At the just-concluded annual meeting of the Amercian Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), there was much talk and complaining about flu vaccine shortages. A physician who was present reports that he sampled a group of 22 family physicians gathered to discuss various problems they face, and 19 said they had received delivery of 10% or less of the vaccine they need to innoculate all their patients requiring vaccine.
Interestingly, the major mass-market retailers and drug store chains seem to have no such constraints on supply, as I discussed in my recent BusinessWeek.com article. So if you want a shot this month (beginning today at some places), you might want to check out the heavily promoted flu shot events at Wal-Mart or Walgreens. Of course, they’ll be happy to let you know about other medical services they provide, like pneumonia vaccines, that may have you thinking twice next time you have a medical problem and pick up the phone to call your local doctor. A little competition may be just what the doctor ordered, but this kind of competition signals big changes brewing in America’s healthcare system.
Of course, all this assumes you want to take the risk of possibly getting a bit of mercury along with your vaccine. While some of the vaccines are mercury-free, many still use a compund containing mercury, and mercury in any form or quantity is bad for us. So doing without the flu vaccine, and avoiding both the doctors and the chains in the process, is another option.
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