Needles And Pins

Canada's "plan" to deal with the H1N1 outbreak was the expected inept farce, with an ill-timed vaccine shortage and a mere handful of public clinics offered--in a city of 2.5 million people, remember--which generated lineups like something out of the Brezhnev-era Soviet Union. It's scary to consider that the boys, being under five, are in the "high risk" group--but wasn't bringing them out into the cold to be surrounded by strangers for a wait of potential hours just accelerating their chances of getting sick? With no private practices getting the vaccine--for reasons still unknown to me--we had to act fast before the limitation for high-risk candidates was lifted and the lines would grow even longer...

Thankfully, conditions improved (somewhat)--this week, we found we could avoid the mobs at Metro Hall when Lidia spotted the notice for an additional location not far from our digs. Since I'm not in the high risk group, Lidia and the boys bundled up for a chilly day and were in-and-out in about a half hour. The adjuvent caused some discomfort but everyone slept soundly. They'll need a followup shot in two weeks, but hopefully people will have come to their senses by then...