Flu may hit earlier & harder this year (lotsa @)

[hermione]

I got my flu shot at work Thursday. The husband and kid have appointments at Target tomorrow. Our current plan is to wait until late October for the bivalent booster in the hopes that it will also be available to our 9yo and so we’ll be as protected as possible for the November and December holidays. That plan could change at any moment.

[chickadee77]

Sept 24, 2022 17:04:50 GMT -5 StrawberryBlondie said:

Sept 23, 2022 21:21:55 GMT -5 melmaria said:

[quote author="StrawberryBlondie" source="/post/14200367/I did manage to schedule at CVS by going to the minute clinic part of their website and scheduling there rather than the "schedule your flu shot" link on the homepage, which is super frustrating and confusing but overall will be less than 24 hrs delay so not bad.

I had to do the exact same thing! So annoying and not intuitive.

You'd think their website would be able to figure out which CVS stores have the minute clinic inside them and which don't and only show the ones that have the minute clinic as available when there's an age issue. That feels like relatively basic dev work.
[/quote]


Get this. A few years ago, my employer's prescription plan was CVS/Caremark, so I went to CVS for my flu shot, as I had the previous two years (same insurance, no changes, blah blah). I was told at the pharmacy that Walgreens is the preferred pharmacy for my insurance, so no go on my flu shot. Fine. I go across the street to Walgreens, and nope, they can't do it, either. So I trot back to CVS and ask again, and get, "Oh! Huh. Yeah. I guess we can probably do it, but you have to schedule through the Minute Clinic rather than the pharmacy." WTF. And forevermore on that particular insurance plan I always made sure to get it at my GP.

[basilosaurus]

Sept 23, 2022 17:35:26 GMT -5 StrawberryBlondie said:

We'll, today's flu shot appointment was a bust. We got there and they said my insurance doesn't cover flu shots there... Which I know is false, even if this is generally a "thing." DH got his flu shot there a week and a half ago and we have the same insurance.

Then I tried to schedule at CVS and their website said I couldn't schedule the kid because of her age.

So, we went to an independent pharmacy one suburb away whose website specifically said that no appointments were needed and all you had to do was walk in and request one. So that's what we did, only to be told they do require appointments and they're not starting then till Monday.

I did manage to schedule at CVS by going to the minute clinic part of their website and scheduling there rather than the "schedule your flu shot" link on the homepage, which is super frustrating and confusing but overall will be less than 24 hrs delay so not bad.

This is so absurd and fucked up. Good on you for persevering, but it's so very unnecessary and detrimental to public health for those who won't or can't

[abs]

Bringing up a bit of an older threat but wanted to post the current flu map:

www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/usmap.htm

Based upon what I am seeing this tracks. Flu A is hitting my area of Texas hard. It seems like everyone I know has it or has someone in their family with it.

@@
DD is the last kid standing in her friend group. She eats lunch with 4 other girls and they have all tested positive for flu within in the last 5 days. I figure it's coming for us.

Covid continues to plummet though. I think it's super odd that only Texas has such high flu numbers right now. Makes me wonder. In 2020/2021 it seems like Covid pushed out flu but this year maybe we will see the opposite?

[basilosaurus]

FYI: without insurance the flu shot is $74 at CVS and $20 at costco. CDC price list is around $20. I'm entirely unsurprised at the disparity in price while simultaneously being completely taken aback.

[AAM2012]

Oct 2, 2022 12:58:10 GMT -5 abs said:

Bringing up a bit of an older threat but wanted to post the current flu map:

www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/usmap.htm

Based upon what I am seeing this tracks. Flu A is hitting my area of Texas hard. It seems like everyone I know has it or has someone in their family with it.

@@
DD is the last kid standing in her friend group. She eats lunch with 4 other girls and they have all tested positive for flu within in the last 5 days. I figure it's coming for us.

Covid continues to plummet though. I think it's super odd that only Texas has such high flu numbers right now. Makes me wonder. In 2020/2021 it seems like Covid pushed out flu but this year maybe we will see the opposite?

My guess is if people are completely against a Covid vaccine then they likely won’t get the flu vaccine to..ya know…stick it to the man!

[AAM2012]

Oct 2, 2022 15:01:41 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

FYI: without insurance the flu shot is $74 at CVS and $20 at costco. CDC price list is around $20. I'm entirely unsurprised at the disparity in price while simultaneously being completely taken aback.

Why did I think that it was free/covered by the government for the greater good of the community??

[wanderingback]

Oct 2, 2022 19:21:36 GMT -5 AAM2012 said:

Oct 2, 2022 15:01:41 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

FYI: without insurance the flu shot is $74 at CVS and $20 at costco. CDC price list is around $20. I'm entirely unsurprised at the disparity in price while simultaneously being completely taken aback.

