Influenza Vaccines

The flu shot shortage is national news. Despite the original announcements that there would be plenty of flu shots to go around and the scheduling of hundreds of clinics across the country, we ended up short. Again. Portfolio diversification clearly doesn't apply to the world of influenza vaccines, and we lost 50% of our expected capacity because of a plant shutdown in the UK. Maybe we should have had better contingency planning, or planned a way to get vaccines from more sources so we wouldn't be in this mess. Hopefully they've learned from this shortage. We can't do anything about it now though; it is what it is.

Only high risk patients can get the flu shot right now. That includes pregnant women, elderly people over 65, health care workers, people who care for children under <6 months, people on immunosuppressants, asthmatics, and those with chronic lung and heart conditions. (I've studied the list, yet I still feel like I'm leaving something out.) Despite these stringent category restrictions, the run on the flu shots is akin to a run on the bank.

Having gotten a flu shot for the past 13 or 14 years on doctor's orders because I'm asthmatic, I was really worried that they weren't going to let me get a flu shot this year because I'm "only asthmatic," and not like pregnant or over age 65. I tracked the news on the flu shots diligently; I ran searches for flu shot clinics twice a day. I followed the news. I printed out all the checklists that said asthmatics were included as high risk patients. I watched as the number of clinics listed on various websites dwindled, with scheduled clinics being cancelled left and right. My stress kept rising; what was I going to do if I couldn't get one? And what was I going to do if they ran out? My fear over getting an illness from which I've been kept safe for over half my life was everpresent; I even ended up checking for flu shot clinic schedules during class because I was so anxious.

My original plan was to go to Costco today for the shot, because it was $5 cheaper than Walgreens and then Alvin and I could go together and save time. But once the news on the flu shot shortage broke, I changed my mind. I saw a Walgreens that was giving the shot on Friday 10/8 from 1-4 pm, and it was the only one that I could make at the start of the time period due to my class schedule. I resolved that I was going to try to go on Friday, armed with all my papers, and if I couldn't get it, at least there was still Costco. As early into this mess as possible, the better.

I thought I would get to Walgreens around 12:20 to get on line and be early; I ended up leaving my apartment late and got there around 12:45. My mom was surprised I was going so early; she was sure there would be a rush at the start and it would calm down around the end. But then there was my constant fear: what if they run out?? I decided that I could stand waiting on line; after all, it couldn't be that bad, could it? They probably wouldn't run out, but going early couldn't hurt, right?

The flu shot clinic ran from 1-4 pm. I got there at 12:45 pm. I was #92.

Ninety-two?!

They were already giving shots to #18 when I walked in the door. Yikes. Twenty or so minutes later, when I finally got the forms to fill out, they were calling #30. But then I learned the bad news - they only had 130 vaccines to begin with.

Damn, I felt lucky. I'm so glad I got there early.

It was a zoo. Hardly anyone was shopping in Walgreens at the time. The cosmetics department was overrun by people holding green and pink forms. There was a mob scene around the payment and form-getting table. No one really knew what was going on. They needed a sign by the door saying, "Get number, then get form, then wait." It would have been a lot clearer. The magazine aisle was packed. Lots of people chatting on cell phones, and getting to know their neighbors. People came from all over the city since there were only 2 clinics in the whole city of Chicago on Friday. What a madhouse.

I gripped my number tightly, worrying that it would accidentally slip out of my hand and I'd be out of luck. I prayed that they wouldn't turn me away.

To distract myself since my phone was dying, I decided to go look for a copy of US Weekly, my guilty pleasure. There were two on the rack when I'd gone by 5 minutes before, but now they were both gone! It was very amusing though, looking down the aisle. Over half the people were reading US Weekly, despite the fact that there were over a hundred different magazines there. (No Real Simple though; in a magazine battle for what to read at the store, that one would trump US Weekly for me.) People were commenting on articles. We're such nosy voyeurs.

I eventually picked up Glamour and starting thumbing through the pages. I got distracted by the guy next to me who was reading US Weekly because there was an article on who celebs were voting for. He caught me looking. We ended up talking... about the flu shot shortage, about work and school, about how expensive it is to live in NY. He gave me his US Weekly when he was done with it, and said it was a good issue. He was ten numbers behind me, but in better shape than the day before when he said he was #140 and was turned away.

