We typically get ours at the end of October. EVERY YEAR, for decades now.

I had a virtual appointment with my endocrinologist this morning and one of the things she asked was if we'd had this years vaccination. I told her No, but that we would get them. She said - a little earlier this year wouldn't hurt, why not now.

No reason not to, so later in the morning we went to Rite Aid. Out of the senior dose and pharmacist didn't know if they would have more. We drove to Safeway Pharmacy and got our senior dose shots.

such vitriol at the KT ... the topic is NOT face masks and politics ... check the OP

I don't know if this is across the board, but my daughter took her grade schooler for her yearly physical last week. The nurse was persistent that she get a flu shot. To the point that my daughter was getting annoyed with the nurse's persistence. My daughter also likes to wait until later for the flu shot. When she pressed for a reason for the early flu shot the nurse said if someone had a flu shot and they develop flu like symptoms they are going to automatically assume you have covid. My daughter asked her with only a 50% effect rate how could you just jump to such a conclusion. The nurse didn't have an answer and my daughter left without the flu shot.

I have never had the senior dosage but have gotten flu-like side effects from flu shots. Do you think they would be worse with the higher dosage? I am getting it either way, I just want to know what to expect afterwards.

Elizabeth, I've never had but an achy shoulder some years with either the general population shot or the senior dose. Have had both. Same with DH. We get the same shot and are quite different sizes, he's almost two of me. I have more side effect from a shot at the dentist than this one, will often feel 'just a little off' for a day or so after being numbed for work on a tooth.

@ functionthenlook, Because it is rare for those who had the vaccine to seek medical attention - for the mild symptoms they experience. If they had the vaccine and come in with severe symptoms, it is usually something else (e.g., strep). We still swab and test for influenza (increasing costs), but more often than not (>90-95%) the influenza test is negative.

BTW, these days in doctors offices it's rare to see a "nurse." Offices are usually staffed by "medical assistants," who may only have a few months of training (vs. several years of college for an RN), and make <50% of RN salary. Health care organizations, focusing on saving $$$, try to pass MA's off as nurses, and the MA's may like being called nurses. Unfortunately, too often, the MA is unable to answer questions or provide needed patient education.

I got my high-dose flu shot yesterday while at the hospital cancer clinic for my bi-monthly infusion of Darzelex. Only "ouch" was the stab. Nothing since. DH plans to get his at our Jewel-Osco, where they told him yesterday that they have the high-dose. (They also offer a 10% coupon on future store purchases.) He tried at CVS...only a message to try for an appointment online only. Our local Walgreens is one of the first stores ever built; you get your shot sitting in the aisle between the 'incontinence' and 'family planning' displays...lol.

I had the senior shot last Saturday, Not only did I not even feel the needle, I have had zero side effects, not even a sore arm, Nada.

Elizabeth, I had a bad reaction to a flu shot about 15 years ago. I awoke in he middle of the night feeling like all my muscles and joints were on fire. Fortunately, I was better by morning, but that experience was bad enough to keep me off flu shots for the next five years, and I didn't get another one until my oldest grandson was born. I thought about that reaction the first time I was offered the high-dose shot. I was wary of it, but it went well. Same deal with yesterday's shot. I have the sore arm, as always for me, but nothing else. Didn't even feel the needle.

Thank you for the info. I just called our doctor's office and scheduled both DH and I. I haven't gotten a flu shot since I got very ill from the Swine Flu vaccine in 1976(?). Last year I got the flu and am grateful I was able to get Tamiflu which worked amazingly well.

Mdin, it may be different where you live, but only a RN can administer medications here. RNs are common in doctors offices. The FHC I worked at usually ran 4 to 5 docs a shift. 1 on 1 ratio for nurse to doc. Only one of them would be a MA. Pharmacists only can administer to patients 9 or older. Of course PAs can administer them.

Just because you had a mild reaction to a flu shot doesn't mean the next person will. Most do only have no to mild effects , but not all.

