My American Privilege; Flu Vaccines

Yesterday I walked across the street to the CVS and walked to the pharmacy section in hopes of getting my flu shot. I strolled up to kiosk and then scheduled an appointment for the following day (today) since the available walk-in timeslots were after the start of shift at work. I thought nothing of it at the time, save for mild inconvenience of not being able to get the vaccine right on the spot. Later, it hit me that how fortunate I am that this chain of events was even possible in the first place.

               I graduated high school in 2009, at the height of the H1N1 Swine Flu epidemic. The outbreak of that specific variant of flu combined with the fact we were still mired in a deep global recession made vaccine production extremely limited. Panic was high, everyone wanted to avoid the flu like the literal plague it was, and everyone wanted to immunize themselves from the disease. Sadly, there was a shortage of the desired flu shot. Graduation came and went, I walked across the stage and eventually onto campus for freshman orientation, fear still of Swine Flu still high. Vaccines were still unavailable to able-bodied young men such as myself, my college did the best they could by handing out hand sanitizer.

               That experience of wanting a flu shot but not being able to get one stuck with me, to the point that I made sure to get a flu shot whenever one became available. The following year was 2010, and the pendulum had swung hard in the other direction. The vaccines cause autism movement had sprung up and had gained a large following. Suddenly, nobody wanted vaccines any more. I found this to be absolutely peachy because this meant shorter-or nonexistent-lines for me, coupled with a guaranteed supply (college-aged me was not a team player, to say the least).

               Fast forward to 2020, and of course we have COVID-19; similar in the chain of events to H1N1, though exponentially more severe. The appreciation for vaccines that I gained in my early college years had strengthened.

               Jumping back to my morning stroll across the street, I was able to leisurely walk to a building that contained a potentially life-saving flu shot (yes, the flu can and frequently does kill people) within five minutes. If the CVS did not have it, there was a Rite-Aid also within walking distance, and a Hannaford within walking distance as well. All of these vendors mentioned carry the seasonal flu shot, in ample supply. I am fortunate to live in the United States, a nation wealthy and developed enough to have the robust supply chains and distribution networks to enable this to happen in the first place. I had not one, but three options to get my flu shot. This was also me going out of my way for the flu shot; nearly every time in my adult life I’ve wanted a flu shot, I didn’t go to it, the shot came to me. College campuses and employers of virtually any size (I’ve worked at an 80-person operation and a Fortune 50 juggernaut) have flu shot drives in which students/employees can often show up to their allotted time and get not only get the vaccine. We are truly lucky to live a society where such a life-saving dose is this easy to obtain.

               There was no line at CVS, let alone any chaos or mass frenzy to obtain the vaccination. In lesser-developed nations, assuming a flu shot is available at all, there is often a long wait, limited availability, and the non-zero risk for a riot to break out-large groups of humans are not known for their patience. All of this hassle, and one still is not guaranteed a flu shot at the end of your troubles. Here in the United States, getting vaccinated against the flu is seen as a non-event, barely worth mentioning in your daily recap as you wind home after a long day at work. There are many nations around the world where this simply isn’t the case.

               The flu shot drives mentioned earlier had another benefit worth discussing, price. College students and employees showing up to their employer-hosted flu shot drives almost universally get the jab for free. Not only do employees get it for free, this also occurs during work hours, so they literally got paid to get vaccinated against the flu. Personally, I chalk this one up in win column.

               This seemingly trivial fact of life to most Americans is an absolute game-changer, and one we should not take for granted. We’re privileged to have this opportunity, and it’s one of the smaller privileges we have in thanks to living in the U.S.