There was a physical altercation between 2 women in the parking lot of my son's pediatrician's office.
The police were called.
There was spitting involved.
The clinic was delayed.
The women had their children with them.

Nice, huh?

I was able to get both of my boys the seasonal flu shot the first week of September, and the first h1n1 shot the first week of November. Our pediatrican's office has been doing a good job of posting clinics as soon as vaccine was available, and of prioritizing for younger/high risk kids. I did have to stay on top of it though. I checked their website daily for new clinic postings and called first thing in the morning when they did post one. I have one kid who is 7, and one asthmatic 9 year old - the first got the flumist, the second got the injectible vaccine. I guess we are just lucky to have a well run pediatrician's office. One thing that I really like is that they will not schedule clinics unless they have vaccine, and then they schedule appointments. You will only be going there if you know they have vaccine for you personally.

the whole thing was making me crazy too. just by luck my three kids got their seasonal shots/mist back in September when they were handing them out like candy (we were in for something else and they were offering them to everyone). I called three times a week about the H1N1 vaccine because my 1 yr old has had wheezing issues in the past. again, by luck we were in for his 1 yr appt on the day they received a small shipment of shots, and because he was on the priority list he got his that day, and brought the older kids in for their H1N1 mist two days later (again, they were on the priority list because of their brother). Our office also did a great job of doing what they could with so little, and our doctor said it was the most stressed out she'd been in 20 yrs+ of being a doctor.
I haven't even bothered to try to get H1N1 shots for my husband or me, since we just barely got our seasonal shots in under the wire...

Had to bring my son in to work and pay for a regular flu shot since I couldn't get him in at our pediatrician's office after two months! So now after shots at three different locations, we're all covered for seasonal flu, but H1N1--forget it! I don't want to chase the elusive prize for weeks again. Daughter is 2 and in daycare, so hoping the other parents there were more successful than I!

I hope someone at your doctor's office reads this and possibly realized what a terrible job they are doing. I too have been frustrated by my pediatrian's office staff - and they are a prominent practice based out of Newton Wellesley. Is this the norm?

It seems that our system of "private" medicine doesn't necessarily mean that you'll get any different treatment than you get at the registry of motor vehicles. Somehow the "public option" doesn't sound so bad.

I overheard a woman on the train saying that her 3 year-old daughter (with no health issues) was able to get the H1N1 shot a couple of weeks ago, and that this pedi's office was also vaccinating all the parents so she had gotten it as well. Yet, I cannot get an H1N1 shot for my two small children. Equitable? Not a bit.

I think we go to the same pediatrician.I just checked the web site this am.... 40 doses! I'm sure the practice has 1,000ands of patients. I feel like such a failure in a way... I picked this practice and when push comes to shove I guess I made the wrong decision. I hope my kids stay well. It seems that a lot of the smaller practices do have H1N1 and the seasonal flu vaccine and it hasn't been a problem to get it, at least from the moms I've talked to. But, I feel like switching to a smaller practice now might end up being as effective as switching lines in the grocery store. It never ends up working out. Also, I've heard that the vaccines are only available for "established" patients at many places, perhaps to discourage people from switching just to have a better chance of getting vaccinated.

Oh, and BTW, their 'webmaster' is one of the doctors. As if he doesn't already have enough to do!

My understanding is that the doctors' offices have no control over how much vaccine they do or do not receive. They are get what they get from the state. Now, they can control how they communicate their supply or lack there of with their patients. My son's ped office updated their website AND sends out emails. Still, my 4 year-old still hasn't received the H1N1 vaccine. I am nervous, but we are doing everything we can to make sure he does not get the virus before he is able to get the shot.

It's quite frustrating and most moms out there feel your pain. My family was able to get both the seasonal and H1N1 vaccines, but I am pregnant and our daughter is 2 and in daycare, so we classify as high priority. Really the only reason my daughter (no underlying health issues) and husband (also no underlying issues) were able to get the H1N1 is because I am pregnant. Otherwise, none of us would have gotten it. The doctors offices are all out - we actually got ours through our local Health and Human Services Department. They don't advertise, you will need to call, but give your local HHS department a try. They may still be reserving it for high risk people only, but you never know.

