Mama Bin Cranky

Due to some extenuating circumstances, I won’t be getting my usual seasonal flu shot this year. One of the circumstances is that my husband’s company offered the seasonal flu shots free and sent out a nice flier to remind us strongly to pursue said prevention. So my husband made finally made a call and put the brochure aside. Then the night before last, I went to the website to request the free voucher and they said the program for vouchers was shut down. I guess we were too late, even though there was no expiration date on the glossy brochure. The program would have saved us $50 in a rather expensive year medical wise. A friend told me last week that she had called around locally and no one had any left. She had to go to the next town over. I was with a friend in the big city yesterday. She got her shot at a nearby Kroger about 2 weeks ago. She took me to the store and they were out also. They reported that the two or three nearby Kroger stores were also out. I asked if they were getting anymore and was told there is no more available. Wow. Is there that much of an increase in people getting seasonal flu shots? Or has the supply been cut? Has it been cut to switch over to H1N1? I have heard the stories circulating about lower supplies than promised for the H1N1 shot.

I hadn’t planned on getting the shot for H1N1. Early on, there was a bit of talk of people born before 1957 having a bit of natural immunity. I was just concerned about the possibility of getting both flues in quick succession, so I was betting on a natural immunity with the prevention of the seasonal flu shot. Now I am shut out of the seasonal flu shot and way on the far end of high priority with the H1N1. Wonder if there will be enough doses of that to go around?

For those that don’t know, your government orders the seasonal flu shot in a quantity they determine. Your doctor or pharmacist can’t call and order more. They have gotten their allotment. What does this bode for hip replacements and high blood pressure when the federal government runs the health care industry?