Are you parents having a hard time getting the H1N1 vaccine for yourselves?

[gatorsmom]

I got all the kids vaccinated for the swine flu this weekend. Their ped will give it to any of their patients if they ask for it. My husband, who is on medication that makes him immune-compromised, convinced our PCP to give him the vax today. But, I can't seem to find anyone who'll give it to me. I've asked 3 different places (our PCP, my OBGYN and the minute clinic) if i can get it but they all say the same thing. I don't fit the guidelines. I know I"ve heard of other adults getting it.

Is this the common response nationally?

[wellyes]

Around here adults have to be pregnant, have a pre-existing health problem or live with an infant under 6 months to get the shot. I think that's fair given the limited supplies.

[crl]

I haven't even tried as I'm not in a priority category. My father, who is in his 70s and immune compromised due to a liver transplant, was told by his county health department that he could not get the vacine! I don't know if he has been able to or will be able to track it down from an alternate source. But I figure if he's not getting it, there's no way I am.

Catherine

[jgenie]

I'm due in Feb. and haven't been able to get it for myself. My OB didn't get the shots and my PCP hasn't either. I keep chasing it at drugstores but seem to keep missing the boat.

[KrisM]

My friend is on meds that make her immune-compromised and her husband was told to get the vaccine, too. No problems for them to all get it (3 and 6 year old as well).

[JElaineB]

I had to go to a nurse practitioner's office in a small, rural town about 30 min away to get one. My SIL saw it advertised in the newspaper there. They had plenty. My city (which has a huge number of healthcare providers in it) doesn't seem to have any for the general public yet.

[WatchingThemGrow]

I checked flu.gov and clicked on the locator, called around, etc. We qualified b/c of our infant under 6 mos. but there were people in line with us (walk-ins) who didn't seem to meet any criteria.

[codex57]

No probs, but we have an infant under 6 mos. Still, our clinic at one point let anyone get it. They just didn't advertise anywhere that they had it (to control crowds). They just let it spread thru word of mouth by people who were eligible and had seen a doc.

[MontrealMum]

My parents have both been told "no" repeatedly. They're in MI. My Dad isn't too worried yet, but mom has COPD so she's freaking out. My dad is recovering from surgery and has a heart condition. Both were told specifically that they would not be able to get the vax at all due to shortages, and they're old enough to have *perhaps* gotten some immunity from the last time it went around; though that's not what they were told earlier on. They're coming to visit in a few weeks and I'm looking into getting at least my mom vaxed up here as it isn't good for her to be so agitated about something. I don't know how that might work as it's part of the provincial healthcare system and she's a foreigner, but I'm hoping they might let her get one if she pays for it. In my province vaccines are available to all groups since last Fri.

[GaPeach_in_Ca]

Neither of my kids have even been able to get it yet. I'm not trying for myself since I'm not in the priority queue.

[billysmommy]

DH and I were able to get it through our PCP's but we are both healthcare providers who work with a lot of pregnant women.

[elektra]

I got mine from DD's and DS's ped. They were offering it to parents. At the time, DS was under 6 months and so I qualified as a care giver, but it's not like they were really checking. I had to pay $17 out of pocket but it was worth it IMO.
My parents haven't been able to get vaxed though.

[ellies mom]

Nope. I got it right away but I'm in nursing school on my L&D rotation.

[Seitvonzu]

ugh, i have been sorta lax on this since i was told my child might not even be able to get her 2nd dose ....but i really need to pursue this further. i'm a type one diabetic (a nice discovery from pregnancy ! :( ) and i keep seeing things on the news about risks related to flu with diabetes. they actually JUST showed a story before i clicked on this thread. 3x more likely to die or some such thing-- infections/sickness of any kind really messes with glucose. bleh.

so i looked and it seems that our county is only giving it to school kids, pregnant women and people with kids under 6 months. i'm going to call about the "clinic" that's on the 9th , but i don't hold out much hope. my endocronologist basically said "call the county."

apparently if i was on WIC i could get the vaccine-- WIC has it available for all their high risk groups and i'd qualify as "high risk". oh well!