For those who experience a sore arm after an injection, really relax your arm. Like a wet noodle relaxed. The needle tearing through a tense muscle results in more damage to the muscle compared to a relaxed muscle.

DH and I are getting ours later this afternoon at Publix. We found out the other day we need to make an appointment because they are booked up. Saw a line the other day when I went in for groceries, so I figured we better get on it. They have the senior dose and this wI’ll be the first time I have had it. It doesn’t appear to be in short supply here.

Sort of off topic but the doctor's office I have been going to has reduced the number of actual nurses and is relying on medical assistants for most of the things that the nurses were doing. In a phone call earlier this week the person I was talking with kept switching between the two terms for the same person.

@ functionthenlook, interesting, where are you located?

Sounds like a great place to work, primary doc colleagues would love to each have an RN. Even in the ED we have more & more techs - which are cheaper to hire than RN's. Same with NP/PA's, cheaper to hire than docs. The business people (bean counters) are running healthcare. :-(

Pittsburgh. There is more PAs being used here also.

Got high dosage flu shot this week at at Giant's. Went on Wednesday when Giant pharmacy is opened early for senior citizens. Hardly anyone in the store. Had a sore arm for 2 days.

@ functionthenlook, MA's can administer meds - as delegated by a physician - in Pennsylvania. (I almost took a job at Pitt. BTW- great ED docs there.) Below is legal interpretation of the Pennsylvania medical practice act.

Having seen the various comments from people who are going to the various pharmacy's I have my doubts that each of them have a RN available to dispense the flu and other shots. While some pharmacy's may have an actual pharmacist do the injection when I checked a couple of months ago about the shingles shot the person that the pharmacist directed to where the shots were kept was not a pharmacist nor an RN. Each state has their on laws but they are changing back to a more relaxed method for good or bad.

"The business people (bean counters) are running healthcare. :-("

Their job is to try to manage the out of control escalation of medical costs.

Here's an idea - what if all physicians agreed to a 10% (or greater) reduction in their incomes? The savings can pay for more RNs in place of assistants and anything left over can be a cost reduction.

One of the biggest problems in escalating costs is that too many docs have a feeling of personal entitlement concerning their income. Especially ones whose practices are the highly paid procedures, of any kind. That's a place to start finding savings and money to redirect to more important spending. Yes, I have docs among my family and friends and fortunately none of them have such attitudes. But they talk about too many colleagues who do.

Oh, I'd say that insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies are running medicine. Let's add hospital conglomerates. This is no different from 'who' (WHAT) is running the world. It's not individuals, it's corporations.

I'm glad to be kept alive with my multiple myeloma blood cancer, but Medicare is paying $26,000 for each of my Darzalex infusions...just the drug, not the 'incidentals'. (Weekly infusions for 8 weeks, then bi-monthly, eventually monthly...for as long as I live and the med is effective.)

mdln, here is further explanation from the AAMA on MAs and their scope to give injections. I just think it is too much hassle and risk for at least the doctors I've known to have MAs give injections. Now I have known a few MAs that were giving injections, but they were at the end of their RN schooling or waiting for their board results and the docs have worked with them for years to know their capabilities . I remember a meeting we had on the subject years ago at the FHC. The concession was that MAs do not have knowledge or training to evaluate if the patient was having an adverse effect to the medication. Sorry, i didn't want to make this part bold, but the laptop will not let me reverse it.

18.402.Delegation. (a) A medical doctor may delegate to a health care practitioner or technician the performance of a medical service if the following conditions are met: (1) The delegation is consistent with the standards of acceptable medical practice embraced by the medical doctor community in this Commonwealth. Standards of acceptable medical practice may be discerned from current peer reviewed medical literature and texts, teaching facility practices and instruction, the practice of expert practitioners in the field and the commonly accepted practice of practitioners in the field. (2) The delegation is not prohibited by the statutes or regulations relating to other health care practitioners. (3) The medical doctor has knowledge that the delegatee has education, training, experience and continued competency to safely perform the medical service being delegated.