Why did I think that it was free/covered by the government for the greater good of the community??

LOL, yeah right.
Now city by city and state by state local government/public health might cover it but no I don’t think there is a federal mandate for it to be covered for those without insurance.
I think the closest we have is the mandates under the ACA, but obviously that’s not helpful for those that aren’t eligible for insurance or can’t afford it.

[basilosaurus]

Oct 2, 2022 20:34:57 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Oct 2, 2022 19:21:36 GMT -5 AAM2012 said:

Why did I think that it was free/covered by the government for the greater good of the community??

LOL, yeah right.
Now city by city and state by state local government/public health might cover it but no I don’t think there is a federal mandate for it to be covered for those without insurance.
I think the closest we have is the mandates under the ACA, but obviously that’s not helpful for those that aren’t eligible for insurance or can’t afford it.

I went to vaccines.gov which I was directed to when looking up county options. I did this in both one of the most conservative and one of the most liberal states I'm in/been to recently. It wasn't really any different in OOP cost. I truly was thinking going to local public health clinic would be an option, and no. It recommended mostly CVS and safeway. Nothing public funded.

My last job in USA was exempt from ACA requirements, so I'd have been in the same boat then. And I would have scrimped b/c I worked in healthcare so obviously wanted coverage. Boss was great, and if I really needed the money for shot, he'd have been there in an instant to pay (I was at then covered under free socialized medicine ie military), but there is nothing requiring that. It's so short sighted. You're right to think they would do that, but you're so wrong in thinking that what's right both financially and morally and just plain what's good for everyone is what drives policy.

[wanderingback]

Oct 3, 2022 2:47:01 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

Oct 2, 2022 20:34:57 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

LOL, yeah right.
Now city by city and state by state local government/public health might cover it but no I don’t think there is a federal mandate for it to be covered for those without insurance.
I think the closest we have is the mandates under the ACA, but obviously that’s not helpful for those that aren’t eligible for insurance or can’t afford it.

I went to vaccines.gov which I was directed to when looking up county options. I did this in both one of the most conservative and one of the most liberal states I'm in/been to recently. It wasn't really any different in OOP cost. I truly was thinking going to local public health clinic would be an option, and no. It recommended mostly CVS and safeway. Nothing public funded.

My last job in USA was exempt from ACA requirements, so I'd have been in the same boat then. And I would have scrimped b/c I worked in healthcare so obviously wanted coverage. Boss was great, and if I really needed the money for shot, he'd have been there in an instant to pay (I was at then covered under free socialized medicine ie military), but there is nothing requiring that. It's so short sighted. You're right to think they would do that, but you're so wrong in thinking that what's right both financially and morally and just plain what's good for everyone is what drives policy.

I didn’t say I thought that ”what's right both financially and morally and just plain what's good for everyone is what drives policy.” I said exactly the opposite in that I know the US government doesn’t fund flu vaccines and it’s not surprising.

Where I am there are some local places that have public funds where you can get the flu vaccine for free regardless of insurance status so that’s why I said it can vary by state/city. But it’s absolutely not mandated by the US government except under the ACA (and the vaccines for children program) so that only applies if you’re lucky enough to have insurance.

[icedcoffee]

That flu map is scaring the shit out of me so I'm getting my flu shot today.

@@ds1 will get his on Wed.

And then our little family will be all caught up on Covid/Flu and all other recommended vaccines. YAY!

[Poppy]

Oct 3, 2022 4:55:52 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Oct 3, 2022 2:47:01 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

I went to vaccines.gov which I was directed to when looking up county options. I did this in both one of the most conservative and one of the most liberal states I'm in/been to recently. It wasn't really any different in OOP cost. I truly was thinking going to local public health clinic would be an option, and no. It recommended mostly CVS and safeway. Nothing public funded.

My last job in USA was exempt from ACA requirements, so I'd have been in the same boat then. And I would have scrimped b/c I worked in healthcare so obviously wanted coverage. Boss was great, and if I really needed the money for shot, he'd have been there in an instant to pay (I was at then covered under free socialized medicine ie military), but there is nothing requiring that. It's so short sighted. You're right to think they would do that, but you're so wrong in thinking that what's right both financially and morally and just plain what's good for everyone is what drives policy.

I didn’t say I thought that ”what's right both financially and morally and just plain what's good for everyone is what drives policy.” I said exactly the opposite in that I know the US government doesn’t fund flu vaccines and it’s not surprising.

Where I am there are some local places that have public funds where you can get the flu vaccine for free regardless of insurance status so that’s why I said it can vary by state/city. But it’s absolutely not mandated by the US government except under the ACA (and the vaccines for children program) so that only applies if you’re lucky enough to have insurance.

I would guess/hope @basilosaurus meant that part for the person you quoted, AAM2012, not for you wanderingback.