On Oct 5th we had an appointment at our pediatrician to get the boys their Flu shots. I was relieved to get in there, because with me working at the hospital I am coming into contact with a ton of nasty stuff.

We get in the office, and are called back to the room. Jim and I are both there and we each have a kid in our lap. The nurse instructs us to pull their pants down around their ankles, and she goes out to grab the shots.

C is crying. He knows what’s coming. J is oblivious, happily chewing on his knuckles.

The nurse comes back in. “I’m sorry, we don’t have  shots for them. Their insurance (state provided) hasn’t sent them to us yet.”

Umm. Ok.

So C gets his stay of execution, and we get the boys dressed and back in the car. On the way home, we stop at a local pharmacy and Jim gets his shot, because if the boys can’t get theirs yet we at least both need to be vaccinated.

That was 10 days ago. Since then we have had a local high school close because 400 students called out with Flu symptoms in one day. Our hospital is full to the brim with patients testing positive for seasonal flu and H1N1. It’s only the middle of October.

I called the boys Dr. “Can I pay out of pocket for them to get vaccinated?”

“No, we are not legally allowed to accept cash for them”

WHY THE HELL NOT?

I called the Health Department for our county. “Sorry, we don’t have any pediactric doses. Call back every day, because when we get them they will go fast.”

I called all the Urgent Care facilities. ” Sorry, we ran out already and have been waiting for a shipment for a couple weeks now.”

I called every pharmacy, grocery store…ANYONE who offers Flu shots on a walkin/clinic basis. “Sorry, we only can give them to kids 3 and over.”

I called the boys insurance. ” There is a shortage. Do they have any chronic health problems?”

“No, they are healthy”

“Well, then they will just have to wait.”

So forget that they are aged 5 and under, one of the high risk categories.

Forget that their mother works in Health Care, one of the high risk categories.

Forget that their father has severe asthma, and is in one of the high risk categories.

Let’s just punish them because they have been healthy SO FAR.

Let’s punish them because their father’s full time job doesn’t offer insurance and they have had to use state aid to stay healthy.

That’s what REALLY GETS ME. There are FLU SHOTS sitting in their Dr’s office and they can’t have them because they are on state insurance.

Fuck You.