Here is a flu shot locator, for both seasonal and H1N1. I dont know how effective it is. Just click on your state and go from there.

http://www.flu.gov/

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Roscoe and Miss Priss

On the news out of Los Angeles this morning they said there were 4-5 flu clinics with H1N1 vaccine available today in the L.A. area. The clinics were supposed to open at 9am, and the lines were already forming at 5 am.

They also said they would be enforcing only giving vax to those in need - pregnant women, kids, etc.

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Roscoe and Miss Priss

I just heard on the news that some people, in order to get vaccinated, were faking pregnancy.

Hopefully they were women.

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Roscoe and Miss Priss

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3354857...h-cold_and_flu/

Swine flu cheaters getting vaccinated
Some healthy adults who aren't in high-risk groups receiving shots


updated 20 minutes ago
LOS ANGELES - It was bound to happen: Some people who aren't at high risk for swine flu complications got the much-in-demand vaccine.

Sometimes they were healthy adults or senior citizens instead of kids, pregnant women and people with health problems.

Before Los Angeles County health officials stepped up screening at their flu clinics, Natalie Thompson sailed through the long line and got the vaccine along with her 8-year-old son, even though she's not in one of the priority groups.

"If I can get it, I'm not gonna say no," said Thompson, 35, of Hollywood Hills.

Another mom, Katy Radparvar, didn't say no either.

"Our doctor doesn't have it yet," said the 41-year-old woman who was vaccinated along with her three children at a public health vaccination site in suburban Encino last week.

Public health officials don't want to be vaccine police. Many don't turn anyone away who wants the vaccine, though some locations are tougher than others.

"For many this is a frustrating process and we really sympathize with those who show up at a clinic and can't get vaccinated," said Los Angeles County public health director Dr. Jonathan Fielding.

Across the country, thousands have waited in line and many have been turned away, as manufacturers have trickled out the slow-to-produce vaccine. Things are improving, and now about 25 million doses are available, the government says.

Aware of scant supplies up front, Santa Barbara County clinics administered their 4,400 shots to pregnant women only. San Diego County is only immunizing those on the priority list, but is taking the word of residents.

Nevada is using the honor system with vaccinations offered on a first-come, first-served basis to those who identify themselves as at-risk for the H1N1 virus.

"We really are hoping people go on the honor system and let us immunize people in the priority groups," Southern Nevada Health District spokeswoman Stephanie Bethel said. "I think, for the most part, it's working."

In Oregon, Portland metro area officials say pregnant women and children are moved to the front of the lines and inoculated before the general public.

"We assertively asked those who were not in the priority group to move to the end of the line, so when we ran out of vaccine, those people who were left were those who were not at risk," said health officer Dr. Gary Oxman. "And people have responded well to it."


Vote on Newsvine
Would you get the shot, even if you're not high risk?

The vaccine shortfall prompted Wisconsin state health officials this week to remind local health agencies "to strongly encourage" announcements about the limited vaccine supply and the focus on vaccinating high-risk groups first.

Robert M. Pestronk, executive director of the National Association of County and City Health Officials, said local health departments are doing the best they can under challenging conditions.

"Despite those best efforts, it doesn't surprise me that people who are not in high priority groups are appearing at clinics for vaccination," he said. "It's difficult to restrict vaccine simply to the priority groups."

One of the doctors who helped draw up guidelines for vaccine priority groups also isn't surprised at how things are unfolding.

Video

Tamiflu shortage forces some to be creative
Oct. 29: There’s a new shortage on the swine flu front, and as NBC’s Robert Bazell reports, it’s prompted to a surprising recommendation. NBC’s Robert Bazell reports.
Nightly News


The government's vaccine advisory panel "did not expect vaccine police to be set up around the country," said Dr. William Schaffner, a flu specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, who is on the panel.

If vaccine demand is low in some locations, it makes sense for non-priority groups to get it instead of wasting the supply.

"I don't consider it a problem," said Schaffner. "I consider it more of a problem if vaccine is left unused."

That's what happened in the 2004-05 flu season when there was a shortage of seasonal flu vaccine. Many older healthy people refused to get the shot so that those who had health problems would have access to vaccine.

"One of the things that was learned was to be careful about turning people away because we might end up with a lot of vaccine at the end of the year," said Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention But right now, there aren't many vaccine leftovers to be found. Every morning, Anne Jenkins of Shreveport, La., makes a round of calls to ask doctors and health clinics if they have the injectable swine flu vaccine. She is 23 weeks pregnant.

After seeing four elderly women requesting swine flu vaccine — to no avail — at a local military treatment facility she thought to herself, "you're not on the list."

Though local officials tell Jenkins the vaccine won't be available until mid-November, she's ready to compete for her dose when it arrives.

"You feel the animal instinct come out," she said.

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Roscoe and Miss Priss

After waiting three weeks I finally got all my kids the H1N1 Flumist vax on Saturday. Doctor said we were fortunate - his office was one of the few in the area to get more than just enough to do the medical personnel. As they're all under 9 they have to go back in a month for the second dose. I asked how likely it was that there'd be a second dose available - doctor just shook his head... no way of knowing.

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When God closes a door he opens a window. On the 14th floor.

