Line-ups for the H1N1 shot

Joy in the H1N1 Shot
November 22, 2009

To beat the rush of people getting the flu shot this morning, I got over to the Brentwood Calgary Health Region H1N1 vaccination clinic at 8:30 am. The parking lot had four packed rows of cars, not four cars, but four packed rows of parked cars -- my clue that I wasn’t going to be the only one in line at the start of the day.

Why weren’t all of these people in church where they are supposed to be, I thought.

Would you believe that the inside line up for the flu clinic was two rows deep going toward the Safeway, and at the T-angle where the clinic is, there were another two rows deep of people going down the centre of the mall towards the Tim Horton’s shop. As well, a third overflow line went down the hall where a dressmaker has a shop. There were health care workers or hired security at the front of end of every line, showing people which line they were to go to next, others handing out clipboards and pens and telling everyone to be prepared to have their Alberta Health Card number checked at the front of the line. The man who was walking into the building in front of me said to one of the security people guarding the row against line-jumpers, “This line-up is too long for me.” That gave me a chance to get in front of at least one person. I said to him later – aren’t you happy this morning – seeing your tax dollar at work for you here.

The truth is, that all told, I took only an hour from the time I left home until I got back home, and that included the 15 minute waiting period after the shot and a long visit with the public health nurse who was so deft with the needle that I felt nothing. When I congratulated her on the quick shot she said, “Well you are good as well. No blood, though I can give you a band aid if you want."

I declined.

I told her that the line-up was so interesting – the real face of Canada. The shaven, the unshaven, the tall, the short, the young woman whose hair was beautifully coiffed, the old man still in his bedroom slippers, white and every other skin color, people listening to their I-Pods, others on their cell phones, some reading this morning’s Financial Post, the Sun, others with the Calgary Herald in front of their faces, some only staring blankly ahead, children sitting on the floor, pacified with a juice box, still rubbing their little shoulders where they had received the shot. The nurse said to me, "Not only the real face of Canada, but the sense of community that is here never stops. Yesterday an older man whose wife had just died, was helping a young mother who was alone with many little children. Her littlest one was inconsolable and he stepped up to help her with the baby."

“Have you had your ten-year tetanus and diphtheria shot?”, she asked me, when I asked her where I was to go to get the regular seasonal flu vaccine. “You can remember if you had that?” she questioned. I looked her in the eye and said, “Many people my age can’t remember what they ate for breakfast. I do remember breakfast, but I don’t remember when I got that shot. I keep good health files. I could go home and look it up.”

"The reason I am asking you is ...” she said, “if you will phone the Ranchlands Health Clinic and make an appointment to get the diphtheria/tetnus shot, they will also give you the flu shot at the same time, though they won’t make appointments for the flu shot alone.”

Kelvin went to get his shot a few days ago. They line-jumped him right from the back of the line to the front. How nice was that for him?

Anyone else out there in the line-ups for the H1N1 flu shot yet?

Arta