Better Late Than Never
Feb 02, 2010
By Amy Pisani
Tonight my small town in Eastern Connecticut will yet again host an immunization clinic at a local high school to provide H1N1 vaccine to the public. Special efforts have been made by our health district to reach out to young children who have not yet received their second dose of vaccine. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children nine and under need two doses in order to be fully protected against the virus. I am somewhat mortified to admit that I have been remiss in getting my nine and a half year old that second dose. My son’s story has been told by me on numerous occasions, he was hospitalized as an infant for complications from influenza, an experience I do not wish on my worst enemy.
I am a consummate supporter of timely vaccination of children. What is my excuse then? It seems that work travel and after school activities took priority again and again as clinics were scheduled. During a recent clinic, I traveled to D.C. to accompany Luke Duvall, Arkansas H1N1 survivor, as he spoke to the press and his Senator about his harrowing experience. I’ve reiterated his story countless times in an effort to urge friends and neighbors to get vaccinated. It’s nearly unconscionable that I would then allow this lapse in my own family. My embarrassing point is that if I am remiss, how many others who do not live and breathe vaccines daily are simply blowing off the CDC’s and Health and Human Services pleas to the public? I must assume that this number is in the millions based on the number of doses still available. So tonight I am volunteering at the clinic and my husband and son will be vaccine recipients, come hell or high water!
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