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On Consumerism: Free flu vaccinations?

By Arthur Vidro
By Arthur Vidro

This column is about the normal influenza that gets fierce most autumns and winters. It is not about the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic.

This is the ideal time to get your annual flu shot.

It takes a couple weeks for its effectiveness to kick in fully, and its efficacy lasts for a matter of months, which is why it must be re-injected each year.

There is more than one version of the flu shot available each autumn. Typically, the elderly receive a different version or dosage than younger folks.

There’s a broad misunderstanding about the efficacy and cost of flu shots.

A flu shot will not make you immune to catching the flu. But it will increase the odds of your staying healthy. And if the flu hits you anyway, the shot should make it less severe, and for a shorter duration.

Each year the formulation of the vaccine is altered, because the microorganisms that spread the flu change each year. Most years the shot helps about half the people who receive it; some years it helps more, some years less.

Signs at drug stores promote flu shot availability. The drug stores administer them to the public. You don’t have to be a customer of that drug store. You don’t need to have had any prescriptions filled there.

Your own doctor’s office will administer the vaccine, too. But you can’t just show up at your doctor’s without an appointment. Plus, many doctors refuse to see a patient solely to administer a flu shot. But if you need to see the doc for other matters, the flu shot should be provided.

At the local Rite Aid, a sign in the parking lot proclaims, “Get Your Flu Shot Here Today.” Then in smaller type, it adds, “No Cost With Most Insurance.”

That sign is accurate. Anyone can go to the store’s pharmacy section, without an appointment, and receive a flu shot. And with most insurance plans, there will be no cost to the consumer.

However, it’s not exactly free. It’s not being provided out of the goodness of anyone’s heart.

The manufacturer gets paid for the shots. The distributor gets paid for the shots. The drug store that injects you gets paid for the shots.

But with most insurance plans, 100% of those costs will be borne by the health-insurance provider.

A key word is “most.” A member of my household once had – in the pre-Obamacare days – health insurance that covered only catastrophic events. It did not cover flu shots.

This summer at the local CVS, their parking-lot sign proclaimed, “Free Flu Shots Here.” Back in early September, I went inside to inquire.

I quoted the sign to a gentleman behind the pharmacy counter and asked, “Are the flu shots free even for folks without health insurance?”

He didn’t know, so he asked a supervisor. Turns out if you lack health insurance, receiving a shot will cost you $39.99 for the standard dose.

A week later I saw the sign in the parking lot had been altered. It now included at the end, “With Insurance.”

Over at Sugar River Pharmacy in Newport, I asked the same question about folks without health insurance. Chad there quoted me $25 for the flu shot.

The cost varies, because each drug store decides for itself how much of a profit it wishes to earn.

Are there any truly free flu shots?

Yes.

Over in Lake Sunapee, there’s an association of visiting nurses who travel through the territory, administering free flu screenings and shots. Before Obamacare came along, I received free injections from them at various places, including the Claremont Senior Center, the Earl Bourdon Center, and at Sugar River Pharmacy in Newport. If you had insurance, great, they applied it. But if you lacked insurance, or your insurance didn’t cover it, they still injected you. (I usually gave a small donation, but it wasn’t required.) Because of the coronavirus pandemic, they’ve changed their approach a little. This year, appointments are necessary. Call (603) 748-1731 to schedule one.

If the shots are truly free, does that mean the manufacturer donates them?

No. Manufacturers and distributors care primarily about making money.

However, each of the 50 states this year has some type of program to facilitate the distribution of flu shots. The states are armed with 9 million flu shots acquired (with taxpayer money) by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which distributes the flu shots to various outlets, such as the Visiting Nurses Association.

Another change this year is that, for the first time, pharmacists will be allowed to provide flu shots to children ages 3 through 18.

The shots are successful at reducing the severity of contracted influenza, and at reducing the number of hospitalizations and deaths from influenza. But they’re only about 40% to 60% effective at reducing one’s chances of contracting the illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Still, flu shots make a whole lot of sense. If you’ve ever lost a week of your life to the flu, you won’t want to lose another.

If you have consumerism questions, send them to Arthur Vidro in the care of this newspaper, which publishes his column every weekend.

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