[baileygirl]

I am not a priority, so I haven't tried finding it. I don't know of any healthy non healthcare workers without a baby under 6 months who has gotten it. The kids have both had their 2 doses though.

[hillview]

I have tried and failed. I keep trying.
/hillary

[wendibird22]

Yes because I'm pregnant and they allowed DH to get it because of caring for a newborn to be (we got it from our health depart. Neither our GP or my OBGYN have received any yet). We live in a small rural county and they seem to have quite a bit on hand but still you have to be in a priority group to get it. But in the neighboring county they just ran a series of large clinics and although they told people you needed to be a county resident and in a priority group they also publicly admitted ahead of time that they wouldn't be checking IDs or verifying eligibility. So, we know several 30-somethings in good health who were able to get it just because they were gutsy enough to show up and wait in line.

[jenmcadams]

... i'm a type one diabetic (a nice discovery from pregnancy ! :( ) and i keep seeing things on the news about risks related to flu with diabetes...


Around here your diabetes would qualify you as high risk....there seems to be plenty of vaccine for those with high risk here...

[SnuggleBuggles]

I'm not in a category eligible currently. Not planning to get it unless it walks right in front of me (I'm not going to hunt it down).

Beth

[justlearning]

I have bad asthma so I'm considered high risk. I found a shot available at my local Walgreens but only because I happened to call at just the right time and ran right over. I went prepared to provide proof of my asthma, but they said that they didn't need to see it because it's on the "honor system." So it's possible that some adults would lie and say that they're high priority to get a shot. I do think that it would be easier to find the flu mist available somewhere that may give them out to those who aren't high priority. (I was told that I couldn't get the mist due to my asthma--I only could get the shot--so it made it harder trying to find a shot available.)

[Gena]

In my area the vax is not yet available to adults who not in a risk category. So I have not gotten vaccinated. DH is a First Respsonder (volunteer Firefighter/EMT), so he got vaccinated at his Fire Station a couple of weeks ago.

[sarahsthreads]

Haven't even tried. I'm not in any priority category. We haven't managed to get the shots for the kids yet either, although I haven't been actively trying to find them. Our pediatrician is supposed to call us when they get some of the preservative-free shots in. DH could have gotten one at his allergist but chose not to because he's not high risk and someone else probably needs that dose more.

I *may* have had H1N1 a few weeks ago - I had a lot of the symptoms and my doctor thought it was pretty likely that that's what it was, but they didn't do any tests to confirm - so at this point I'm hoping for natural immunity! Surprisingly, nobody else in the house got sick, so I'm also hoping they all fought it off and are now immune to it too...

Sarah :)

[maestramommy]

I was pretty lucky, and got it along with the girls at my ped visit. I think Dh is still waiting.

[mommyp]

Around here adults have to be pregnant, have a pre-existing health problem or live with an infant under 6 months to get the shot. I think that's fair given the limited supplies.

:yeahthat: DD has had both her shots and both days we were there they were turning away people who did not meet the criteria. I still hope to be able to get it once they open it up, but we'll see.

[Seitvonzu]

diabetes DOES count as a high risk group-- my immune system is compromised because any infection is very difficult for a diabetic to fight off. unfortuantely the ONLY high risk groups being targeted by the next round of vaccine available from our health dept. are caretakers of under 6 month old infants and pregnant woman.i'm still going to call and see if they can tell me anywhere else to go, but i'm not real convinced it's going to do any good since my endo. didn't even have any advice for me about getting the vaccine :(

[MoJo]

the ONLY high risk groups being targeted by the next round of vaccine available from our health dept. are caretakers of under 6 month old infants and pregnant woman.

:yeahthat:

I didn't have much trouble getting mine because I'm pregnant, but DH isn't eligible. If I wasn't pregnant, I wouldn't have gotten it either. (I wouldn't have tried to get it, and I wouldn't have been eligible to get it). DH is actually the most likely one to get the flu, because he's a school teacher, and the H1N1 has been confirmed in his school since the very first week of classes.

The county made everyone fill out a form and sign an affidavit that their statements were true, but beyond that, they weren't asking for any other proof.