Wal-Mart weighs role in U.S. H1N1 vaccination plans

[Joanne98]

Source: Reuters

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc is discussing with U.S. health officials the possibility of putting vaccination sites at some of its stores for an H1N1 swine flu inoculation campaign this fall, a company official said on Thursday.

Federal officials met with Wal-Mart executives on Wednesday in Arkansas to discuss the issue, Dr. John Agwunobi, president of health and wellness for Wal-Mart U.S., told public health leaders at a conference in Orlando.

"We are in discussions with CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and others in local and state departments to see what role we might play," Agwunobi said. "It might be we are a site. It may be help with logistics and with supply chain."

Agwunobi said 140 million people walk through the doors of its 4,000 U.S. stores each week.

U.S. health advisers have said about half the U.S. population should be vaccinated against H1N1 influenza. Up to 160 million doses of flu vaccine will be available for the start of the campaign in mid-October


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE56T4I220090730

---

Oh noes. Stop the conspiracy theory presses. What will the wingnuts do now that their favorite store is helping Obama and the NWO kill American patriots?

[hedgehog]

1. All kinds of chain pharmacies offer flu vaccinations every year.

It drives my GP crazy when they have the vaccine in and he is still waiting on his order. He sees a lot of snow bird patients in August and September before they head for Florida and he'd like to be able to give them their vaccinations then, but some years he doesn't get his vaccines until October.

[joshcryer]

6. Good, I don't have a GP.

I'm glad I can get it more readily from a pharmacy.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. VONS, Target, and the other chain pharmacies

offer them as well, and have for years.

So does COSTCO... I could go on.

[tomreedtoon]

3. Vaccines made in China and full of melamine.

And produced in Hannah Montana syringes so your kids will love them!

If that's the kind of health care we can expect, especially after Congress gets back from its summer vacation, I think Wal-Mart would be better off handing out coils of rope and offering road maps to the nearest woods.

[jmowreader]

4. They've had flu shot clinics for years

What they do is contract with a healthcare provider in the area, who buys the vaccine straight from Merck or GlaxoSmithKline. So I really don't think this is something new, except that now the flu they'll be vaccinating against is H1N1 and not plain old ordinary everyday flu.

[joshcryer]

5. iirc, the "flu vaccine" has half a dozen strains in it as it is.