Are you getting the swine flu vaccine

[Steve MacDowall]

are you getting the swine flu vaccine or not - why?

Poll: Is the fear about the H1N1 vaccine unreasonable?

Canadians pack clinics in hopes of getting flu shot
by Karen Howlett -- Globe and Mail -- Published on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009 -- Last updated on Sunday, Nov. 01, 2009

Rosana Pellizzari, medical officer of health for the eastern Ontario city of Peterborough, donned a Sesame Street jacket on Saturday morning and headed straight to a makeshift vaccination clinic at a local shopping mall.

Dr. Pellizzari strolled the corridors, making sure the hundreds of people facing a two-hour wait to get their H1N1 flu shot knew they would be turned away unless they're at risk of developing complications from the disease.

“It's impossible to tell from looking at someone whether they are in the high-risk group,” she said in an interview.

A similar tale played out in sports arenas, schools and civic centres across the nation on Saturday, where Canadians began lining up as early as 4 in the morning for their flu shot, only to be told that all but the most vulnerable could go back home.

The news came as a surprise to many Canadians because health officials had been telling them all week that members of the general public could get the H1N1 vaccine beginning on Saturday.

That all changed at the last minute after vaccine maker GlaxoSmithKline told federal health officials on Thursday that the number of H1N1 doses available to Canadians for next week would shrink by more than half.

The news has thrown a wrench into the biggest vaccination effort in Canadian history, just as more people are becoming sick from the pandemic.

It is up to doctors and nurses on the front lines to deliver the bad news to people turning out in droves for the flu shot. Provincial health authorities ordered local health care provider to delay the roll out of the vaccine to the general public.

Dr. Pellizzari and her staff scrambled late on Friday to prepare large signs mounted on sandwich boards, and placed at the entrance to the Portage Place mall, saying only those in priority groups would get the flu shot until further notice.

But she said the only way for health officials to tell if many individuals fall into the one of the priority groups is to ask them. The priority groups include pregnant women, young children, adults with chronic health conditions and those living in remote communities.

She opened the clinic in the Portage Place mall 20 minutes early on Saturday morning because of the long lineup and expects her nurses to vaccinate about 1,500 individuals by the time it closes.

The jacket adorned with Big Bird and Cookie Monster helped her stand out in the crowd. Some people were angry when they were turned away, but most were understanding.

“It's tough,” she said. “But it's certainly better to tell people as soon as they arrive.”

[PK(Pradeep maheshwari)]

A flu is like a flu of any kind. The natural system of mdeicine does not believe that we need separate vaccinations or even vaccination shots at all for all and every variant of illness that we manage to generate by our degenerate living.
The body if well supplied with necessary nutrients and well maintained as nature intended it, can fight back easily such illnesses.
The pharma indistry is the only one that will benefit. And with their fear culled, the idiots will live merrily in their uncouth ways and invite more deadly diseases upon themselves.
And death is not such a bad thing anyway!

[Bea Kunz]

Steve,

The choice to have or not have the flu vaccine is , as in all things, a personal choice.

I don't take vaccines for anything, and mainely because I don't trust the process.

If...as much money and effort was put into better food choices across the board, our health issues would be less than half of what they are now. No society can do and promote all the wrong things day after day for year after year and then expect a quick fix in a shot or pill form to save the day.

I think history has proven that this is not the answer to what ails us.

Happy Autumn Season~

Bea Kunz

[Richard Penney]

Since the flu vaccines are made using egg portions as a culturing medium, I cannot use them.
-Richard

[John Joseph]

I will not make a specific trip or appointment for the vaccine. I have an appointment at the Veteran's Administration Hospital for other things and I know they will ask if I want it. I will most likely get it, because the cost is very low for us. There has been years where I didn't get the shot. I pay close attention to what the CDC and the news outlets are reporting. I'm not sure if I'm in a priority group. I'm 52 with type 2 diabetes. I have not been that kind of sick (FLU) in many years. I nearly died when I was 30 from Legionnaire's Disease, and my mother was a polio victim when she was 9 years old. I don't take these things lightly. Hey PK, it depends on how you die, and who depends on YOU. Dying slowly from sickness doesn't sound like a good thing either. Don't down play your importance to the family and friends you have my friend.

JJ

[George Shepherd]

We got it yesterday. Aileen has a suppressed immunity system and the doctor felt that it was in her best interest to be given the vaccine. In fact, due to her circumstances, she will be given a second shot in three weeks. It was also suggested that even with the vaccine Aileen could be at risk if any other members of the household caught swine flu so we are all getting the vaccine. I would be getting it anyway due to having asthma, I just got it earlier than I would have.
Degenerate or not, we are taking no chances :)

George