Flu Shots

We found out at Brady’s last appointment that infant’s receive their flu shot in two doses, at least 30 days apart from each other. Brady received her first dose at her last visit and when I called to schedule her second dose, not only was she not on the waiting list (and I mentioned the prematurity thing too but it didn’t help), but they are out of it and won’t be getting any more in until November some time. Not only that, but the H1N1 clinic that I was going to take her to at the county health department (even despite all of the sick people there exposing her to who knows what) didn’t receive enough doses of the vaccine either and it’s unknown when there will be more. Tomorrow I need to call the pediatrician she’s going to go to in Austin and see if I can get her in for the 2nd dose of her flu shot there. I saw today that Texas has already received almost 1 million doses of H1N1 but for some reason Brady isn’t considered in the high priority group. I’m agitated that a child’s life doesn’t seem valuable until the age of 2 or warrant receiving a vaccine that could prevent hospitalizations or even death. Oh, and I also asked at Brady’s last appointment if she’d be getting Synagis (RSV) shots again this season and I guess insurance companies are super strict about giving those out and since Brady has no health problems/complications it’s pretty definite that insurance won’t cover the shots. So hopefully we can avoid any more plane rides, being around sick people, and arm ourselves with soap, sanitizer, and vitamins (hidden for Brady). The only positive thing I can say regarding flu shots, is that Casey, my dad, and I all managed to get ours at Walgreens before they started running out (my mom got hers from work) so I’m hoping I can pass along some of my antibodies in my milk.