(4) The medical doctor has determined that the delegation to a health care practitioner or technician does not create an undue risk to the particular patient being treated. (5) The nature of the service and the delegation of the service has been explained to the patient and the patient does not object to the performance by the health care practitioner or technician. Unless otherwise required by law, the explanation may be oral and may be given by the physician or the physician’s designee.

(b) A medical doctor may not delegate the performance of a medical service if performance of the medical service or if recognition of the complications or risks associated with the delegated medical service requires knowledge and skill not ordinarily possessed by nonphysicians. (c) A medical doctor may not delegate a medical service which the medical doctor is not trained, qualified and competent to perform. (d) A medical doctor is responsible for the medical services delegated to the health care practitioner or technician. (e) A medical doctor may approve a standing protocol delegating medical acts to another health care practitioner who encounters a medical emergency that requires medical services for stabilization until the medical doctor or emergency medical services personnel are available to attend to the patient. (f) This section does not prohibit a health care practitioner who is licensed or certified by a Commonwealth agency from practicing within the scope of that license or certificate or as otherwise authorized by law. For example, this section is not intended to restrict the practice of certified registered nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, certified registered nurse practitioners, physician assistants, or other individuals practicing under the authority of specific statutes or regulations.

maifleur03 each state is different. In PA only a pharmacist that is in a retail setting can give an injection.

chisue, I don't think it's quite as you think.

In the relationship between providers and insurance companies, there are negotiations and contracts. It often comes down to a "take it or leave it" proposition when the provider thinks the contract offered is too low and the insurance company things the provider charges are too high. That's why providers sometimes drift in and out of an insurance company's network.That's cost containment.

Some insurance companies are mutuals, meaning, owned by policy holders and rebating savings to them. If you think they're making too much, you can own a piece of the rock yourself-buy their stock or get insurance through a company owned by policyowners. You can do the same thing with what you call the "conglomerates". Don't fight 'em, join 'em. You'll find the realities are different than what you imagine.

Elmer, if MDs agreed to lower their incomes by 10%, I'd like to see the student loans of all in the medical fields be reduced as well. Only fair.

Good idea, sushipup. That should be done with generosity for docs in the true primary care specialties (not ER) or working in low income areas or public service jobs. The fee for procedure lot and other highly paid specialties don't need help.

The ones in the high-paid specialties don't usually still have the student loans anyway. But don't forget all the other medical personnel who have student loans from their specialized training.

Sure they do. Loans are a reality while in undergrad and professional schools for those without access to family support. What specialty the new MDs decide to pursue isn't influenced by that, that I've seen.

Flu shots aren't available here until mid-October. If everyone is social distancing, wearing masks in public, not allowing anyone into their home and washing/sanitizing their hands, you really shouldn't need a flu vaccine. I've never had one. Never will get one.

Debby, we were thinking somewhat the same about this being a low flu year. We're already masking, distancing, washing our hands a lot - you'd think that would reduce the spread of seasonal flu.

But. Health authorities including my own doctor are saying that the addition of another respiratory illness on top of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could overburden our health care system, possibly cause unnecessary suffering. If not ours, our community.

We're being asked to get the shot which we do every year anyway. ANYTHING we can do to lessen the burden on this country during the pandemic is little to ask. I wish there was more we could do to cooperate, participate in getting past this.

Influenza Vaccination - IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT YOU!

Are you around any young children, elderly folks, pregnant women, people with cardiac or respiratory disease, cancer patients, individuals with less than ideal immune systems??? How would you feel if you spread influenza to them??? If you don't know the story, google and read about Typhoid Mary.

We are fearful of a twindemic.

Are you around any young children, elderly folks, pregnant women, people with cardiac or respiratory disease, cancer patients, individuals with less than ideal immune systems?

Those above groups at risk should get the flu shot. Enough with the virtue signaling that we are responsible for other people's health. I don't normally hang with unhealthy people and those in my family who are at risk, or think they may be, take their own steps to protect themselves. As would if I have I felt my health were at risk. Other than being "elderly" to some of you. Reminds me of the 1960's when anyone over 30 was "old".

