JV, I never intended to imply that those at risk would be required to take the shots... only that they be given the opportunity to get them before those not at risk. I don't think it would have been that difficult. You seem to think the system is working just fine. I'm here to tell you that it is not. I have several relatives in Houston, including my own 82 year old mother, who has yet to be able to get a flu shot. Her doctor didn't recieve any. The places she has gotten them at before don't have any. She has gone to locations that were supposed to have them, and has been told they ran out. She gets one every year. There is something seriously wrong here, and I want to know if it could have been handled differently. Keep D&D Civil!!
I do get your point but why do you think the governemnt could do a better job of giving out shots than the individual facilities? Either way it's not going to be perfect, but by the time the government comes up with guidelines it will be Thanksgiving.
Perhaps this issue is having an impact on Florida: Friday 22nd October, 2004 Kerry closes gap with Bush in Florida -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Big News Network.com Friday 22nd October, 2004 U.S. President George W. Bush now polls even with Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry in Florida, Thursday's Quinnipiac survey reported. Kerry, the survey said, has closed a nearly 7-point gap among likely Florida voters and now trails Bush by 1 point, 48 percent to 47 percent, making the race too close to call in this critical battleground state. Liberal independent candidate Ralph Nader gets 1 percent. In the Oct. 7 Quinnipiac poll, Bush led Kerry 51 percent to 44 percent among likely voters. Among registered voters backing Bush, 80 percent said they were voting mainly for the president. Among Kerry supporters, 56 percent indicated they were voting mainly for the Democrat while 39 percent said they were voting mainly against Bush. The race in Florida is going down to the wire again. Sen. Kerry, bolstered by his strong showing in the debates, has nearly closed the gap on President Bush, Quinnipiac's Clay F. Richards said, crediting Kerry's strong performance in the debates for sparking the surge. Still, by 56 percent to 35 percent, respondents said Bush would do a better job on terrorism. Quinnipiac surveyed 1,208 Florida registered voters between Oct. 15 and 19, producing data with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points. The margin of error for the subset of 808 likely Florida voters had an error margin of 3.5 percentage points. (this was linked from the Economist, thus the Friday date... pretty confusing!) http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=178d1117ec0cf2ae Keep D&D Civil!!
Well, it is not working insofar as we have a shortage of shots. But, since they announced the shortage, to what degree has it been the case that people who are not at-risk have been getting the shots? We have a doctor who does shots at my building every year who canceled this year because of the shortage; the local grocery store has also canceled because their shipment was held up. Obviously, there is a problem in getting the shot to those that need it, but I don't think it is because they are being gobbled up by the physically fit or simply left in the warehouse. I could be wrong; I'd like to see an article on this (which I'm sure they'll write soon). I figured you didn't really mean it to say you'd force shots on people, which is why that's a separate paragragh. But, realistically, you couldn't give the not-at-risk group any access if you wanted to have a system that worked. You'd have to say if you're over 65, under 5, of ill-health or pregnant (or whatever the standards are), you can have a shot; otherwise, you're SOL. And, I think that's essentially what they've done with their guidelines. Guidelines can be disregarded, of course, but I don't think the providers are likely to disregard those guidelines on any significant scale. After all, we're talking about pharmacists, doctors and nurses, not store-clerks. Unless there are signs of policy-abuse that I'm unaware of, I don't see what more oversight will do. The problem is on the production side. Speaking of, the government does subsidize some medical products far in excess of what the market will bear. We have much more burn cream than the country needs, much of it owned by the VA Hospitals. They want to keep extra in case of a large attack on US civilian targets.
You make some good points, but many of the places where shots are being given are at grocery stores, and the like. I seriously doubt that there are doctors and nurses there who could tell if a person had asthma, for example, or a heart condition. How do they differentiate? And, sadly, I don't put it past some people to say that they have those conditions, even if they don't. Heck, this very well may have produced a "herd mentality," where people who normally wouldn't think about whether or not to have a shot, go and get one because of the publicity. In my case, although I would qualify under the "guidelines," I'm not going to get one, at least until I see how this plays out over the next couple of months. My immediate concern is that I personally know several elderly people who have been unable to get vaccinated, although they are making the effort to. Thus, my interest in how it might have been handled differently. This is one of those things that come up during a Presidency, that no doubt should have been addressed decades ago, but is happening on the current President's watch. Fair or not, it's his leadership on this issue that will be examined, and I am wondering, still, if it could have been handled differently from the Federal level. Keep D&D Civil!!
I stood in line to get one at 5:00 am today. My story. 14 years ago I got the flu. Had been totally healthy my whole life till that point. I wound up in the intensive care as the flu virus attacked my heart. EKG all messed up. I missed over 4 months of work and it took almost a year till the chest pains subsided. Cardiolgist advised me to always get a shot, though I don't need to go to a cardiologist now. Cardiologist told me that if my immune system hadn't kicked in I would have been on the list for a heart transplant. The flu is not a cold. I felt bad being over there with all the really old folks, but it scares the hell out of me.
Yes, it's damned serious. The flu kills... From MSNBC, related to 2003 flu season: Influenza, an infectious disease marked by respiratory inflammation, fever, muscular pain and intestinal tract irritation, kills an estimated 36,000 Americans and hospitalizes 114,000 every year. About 92 children under the age of 5 die from flu-related illnesses in an average year, according to the CDC. http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3848940/ glynch, all the people who have made light of this, or think it's not a big deal for them, are not facing reality. And you are a good example of, "How do you tell who's really at risk?" You felt bad, being younger than most of those in line, but you are a clear example of someone at risk. Keep D&D Civil!! And try to stay healthy!