I am a high risk candidate (with a 3 month old at home) and JUST was able to get the vaccine for my family. It took daily phone calls and using every resource available to me. And this is for a high risk family. If I didn't have the time (I was on maternity leave) no one would have contacted me. I am sympathetic to families outside the high risk category who want to protect themselves, but it was frustrating beyond belief to hear that non high risk people were being allowed to "jump the queue". The management of this vaccine distribution is frightening.

and here I am, scared that my son will be mistakenly given this dangerous, untested vaccine against my will.

You are lucky RRR that they prioritized you for being pregnant. I am also pregnant and my OBGYN (who had the vaccines) told me that I had to be 24 weeks pregnant to get the shot. My husband is not going to be able to get it I think.

I had my 7 year old in for an ear infection, asked about the H1N1 shot, and they offered it to her then, and gave me an appointment for my asthmatic 9-year-old. The doctor even told me that they only had 200 doses, so I was surprised they were giving it to my healthy kid, but I certainly wasn't going to turn it down. Both kids got the seasonal vaccine in September - I learned years ago that I have to call them starting September first about the vaccine, and if they don't have it yet, keep calling until they do. Neither my asthmatic husband nor myself have gotten H1N1 shots, but I got my seasonal shot at work.

I hope that everyone who wants vaccine is able to get it. This is ridiculous.

Don't feel bad, it has nothing to do with whether you waited too long or not. I'm a high risk candidate and I have been trying for WEEKS to get the H1N1 vaccine and my doctor's office is coming up empty and just can't/won't say when they will get it. On the other hand, the supply at my kids' pediatrician's office seems plentiful.

The inability of the state and federal gov't to organize these shots is pathetic. The distribution process is so inefficient. Why is NY City already giving it in the schools but my town's health department has only gotten 100 doses for a town with almost 4000 school age kids and many more pre-schoolers and babies. Cities like Toronto have well organized clinics and communication but here in Massachusetts it is a mess. Hunting for 10 doses here and 40 doses here is crazy. And, the amount of time worried parents and high risk adults spend filling up the doctor's phone lines asking the same question over and over again is just driving up the cost of care for everyone.

The hysteria over all this is comical.

perhaps to you Mike, but the rest of us aren't laughing - EN

Is there any proof yet that the H1N1 vaccine prevents death from the swine flu? That's why I haven't gone crazy chasing this thing.

When is the govt. going begin subsidizing vaccine production? You can't even get the regular flu shot, that is pathetic. Yeah, I understand production was diverted to produce H1N1.

Stop having press conferences and fix the supply problem.

The government does not make vaccines. They could send 12 senators to each vaccine maker to personally harangue them - it's not going to make the viruses replicate any faster. Getting mad at 'the government' because there are not enough vaccines makes as much sense as getting mad at them because there are no strawberries I like in the supermarket.

If the government didn't put out the word about the danger of this flu, what would happen then? Wouldn't they be rightly accused of not doing their job? But when they do their job (warning people of the danger to high risk groups, ordering vaccines, putting out the word on how to preven the spread, tracking cases, etc. etc.) they are accused of fostering hysteria. Exactly what do people want?

At the state and local level, there is probably a lot of room for improvement in the distribution of the vaccines. But there is absolutely nothing the government can do to cause more vaccines to magically appear overnight.

