The Salt Lake County Health Department is now out out of H1N1 Swine Flu vaccines at its clinic locations, but they have distributed a limited number of doses to selected Smith's, Harmons, and Walgreens pharmacies around the county. Click here for a list of pharmacies that have the H1N1 vaccine. Not every Smith's, Harmons or Walgreens location has the vaccine, so be sure to check the list.
Only people who meet specific criteria can receive the vaccine. Those people include pregnant women, young people between the ages of 13 and 24, health care workers, people who live with or care for babies younger than six months old, and people between the ages of 25 and 64 who have chronic health conditions. Even though the vaccine is recommended for children between the ages of six months and 13 years, by law pharmacies can't vaccinate children.
I called my neighborhood Smith's, Harmons and Walgreens and found that each store is following a slightly different procedure for distributing the vaccines. Smith's is currently scheduling vaccine appointments for Thursday, Friday, Monday and Tuesday. Note: the SLVHD website says Smith's will accept appointments starting Thursday, but that isn't the case. They are scheduling appointments now, so don't wait until Thursday to call. The cost to receive the vaccine at Smith's is $10. The vaccine itself is free; the $10 is an administrative fee.
Walgreens locations on the list will distribute tickets for the vaccines Thursday morning beginning at 8 a.m. Those who receive a ticket will be told to come back to Walgreens during a specific one-hour block between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Thursday. The vaccine administrative fee at Walgreens is $18.
Harmons is currently accepting vaccine appointments for Friday, Nov. 6 between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. The cost is $10. Again, the SLVHD website says Harmons will start taking appointments Thursday, but they have started already.
If you miss this round of vaccines, there will probably be another shipment next week, but details are unknown at this time, pharmacists told me. Watch the SLVHD website for the latest information.
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