An hour and a half after I arrived, they were finally getting to the 80s and 90s. I headed over and joined my cohort by the cosmetics register to wait. Us early 90s were friends from our form-getting time. (Similar: when the nurse turned to another group of people as we waited, and said, "what number are you?" they responded as a group, "We're the 80s!" Very cute.) #91 was a man who gave off a very friendly vibe; I told him I was going to stick near him since then I knew my time was near. #92 was me. #93 was this very nice lady who put some perspective on our wait time when we first got there. I thought it was going quickly; they had gone from #18 to #30 in such a short time! She made the point that, even if they went one per minute from then on, we still would be waiting an hour. I hadn't thought of that. (And my stomach was dismayed; I had decided to eat lunch after the shot. Oops.) #94 was this other older woman, who seemed so worried that she wouldn't get her form off a very large stack when we were on line and was in such a rush to make sure she could get her form. It goes by numbers though, and goodness knows, we had plenty of time to fill out the forms with our long wait. Yay early 90s people! :)

I got my flu shot at 2:15. They gave me no problems. I was relieved. I felt lucky. I'm sure there are many many people in the risk column that will be turned away. It's unfortunate, but there's nothing that can be done. I treated myself to lunch at Potbelly's, and then picked up my review book for the MPRE.

I braved wind and constant rain to get my flu shot and my review book, and by the end of the day, walked over 4 miles to and from my apartment running these errands. But it was well-worth it. I'm protected.

I went with Alvin to Costco today. We didn't get there as early as I had hoped, but we were there and on line by 10:10. The line was four lengths of a Costco aisle by the time Alvin got on line. Poor thing. At least they had 400 vaccines to give out.

I got some good walking exercise, walking back and forth to the food stands to get him and me some snacks, but the chicken pot pie cups probably negated any benefit. In the time it took him to get his shot, I had 3 cups of chicken pot pie, 1 cup of Monster energy drink (blech, tastes like cough syrup), 2 crackers with caramelized onion and roasted garlic dip, a chip with shrimp fondue, a panetini with hummus, half a chicken potsticker, and had gotten him most of the same as well as a chicken tender piece and a peanut butter sandwich. I also bought stuff for the apartment at Target, looked through all the cookbooks and DVDs, watched the credits of Aladdin, got offered a canvas bag by a savings bank, watched a guy dressed up as a cute dog for the savings bank promotion, and walked laps around Costco. It was about 2 hours and 5 minutes from start to finish, getting on line to getting the shot. The worst part was that there were no numbers, because it wasn't so easy to get on the loudspeaker to announce them. You had to stay on line the whole time. It was funny listening to them measure progress, "We've moved from Campbell's soup to Progresso." Sigh.

While on line, Alvin learned from someone else that Walgreens ran out of vaccines. How could that be?! They had cancelled more than half of their clinics, but they didn't give away that much yesterday. Upon returning home, I learned that they had one clinic today and cancelled the rest, diverting their supply to medical centers that could ensure that high risk people only would get it. I guess they found too many people in the past week that they thought were lying?

After running various searches, I realized this is it. Today is the last day that I've been able to find any listings for any flu clinics in the entire city of Chicago - Walgreens, Osco, Costco - and I can't find anymore. I haven't felt just this lucky in quite awhile. Phew. I hope my parents can get their shots. There are only two more listings for Manhattan and two for Staten Island, and that's it that they can get to. I hope they can get them.

Those people who can take the spray vaccine, please do. (I'm in the age group that can, but based on what my ENT [ooh, my mom gave me the word I wanted to use: otolaryngologist. hee.] said last year about my sinus problems/congestion, I'm not sure that vaccine even works for me.) To all of those people who are high risk and should be getting the shot, good luck with finding one and get there early.

I still can't believe I was #92 and I was 15 minutes early.

Unrelated note: I'm thinking of trying out a new concept in this journal, sort of my own version of Daily Themes, which I never got around to taking. Look for it. We'll see (a) how long it lasts; (b) how successful it is; and (c) whether I have any writing skills left whatsoever. (See: post from a long time ago, I think titled "Accountability.")

Stay well this flu season.