# 4156
Over the past few months I’ve actively encouraged others to get the H1N1 `swine’ flu shot, but until today – due to my age and not falling into a priority group – I’ve not be able to get one myself.
That changed this morning when my local Walgreens began to offer the H1N1 shot to those outside of the original 5 target groups. They had been out of the vaccine for more than a week, but just got a new shipment in.
Since it was `first-come, first-serve’ I made it a point to get down there this morning to get my shot. I filled out some forms, waited about 20 minutes, and was quickly and painlessly injected by a very adept pharmacy manager named Stacy.
I was in and out in 30 minutes.
Incredibly, despite millions of injections given and very few reports of adverse events, there are still purveyors of pandemic paranoia out there warning against getting the vaccine.
While no vaccine is 100% safe to 100% of the population, the safety profile of this vaccine is roughly the same as with seasonal flu shots.
In other words . . . pretty darn safe.
With the Holidays approaching, families gathering together, and the possibility of yet another wave of illness, now is a good time to go ahead and get vaccinated if you haven’t done so already.
Availability is improving with each passing day.
Vaccination not only helps to protect yourself, it also helps to protect others by denying the virus another susceptible host.
It takes a week or 10 days to build antibodies, so don’t put it off.