@ wild, that argument would be correct IF vaccinations were 100% effective in all, unfortunately they are not.

And there are some people who cannot or should not take vaccines.

"a vulnerable minority — the young, the old and the sick — whose immune
systems cannot withstand the dose of weakened virus in a vaccine."

https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-must-get-vaccinated-to-protect-the-people-who-cant/

Got ours Thursday. We don't usually get them this early but so glad we did.

We got ours Thursday too! Some are saying there is a going to be a shortage of the Senior vaccine but of course who knows if that is true.

Got ours Friday. Sore arm.

I didn't get flu shots until about 15 yrs ago when I got the flu and wound up so sick I had to be hospitalized. I was healthy, thin, good shape and I wound up with viral pneumonia. I have never been so sick, couldn't breathe without sharp pain in my chest. Fever 104.

The hospital was not happy I was brought there without having a flu shot. I was in my 50's.

Took over a month to recover. I was the sickest I have ever been. I had the flu before but nothing like that time.

Now I get it. I'm not a fan of them but do it to help prevent going through something like that again.

Jane

Just got sr flu shot. Pharmacy suggested getting on the list last summer and notified me yesterday. I do get one every year and they were hard to come by last year too.

I got my regular flu shot yesterday at work. I was the second appointment of the day. I still have 7+ years until I will start getting the senior dose.

Our pharmacies etc are all out of the senior's flu shot. It seems that *everyone* is requesting the extra-strength one, and they're out of it for those who need them. Not sure when more will be in.

The vaccinations are all done by app't so my friend who needs the high-voltage dose and I (just regular dose) got put on the list.

One of our national pharmacies were out of the dosage by 3pm Sunday. And no new supplies in yet.

I had both my (senior) flu and second pneumonia shot last week. Just walked into Sam's Club pharmacy. There was no mention of a shortage for the senior flu shot. A friend went to Sam's and got hers yesterday.

The two of us usually wait till mid November, but took advantage of drive through vaccination service this weekend. There was no senior dose. I did not feel a thing; not just no pain, but no pinch, no pressure, no nothing. Afterward I had no soreness or anything.

I got my flu shot (senior dose) Monday at a drive thru clinic offered by LECOM. Last year I got the senior dose for the first time and felt ill the next day for about 10 hours. No problems this year. My arm was sore for about 36 hrs but is fine now.

And what is LECOM?

Our doctor has been out of the flu vaccine since last week and does not know when the vaccine will come in. Luckily, my husband and I were able to get the flu shot for seniors at CVS in Target this afternoon. We made an appointment and filled out minimal paperwork online. It was quick and easy. Next we need to get the pneumonia shot and hubby needs Shingrix.

LECOM is Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Erie, PA

Hubby and I got our senior shot two weeks ago at CVS. First time I had a very sore arm for three days.

How often are you supposed to get a pneumonia shot? I may have gotten one 15 yrs ago but am not sure. I thought you are supposed to only get it once.

Jane

Jane, check with your doctor. If you are a senior, you actually should have two different pneumonia shots. At least that's what I was told while they were sticking it to me!

Yes, TWO pneumonia vaccinations, PCV 13 (prevnar) and PPSV 23 (pneumovax).

Today's Chicago Tribune has a story about a shortage of flu vaccine in the higher dosage.

I got mine today... when I called the grocery store pharmacy to see if I needed an appt she said no. I asked if they were busy with people wanting them she said yes. I told her I was coming on my lunch hour, so she took my info over the phone to help expedite me when I got there. Nice!

Anyhow, she said she had to ask me a delicate question... how old am I? I didn't ask why she was asking, but thanks to this post, this is probably why!

I laughed to myself about the "delicate" question - I'll tell anybody my age, but I was afraid it might be how much do you weigh? Now that's a delicate question!

My Walgreens pharmacy was out of the high dose flu vaccine (recommended for seniors) and did not know when they would be re-supplied, therefore, I accepted the standard dosage. Its better to have something than nothing. The flu season is approaching and it seems that in my location, the flu gets passed around quickly after it starts.