(Canadian) H1N1 shot experience

[fivetails]

I thought I'd share this, particularly for any other Canadians on the board, as our vaccine is slightly diff than the US and just began, for the most part, today.

 

We got ours today - well, the kids & I did.. husband is working and will prolly have to wait until the weekend.

 

It was... semi-organised chaos. :tongue_smilie:

 

The only public clinic here right now is in the small gym at a high school, so lineups were outside - it's not winter here yet by any stretch of the imagination (it was between 0-2), but it was chilly waiting there...I'm just glad we went when we did, early. We were there almost an hour before they opened and got in line with only about 25 people ahead of us... by the time we got in at 1pm, there was at least 100 lined up, if not more. Longer line even when we got out of there. I've heard that some of the waits in Calgary and Edmonton were 4+ hours.

 

Not very well organised in some respects. They use the back entrance to a small gym and there was NO parking designated for clinic attendees... parking at *normal* times ain't pretty in this town. People were parking wherever, which was really annoying the nearby college's security, I heard.

 

It was cool, but not raining/snowing - I'm not sure what they'd have done if it had been, using the tiny gym like they are... can you imagine standing in cold October rain/snow with little kids, for what might be a couple of hours? (I was told the wait time later in the day was about 2 hours, most of that outside)

 

That said, the people running the clinic were friendly, for the most part. Things went pretty smoothly inside - we were about an hour and a half inside, and that's taking into consideration that we were moving a bit slower than many because we have a child with disabilities who needs extra time to understand/process/get around/etc.

 

As for the shot itself - it didn't hurt any worse than the seasonal shot (I'd heard that vaccines with adjuvants can hurt more), though the nurse mentioned that when she had hers, she noticed that her was a bit more sore...both our daughter and I have fairly sore arms (son doesn't appear to be sore) - but having only had the seasonal shot once (last week), we haven't much with which to compare it. The last time I had any kind of shot (as opposed to blood drawn or IVs) was about 16 years ago, and the last time the kids did (prior to last week's seasonal shot), they were too young to really remember.

 

So, as of this point, the only 'side effects' appear to be slightly sore arms {and a little trauma on the part of our daughter - we've discovered she has a previously unknown fear of needles, but she did well and got through it}..none of us have turned purple or grown feathers out of our ears. :D

 

/vax ramble

Edited October 27, 2009 by fivetails

[swellmomma]

wow it is available already up there? They say it will not be avail here in Edmonton until mid-Nov, though the ped we saw today mentioned his wife and kids had been in line for hours today to receive it. We weren't going to get it and now don't need to since we have it now, but thank you for sharing how it went today for others here in Canada that are going to get it.

[fivetails]

Brandy ~ yep, and in Edmonton too. Swine Flu Vaccinations in Edmonton (CBC news link) ....

 

Ha yeah look in the middle of the article..

 

Richard Garbe, who arrived at 5:55 a.m., wanted to get the shot before flying to Fort McMurray later on Monday.

"I work in a camp with about 2,000 guys and I just want to make sure I protect myself against the flu up there," he said.

 

 

Y'know what though? That said MORE earlier - I remember reading it. CBC is bad for that, editing their articles after they're posted. The guy specifically mentioned something about a lot of the guys in camp being sick. I wouldn't be surprised - the conditions in the camps up here are spot-on PERFECT for it to flourish.

 

 

I saw you mentioned on FB about your munchkins being sick, ack - poor kids! I hope it passes quickly for them - and that you don't get sick too! :grouphug:

[WishboneDawn]

I've got a doctor's appointment for Friday to get both flu shots but I have to call tommorrow to make sure they'll be in. I know they've started vaccinating around here but I'm not sure if it's just higher risk people and health care workers at the moment.

[fivetails]

Yeah they're not restricting it here - Alberta is doing things its own way, as usual. :lol:

 

It's available to everyone - if you show up and want it, you can have it.

 

The only thing required (but again, nobody was checking) is an Alberta Heath card --- but that makes me wonder... what about all the guys in camp (or renting rooms in town) who are still on their cards from back east because THAT is where their actual "home" is.. they come here for 3 months, go back for a month, come out again, and so on... I would hope that the clinics accepted OOP cards as well...surely they don't expect them to return to their home provinces for a shot.

[fivetails]

{I know my mother is getting hers today on the island - she works at a nursing home and they're doing all the staff right in site.}

[swellmomma]

Alberta health has recipricol billing with every province except quebec. I would imagine that the guys in camp will be given the shot and it will be billed back to their province of residence given the nature of camp life.

[fivetails]

Alberta health has recipricol billing with every province except quebec. I would imagine that the guys in camp will be given the shot and it will be billed back to their province of residence given the nature of camp life.

 

Yeah - I'm hoping they'll do that...

 

Know what I saw here in the winter that shocked me? Various doctor's offices and walk-in-clinics that they would no longer accept OOP health cards -- you had to pay cash and get reimbursed on your own from your home province -- I'm wondering.

 

I was shocked that they could do that, but apparently it's allowed because they aren't refusing the PERSON (if they can pay cash), just the card. People who couldn't pay the cash were told to go to the hospital where they "can't be turned away" for care... then the hospital staff read them the riot act for showing up at the ER with a minor thing! - sinus infection, sore throat, rash, whatever. Stuff that is normally addressed at a doc office.

[swellmomma]

Yeah - I'm hoping they'll do that...

 

Know what I saw here in the winter that shocked me? Various doctor's offices and walk-in-clinics that they would no longer accept OOP health cards -- you had to pay cash and get reimbursed on your own from your home province -- I'm wondering.

 

I was shocked that they could do that, but apparently it's allowed because they aren't refusing the PERSON (if they can pay cash), just the card. People who couldn't pay the cash were told to go to the hospital where they "can't be turned away" for care... then the hospital staff read them the riot act for showing up at the ER with a minor thing! - sinus infection, sore throat, rash, whatever. Stuff that is normally addressed at a doc office.

 

That comes from laziness on the part of the person doing the billing. handling an OOp claim is not hard at all, it just takes an eaxtra second or two to make sure the right province is listed on the billing form. With everything being computerized it is so easy (I used to do the billing for the ped's office I worked in). Was this a medicenter type clinic or regular dr's office? Medi-center has always been quick to make the patient pay cash for EVERYTHING possible, they refuse all insurance other than AB health and expect the patient to get reimbursed. We were the same way with private insurance(blue cross etc) at the ped's office because dealing with insurance companies was a huge song and dance, but OOP healthcare cards was no different to bill than AB health ones.

 

Hey before I forget I am firing you a PM, not about healthcare/vax's though ;)