National snafus with flu vaccine

Friday, November 6, 2009
We are over 65 and have been attempting to get seasonal flu shots. My doctor does not have the vaccine. We encountered a ridiculous situation at the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center. Shots supposedly were available from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. We arrived at 9:30 a.m. and were told by people who were leaving that no more shots were available. We returned home, and I called the health department. I found out that 300 shots were available, all of which were allotted to those queued up before 9:30 a.m. The person who answered the phone said there was no way of telling if and when the health department would receive more vaccine.

I haven't any complaints with the local health authorities, but it seems to me the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is sorely lacking. I can understand the problems of the H1N1 vaccine, but it seems ridiculous to have a problem with the distribution of the garden-variety flu vaccine that has been growing in laboratories for months.

If this portends what is to come with a national health plan so eagerly pursued by our president and legislators, our health and well-being are in serious jeopardy. Our government cannot run anything well.

JOHN RUESTER, Cape Girardeau