While I am sure the staff at your doctor's office weren't as pleasant as they could be, you should try to understand their side of things.
We start answering phones at 8:30 am and get a minimum 100 calls in an hour just for flu shots that we do not have. All patients are told the same thing we honestly do not know when the shipment will come it just arrives and we never know how much. Yet despite this we have moms and dads screaming at us that we are killing their children because they can not get a shot and hope that we are happy with ourselves if their child gets sick. -seriously people??
By 9:00 am all the staff have been verbally threatened continually by parents and you wonder why perhaps the staff is not smiling and overly cheerful but when you are constantly grilled for something you have no control over you are bound to get frustrated.
Understanding goes a long way on BOTH sides so bear with the staff because honestly the state is not making anything easy for the doctors offices.
IF your child is healthy be patient and allow the high risk children who are more likely to get secondary infections to get their vaccines first.
December is around the corner and the vaccine will be readily available then.

flutired, thanks so much for writing in (after what I can imagine was a really looong day of dealing with angry parents.) I am really glad to hear the opinion of someone on the other side of the desk. Any other medical professionals out there who care to weigh in too? - EN

We got the seasonal but have not been sucessful getting H1N1...what sucks is that they had the mist for H1N1, but my daughter's too little, so we're still out of luck.

Get a new pediatrician.

In August, we asked that our 3 kids be added to the seasonal and H1N1 lists.

Got a call in early Sept with the day we could come in. In and out in 5 minutes. Done with seasonal.

Got a call in mid October that they would have H1N1 flu mist the last week in October (even though media was reporting shortages/delays). Came in, got the flu mist and was done.

No co-pays, no checking websites, no calling. They maintain a list, you must ask to be put on it. First come, first served, fair.

As a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, I work in a Pediatric practice and am disappointed by the media barrage of information regarding Flu. There are many issues that are present surrounding this year's Flu strains. The first issue is that H1N1 has been recognized in Massachusetts since Spring 2009, there were not as many cases over the summer but regardless, they were occurring. In response to this new Flu strain, a vaccine was developed to immunize the high risk population. In order to develop such a vaccine, it takes time. The seasonal flu vaccine production is usually started in Feb or March of each year to be available in September or October. This new vaccine was started much later then that.

I would like to finish my comment. The Federal gov is in charge of the H1N1 vaccine distribution to the states and then Massachusetts controls distribution at the state level. The vaccine is not otherwise available. There is a protocol from the state as to who is to receive the vaccine and in what order of priority.Whether that policy is being followed or not is the responsibility of each practice. The media continues to advise that everyone should be receiving this vaccine and reporting on presumed cases that end tragically. Parents and their children are scared and rightfully son (cont)

Once again to continue. Three weeks ago we started to see an increase in Flu in our area. Parents are in tears when told their child has Flu and I had a 7yr old child ask me if she was going to die. This poor child had seen 1 too many of the informercials. In fact she did not die and recovered in about 1 week. Fact is, there is treatment for children who come down with the Flu, rest, fluids and antipyretics and sometimes Tamiflu, are all essential care for the Flu. We do care about your children and are doing everything in our ability to provide care. We are working day and night to provide that care in this epidemicKaren

thank you, Karen, for your comments. This is clearly tough on the medical people out there too. -EN

I am sooo sympathetic to medical staff who have to deal with vax phone calls AND with the sick kids too. You must be beyond stressed. Problem is, parents have NO information but we keep hearing about friends who just happened to fall upon it so we feel like we have to keep calling. Can you all just create your own Facebook pages already so we can stop calling you? Each day update it with a short sentence like, "No vax today" or "We are providing vax to infants - call for appointment."

Our doctor's office vax info page not only says the current state of vaccines, but also says when they will post the next update. That really helps.

As an adult (not pediatric) doc, I feel as frustrated as most of my patients... I am in a public clinic and neither my office manager nor I has any control over when we get doses of the vaccine and how many. We just keep telling people to call back... we will try to contact the high-risk people when we get our shipment of vaccine, but we are really not set up for this kind of outreach. The city public health departments in my area have been most helpful in getting vaccine out to the public, however.

I'm on a waiting list too for my 2 kids,just for the regular flu shot/but they will give the shots to the criminals in jail what about innocent children who are they! I think that is just wrong!