What do you do if you’re a public health official or a doctor who’s stuck with too much flu vaccine? Because the vaccine is only good for a single season, being stuck with vaccine is a little like having a flower store with too many flowers as a long weekend approaches. You better get creative.
Here’s the problem: Despite a massive government push, it now looks as if many millions of doses of flu vaccine will go unused, reports The New York Times.
The reporter offers all kinds of possible reasons: the mild weather, holiday distractions, a delay in getting vaccine produced, confusion about whether to get the shots from a doctor or a Wal-Mart. There is one possibility the reporter fails to address, however: that some people may be afraid of the vaccine.
After all, it’s still not clear that mercury has been completely eliminated from the vaccine, and who wants to take an annual shot of mercury in addition to what you’re getting by eating fish and other foods? And some people may be taking a do-it-yourself approach by trying to build up their own immunity to reduce the chances of flu infection.
So the marketers (i.e. medical people) are taking a new approach, arguing that people can legitimately get their flu shots almost any time. Just as the agriculture distributors a while back decided that turkey needn’t be consumed only at Thanksgiving, the American Academy of Pediatrics is considering endorsing the idea that flu shots can be given as late as May, rather than ending in January.
Well, it’s often said that if you have too many lemons, you better figure out new ways to make lemonade. Isn’t it inspiring to see the health care people become entrepreneurial?
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