines are a touchy issue, and everyone needs to make his or her own decision regarding what's best.  From what I understand about this vaccine, it was manufactured using tried and true methods -- by an old-fashioned production process using chicken eggs.  I used to work for a company that made flu vaccines, and it is a fascinating process.  I understand the issues surrounding the preservative and the adjuvant.  For more reasons than I would bore anyone with, I was comfortable vaccinating my daughter and myself (and would be comfortable if anyone else in my family received the vaccine).

Comments

[Lorraine]

I am still waiting for my OB to get her shipment of the thimerisol-free vaccine. I wouldn't worry about it ordinarily, but it seems wise to be careful now. My daughter got the mist, which is such a great option for kids.

The funny thing is, we know loads of people who have had the actual swine flu - it's three days of fever, aches and misery, but seems to pass quickly. So, maybe it's not such a plague after all - but being pregnant and having asthma, I'm keeping myself on the list!