Beat Nationwide Shortage of Vaccines with Online Google Flu Shot Finder

Almost every day I'm asked if the doctors or clinics in the Phoenixville area have the H1N1 vaccine. A check of facilities as late as this afternoon did not turn up one location dispensing the shots.

Combine that with the fact that the only news surfacing regarding local cases of the H1N1 swine flu is by word of mouth, an unreliable source of information for those trying to avoid the illness, frustration is mounting.

The CDC now states the total number of deaths in the USA is 4000, four times the 1,000 they have been reporting. The higher totals include deaths caused by complications related to swine flu, including pneumonia and bacterial infections. The CDC also states "many millions" of Americans have already caught pandemic flu virus.

Please remember the CDC recommendations and take these everyday steps to protect your health:

Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.

Wash your hands often with soap and water. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.

Try to avoid close contact with sick people.

If you are sick with flu-like illness, CDC recommends that you stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. (Your fever should be gone without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.) Keep away from others as much as possible to keep from making others sick.

The website search engine, Google, has teamed with the federal health officials to help the public find seasonal flu shots and H1N1 vaccines with a new search tool as explained below.

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Can Google.Com/Flushot Turn You on to Some H1N1 Vaccine or a Seasonal Flu Shot?

The Google flu shot finder helps concerned parents ferret out available H1N1 vaccine doses or even just the seasonal flu shot. Yet is google.com/flushot really a viable alternative to the grapevine?

Google Flu Shot Finder Might Be Your Ticket to Hard to Find Flu Vaccine

While the Obama Administration promised Americans between 80 to 120 million doses of the H1N1 vaccine before Halloween, the Washington Post reports that only about 16.5 million vaccines have been delivered.

Scrambling for answers, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius points an accusing finger to flu shot manufacturers. Jostling for vaccines to at least get children inoculated, parents are relying on "grapevine news" and now hope to find a powerful ally in the Google flu shot finder.

Google Flu Shot Finder: What It Is and How It Works

Access the Google flu shot finder at:

http://maps.google.com/maps/mpl?moduleurl=http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/mapplets/flushot/flushot.xml

...and you are treated to a map of the United Stats. Enter your zip code and you have the option of searching for seasonal flu shots, H1N1 flu shots, or venues that offer both vaccinations. The goal of the flu shot finder is the creation of a coherent clearing house for flu vaccine availability information. At this time, google.com/flushot is still only revving up, and as such does not have access to all clinics offering the flu vaccines. ABC News reports that thus far only 20 states are in the flu shot finder system, while the map is almost complete with information provided by national chain pharmacies.

Before You Head Out for Your Dose of H1N1 or Seasonal Flu Vaccine

The Google flu shot finder can only point you into the direction of healthcare providers and pharmacies that currently report to have flu vaccine available. The flu shot finder cannot guarantee that a) the vaccine will be available when you get there and b) that you will qualify to receive a dose. Moreover, some clinics offering the H1N1 vaccine are not on the list.

For example, Long Beach's Columbia Pediatrics currently does have H1N1 flu vaccine available. This clinic is not on the Google flu shot finder list. That being said, even if it were, the clinic does not dispense H1N1 vaccine doses to all children, but due to limited quantities of available vaccines only gives them to kids, who are in the highest of high risk groups. Children with heart disease, cancer and a variety of other serious illnesses are at the top of the list for receiving the vaccine. Other patients are asked to wait or make use of flu vaccine clinics held at local school.

Parents may be wise to keep a close ear to the grapevine -- in addition to using the Google flu shot finder in the hopes of finding the H1N1 vaccine of even just the seasonal flu shot.


http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2379836/beat_nationwide_shortage_of_vaccines.html?cat=5