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Why not get the shot?

Millions of doses of H1N1 flu vaccine are still available in Canada, but while the supply is plentiful, the demand has dwindled.

The provincial government had ordered over four million doses of the vaccine for B.C., at a cost of $32 million. In total, the federal and provincial governments chipped in $400 million for 50.4 million swine flu shots for Canadians. (Those figures are for the vaccine only, not accounting for planning, the actual distribution, etc.)

At the time, officials clearly feared a massive outbreak or feared not appearing on top of a potentially massive outbreak, anyway.

So, what did they get for their trouble? Was it widespread acclaim following a swift, effective, near-universal rollout (which also explains the greatly reduced demand now)?

Nah!

The officials have successfully shielded themselves from charges of apathy, at least. Criticisms of government handling of H1N1 seem to follow two general themes: they went way overboard (which is really just caring too much), and the rollout was confusing and confused.

Either way, that is an A for effort, if not execution.

For the time being, the media is focusing its attention on the public’s indifference.

Vaccination season had a robust start. Flu clinics across Canada shot free vaccine (at Interior Health’s public health unit in Lillooet’s case) into millions of arms hungry for weakened flu virus. OK, maybe hungry is not the right word.

That was November. Now, in mid-December, most of the clinics have either closed or are about to close. Somewhere along the way, people stopped worrying.

As of late last week in B.C., only about 40 per cent of the population had taken the H1N1 vaccine, despite having enough doses to cover twice that number, if not more.

Lillooet’s own drop-in clinics have ended, too. Those who are interested can still make an appointment for a free flu shot by calling the local public health unit at 250-256-1314.

But as we noted, as Christmas approaches, thoughts of global flu pandemics have faded into the ether.

Mind you, at least some of those who have not received the vaccine are deliberately avoiding it, likely worried about suffering more from the treatment than the disease.

Health officials have downplayed any potential reaction from the vaccine compared to actually coming down with swine flu, but have made little headway among the diehards.

Those officials also remind us that although the second wave of H1N1 infections (which began in October, following the first wave last spring) is now tapering off, a third wave is still expected after the holidays and before winter’s end.

We suspect, though, that most of the people who have not yet taken the vaccine had something else on their minds.

Truth be told, the H1N1 pandemic is looking a lot less scary than our worst fears. Still, as long as there is a treatment that is free, convenient, and safe (you might disagree on that one, but you cannot dispute the other two), why not get the shot?

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