I dithered a bit about getting the kids vaccinated at first. I had some crazy naggings about vaccine safety, and I really didn't want to wait with the rioting masses of frenzied nutjobs.
Then I read and heard from enough people stricken with H1N1 who were all WOE! and IT'S GOING TO KILL US ALL! and 47 KAJILLION CHILDREN ARE ABSENT FROM SCHOOL! that I decided to get it done.
But the largest factor in my decision-making was that my county has a clinic less than a mile from my house, and had shots on a day that was convenient.
Plus Bump and I felt that if we made a perfunctory effort to get the kids vaccinated - even if it failed - we wouldn't feel so guilty when they were inevitably stricken with the flu.
So yesterday we raced to get everyone loaded in the van, I notified my office that I would be a little late for work, and we showed up at 8:30 for an 8:00 clinic. (Our goal was to arrive before 8, but, [shrug], you know.)
They had 300 doses. I'm guessing we were number 340.
But waiting in line for an hour and getting turned away gave us a plan for today. By God, now that we had gone through a little bit of trouble, we were going all the way and getting the damn vaccine. (Why waste only an hour, when you could waste several?)
So. This morning I packed my thermos and a folding chair, bundled up and got to the clinic at 7am. Bump met me there with the kids at 8 o'clock.
We were numbers 110-112.
I was feeling good. We juggled the children and toys and snacks in a long line in a frigid parking lot. More importantly, it was someone else's kid who was whining incessantly and kicking his mother. (GO US! WIN!)
We finally got inside where Bump filled out paperwork and I tried to keep Nathan Jr from bolting away while I threw random books and things at Lumpyhead and Lula to keep them quiet.
Lumpyhead and Lula bravely got the mist and Nathan Jr squealed angrily when he got his shot. Then we were reminded that we needed to come back in a month for their second doses.
And I almost cried.
Nobody half-asses it like me.
3 comments:
Maybe yours are little enough that they will get the second dose but most places are running so low that I haven't heard of anyone realistically planning to give boosters. Alexandria City Schools is giving the vaccine for free to all students and staff (who want it) and they ran out after doing K & 1st grade. They will do older kids when they get more vaccine. Our pediatrician told us this week that booster shots are basically a pipe dream.
Each state is responsible for doling out the vaccines. I think all of the doses here in Nashville have been put aside for country music stars. My kids have been on a waiting list for 3 weeks at the pediatricians office, I have gone to the health dept TWICE to attend scheduled H1N1 flu clinic, when there was nothing to give (they don't update their website or phone message).
It has been so frustrating.
Vaccinations just never get any easier do they?
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