I think your chances will be quite good. As more and more people get the vaccine, there will be fewer who will need to get it. And they keep making more.

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Roscoe and Miss Priss

Doctor said the initial dose "primed" their immune system. Does this give any improved protection? Even a little? Seems like I'd read somewhere that kids didn't pass the vague threshold of being immunized until1-2 weeks after the second dose.

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When God closes a door he opens a window. On the 14th floor.

RJ100, you might be interested in reading this Branswell article. She is mostly talking about adjuvanted Canadian vaccine, and that in the US isnt, but there is some good info in the piece.

http://www.curevents.com/vb/showthr...8089#post958089

Post 118

"One dose? Two doses? What's right for kids when it comes to H1N1 vaccine?"

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Roscoe and Miss Priss

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnews/nolu... sdWNrZmluZGlu

No Luck Finding an H1N1 Flu Shot? You're Not Alone

By Nancy Shute Nancy Shute – Mon Nov 9, 8:56 am ET
If you've been frustrated in trying to get your kids vaccinated against H1N1 flu, you're not alone: Two thirds of parents who have sought vaccine for their children have failed to find it, according to a Harvard School of Public Health survey out today. That's no small deal, because 41 percent of the parents polled said they have tried to get their children vaccinated against swine flu. Hearing that big Wall Street firms Goldman Sachs and Citigroup got H1N1 vaccine doesn't do much to reassure worried parents that the system is directing vaccine to the kids who need it the most. Although almost 36 million doses of H1N1 vaccine have been distributed, many parents are still anxiously waiting.


My area is typical. At present there's no H1N1 vaccine to be found through the county health department, and school clinics have been canceled for lack of vaccine. I was able to get FluMist for my child at a county clinic in mid-October, even though she doesn't have asthma or other chronic health problems that would have put her at greater risk of complications. All children and young adults from 6 months old to 24 years are a priority group for H1N1 vaccine because they have little or no immunity to this flu virus. But in hindsight, I wish the county had been stricter with those first vaccine clinics and restricted them only to pregnant women and children who are at greater risk than mine.


The flap over Wall Streeters getting H1N1 vaccine may have speeded up that process. Even though Goldman Sachs just got 200 doses of vaccine for employees in high-risk groups and Citigroup got 1,200, the sense that Wall Street fat cats got vaccine while children go without hasn't gone unnoticed. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sent out a letter yesterday reminding vaccine distributors to get H1N1 vaccines to high-risk groups first. "I ask each of you to review your plans immediately and work to ensure that the maximum number of doses is delivered to those at greatest risk as rapidly as possible," he said.


That would be nice. Half of people trying to find out where and when they could get H1N1 vaccine weren't able to, according to the Harvard survey. Puh-leez, public health folks! You've been training for pandemic vaccine distribution for years. The least you can do is let us know, in real time, where the vaccine is and how we can get it.


If you're seeking H1N1 vaccine, here are four strategies to make the vaccine search simpler:


1. Check your county health department's website and call the county flu hotline. My county health department updates its H1N1 vaccine availability site often, and a live person answers the phone when you call. Some, like Fairfax County, Va., even let you follow the H1N1 vaccine supply with the county's RSS, Twitter, and Facebook feeds. The federal government's flu.gov site can point you to state and county health department websites.


2. See if your local school system is offering vaccine clinics. Many have been canceled for lack of supply, but they'll get cranked up again as stocks increase later in November. Look for a dedicated Web page or hotline number for updates.


3. Become the new best friend of the receptionist in your pediatrician's office. These people have had a rough few weeks, besieged both by parents trying to get H1N1 vaccine and kids sick with the usual strep throat and earaches. They deserve some love. And since pediatricians will be getting more vaccine in the weeks to come, you need to stay in touch. Ask if the office is keeping a list of high-priority patients so you don't have to keep calling.


4. Shop around. Vaccine distribution is spotty, and you might strike gold at the health department in a nearby county. While Montgomery County, Md., where I live, is currently offering vaccine only to pregnant women, Fairfax County, Va., just across the Potomac River, is holding an H1N1 vaccine clinic for children on Saturday to hand out 12,000 doses. Walk-in pharmacy clinics and large medical practices also may have vaccine when your doctor does not.


If you've had luck finding H1N1 flu vaccine, please share your success in the comments! Your strategy could help other parents whose kids really need the vaccine or spare others hours waiting in line.

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Roscoe and Miss Priss

Well I live in the San Francisco Bay Area - and my county resources sites say not to expect even the high risk people getting anywhere near complete in December.

That means "optimistically" the rest of us will have to wait until at least January. As for the seasonal vaccine, there is even less of that!

I'm lucky to have gotten a hold of antivirals before this debacle happened. Which is best to take first - Tamiflu or Relenza? We are certainly likely to need it in this household at the rate things are going.

Hoorah! I was finally able to get our two teens vaccinated this afternoon!


MomCares

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"I don't want to make money. I just want to be wonderful." - Marilyn Monroe

Don't anthropomorphize viruses. They hate that.

There have been H1N1 vax clinics announced in my city the past week. Still only for high-risk groups. They said those who got there very early should expect to wait. If you didnt want to wait as long, get there about 2 hours after the clinic was scheduled to start when the line had died down somewhat.

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Roscoe and Miss Priss