For my birthday this year I asked for a flu shot.

[beam me up scottie]

Where I grew up they gave them away for free but since I live in a state that's being hit hard early I figure this is a good investment.

Doc's office visit here is $65 and now they charge you for the mandatory piss test, an additional $35 that I don't have.
Add meds, cases of kleenex and a box of chapstick for my nose and being sick can get really expensive.

How soon before I come down with teh autism?

[Heddi]

1. when I get mine at work (Mandatory because I'm an RN)

I always ask if I can have the shot with the "extra dose of Autism" in it.

[beam me up scottie]

7. Bf gets his at work too, he prefers Flu Lite Autism Free, though.

We're ground zero for the flu epidemic this year (they've closed schools in three counties this week) so I'm not taking any chances.

[JoeyT]

2. A mandatory piss test for a vaccine?

I must be reading that wrong. What could they possibly be testing for?

[beam me up scottie]

8. It's a mandatory piss test every time you go to the doc's office here, no exceptions.

Any patient who receives prescription meds has to submit to one every visit, old ladies, kids, pregnant women, everyone's a criminal until they prove otherwise.

I was in there over two hours last month because the lab was backed up.

And they make you pay for the fucking thing.

[TZ]

3. Don't you have

a drug store or someplace you can get them cheap? Around here, you can just walk into Giant food, ask for a shot and pay $15-20 for it I think.

And I'm still waiting for my autism from my flu vaccine from a few weeks ago, even though the nasal spray has no preservatives. I'm sure that live virus will kill me sometime in the future though...

[beam me up scottie]

9. We went to Rite Aid today, only $24.99.

Had a great nurse as a bonus!

[TZ]

4. Oh speaking of did you guys read about this?

Flu shot linked to heart disease protection

Getting a flu shot might protect against heart disease and deadly heart attacks.

That's what a new study presented over the weekend at the 2012 Canadian Cardiovascular Congress in Toronto found. It showed people who got an influenza vaccine were 50 percent less likely to experience a major cardiac event such as a heart attack, stroke or cardiac death, compared with those who had a placebo vaccine.

"The use of the vaccine is still much too low, less than 50 percent of the general population; it's even poorly used among health care workers," he says. "Imagine if this vaccine could also be a proven way to prevent heart disease," study author Dr. Jacob Udell, a cardiologist at Women's College Hospital and the University of Toronto, said in a press release.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57542114/flu-shot-linked-to-heart-disease-protection/

[beam me up scottie]

10. I did read that, it's a win/win.

If flu vaccines were free for everyone (as they were in Vermont when I grew up) I wonder if more people would get them regularly?

[MicaelS]

5. Lots of chain pharmacies, including the ones in Kroger stores..

Have Flu Shots for $25 or so. I urge you to check in your area before going to the doctor for just that. Also, have you called your local Health Department?

[beam me up scottie]

11. Thanks, that's what I did.

Sorry I wasn't more clear in the op, I was comparing the cost of a flu shot to the cost of a doctor's visit if I get the flu.

Imo it would be better if the government offered free vaccines to everyone, $25 is a lot of money for some folks these days.

[TZ]

13. They did do that for H1N1

I suspect if we face a pandemic, the govt WILL give out lots of shots. Unfortunately I don't believe its costs that keep people from having it. I knew someone (who is training to be a NURSE of all things) claim she never gets one because she never gets sick. Also too many people think they get sick because of the flu shot.

[beam me up scottie]

14. Too true, there is still no cure for willful ignorance.

Unfortunately it's not just the stupid ones who die because of it.

[SheilaT]

6. Many of the pharmacies where I live have signs

saying they do flu shots.

[beam me up scottie]

12. They're doing that here too, I went to RiteAid.

I got the last dose, lucky me!

As an aside, this drugstore is the only one within 50 miles that actually has the Morning After (aka OOPS!) pill in stock. The others all bowed to political pressure and refuse to stock it. When I was in need of it a few years back I asked the manager to come out so I could personally shake his hand, he was a young kid, got all embarrassed but still...

[LeftishBrit]

15. Please keep us informed when you go into spontaneous combustion!

[beam me up scottie]

16. That actually happens to me several times a day and even more often at night.

I believe they're called 'hot flashes'; one minute you're fine and the next...

I hope we get snow this winter, I can't wait to do a face plant off the back porch.