Flu Shot: Acquired

[tugrik]

And now I have dead-arm. Owie. But heck, I'll take it.

I've been waiting for the shots to become available in my area for months now. I tried to go to one of the big city-sponsored clinics but with 6+ hour lines and nowhere for a big guy like me to sit while waiting... wasn't happenin'. My doc's office ran through their supply and barely covered the children and pregnant women, so all others were denied.

Finally this Monday Walgreens got a ton of them in here in the bay area. My local one didn't have the syringes until today. By 10am this morning I'd gotten my shot. It cost all of $18.

I know one person on my LJ list and two friends of co-workers who have died from this flu. I highly encourage getting vaccinated. Also, huge thanks to skorzy for posting about this earlier last week.

Comments

[darkwolven.livejournal.com]

"I know one person on my LJ list and two friends of co-workers who have died from this flu."

We're almost all vaccinated here, but really? Three people connected to you? This isn't supposed to be worse than the H1N5 flu, but I have never known anybody to die from that, though I know some do.

[tugrik.livejournal.com]

One was a coworker at Amdahl who my old boss there (still my landlord) knew better than I did. One was the parent of my old boss at Peoplesoft. I didn't know either of them directly -- they're just one-off from people I worked with.

The one from LJ who I mention (as does Skorzy) was darkwolfie. While I didn't know him personally, I definitely knew _of_ him.

So, yeah, H1N1 is the first of the flus to actually rattle me a bit. Combined with the martian-death-flu (Sydney B) I had back in the early 2000's and I take this kind of stuff seriously.

[perlandria.livejournal.com]

I would say this is the second worst cough I have ever had. The first being whooping cough as part of a local mini epidemic four or so years ago. Aging shots + emigrant community FTW. That was miserable. But part of the whooping cough being worst than this is that it lasted 100+ days, as the folk name for it suggests. But I worked most of that time. I couldn't work with this cough. This cough is less goopy but so much more taxing to the whole system. I can definitely believe people are dying.

[selasphorus.livejournal.com]

I got the seasonal shot last October from a Safeway clinic, and H1N1 from my doctor's office last month just as they got supplies for more than just the risk groups. Vaccines save lives. Not just the lives of the vaccinated, but those they come in contact with who cannot get vaccinated.

[shinigamigirl.livejournal.com]

Wow, that is so weird to hear! Here in Canada there is a very big surplus, they got enough for everyone to have them and many people just.. didn`t go. When I got mine, the whole thing pretty much took 30 mins, including waiting for 15 mins after getting the shot to make sure none of us got a bad reaction. The wait lines were long in the first few weeks they did it, and now many of the special clinics they opened around my city just for it had to close due to low interest.
It`s kind of ridiculous, considering they are 100% free here. Even my boyfriend, who is not at all a Canadian citizen, got one.

[cargoweasel.livejournal.com]

But America has the best healthcare system in the wooooorrrrrrlllldddd!! you're just a victim of the socialist nightmare that is Soviet Canuckistan's death panels and you don't even realize it! Such is their villainy!

[theassassinnox.livejournal.com]

I managed to get the mist version for both the standard flu shot, and the H1N1 version.
Yay for being protected, and yay for not having to deal with needles.

[kreggan.livejournal.com]

Yep, I got a seasonal and a H1N1 shot about a week ago. Figured it'd be good to have it before FC..

[http://users.livejournal.com/krin_o_o_/]

My mom, who should have been exposed to the precursor to N1H1 ended up contracting it despite that 40 year old immunity.

The complications almost killed her. She ended up in the hospital with a pulmonary 'event'. (Enlarged heart and signs of a pulmonary embolism)

She's out now, doing well, and is as grumpy as all heck about her kids and grand-kids worrying about her. She swears that the O2 bottle is there only for bonking people who annoy her too much.

SO, I concur... go get the shot!

Even if you *are* old enough to have the pre-70's flu that was the source of H1N1 and should have immunity, it can fade or exposure may have been inadequate to give full immunity and you might be vulnerable again.

[doodlesthegreat.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the reminder. I shall get my shot this week so I may be ready for the convention.

[sassinak.livejournal.com]

Glad you got yours.

Ross and I are set to get ours on Friday. And hopefully Isabelle will be able to get her booster then as well. Yay!

[hakeber.livejournal.com]

We all got the seasonal one late Sept, and the kids and I got the nasal for H1N1 a few weeks ago. M is to get dose two this month. The first set were through our HMO, the latter were at one of the big public free clinics we've had locally.

I'm glad you got yours.

[nemetfox.livejournal.com]

Good on you. I still haven't heard a damn thing about them here...