Posted on 10/17/2004 10:13:00 AM PDT by sheikdetailfeather
Police Called When Crowd Of 600 Gets Unruly Waiting For Flu Shots
POSTED: 8:38 am EDT October 17, 2004 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Police were called when a crowd of 600 people got unruly after gathering at a St. Petersburg supermarket for hoped-for flu shots. Less than 300 doses were on hand.
Store managers called police after people started screaming and hollering for tickets for the shots. Two officers and a sergeant helped restore calm.
Some people spent the night in sleeping bags to be near the front of the line. Elderly men and women waited in wheelchairs and leaned on walkers. Some brought lawn chairs and umbrellas.
The nation's suddenly limited supply of flu vaccine is going fast. The rush for shots has become political fodder.
Democratic Senate candidate Betty Castor talked with people waiting for shots at a Tampa supermarket. She said government is not doing its job.
A new ad from John Kerry's campaign blames President George W. Bush for ignoring warnings about shortages three years ago.
Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Every time I've gotten a preseason flu shot I had to pay for it.
And every time I got a preseason flu shot, I either was sick with the flu within days or I got the bug strain that ended up going around anyway.
They seldom, if ever, guess right a year in advance what strain will be making people sick the next winter.
What's the big friggin' deal? Is this flu bug expected to be worse than normal? Most of the people that the flu does kill have arrived at that "time" anyways.
The only people that really need this shot are seasoned citizens, but many get it just for the hell of it.
Our newspaper has notices everyday showing cancellations of "mini" flu clinics which had been planned by independent physicians.
This was an interesting thread last night concerning the dangerous bacteria which contaminated the Chiron vaccine: Genus Serratia.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1247429/posts?page=44#44
This whole flu shot thing is absolutely bizarre. My grown daughters (not conservatives, yet)are hooting and making jokes about it.
There were long lines at an area Safeway in the middle of the week. One elderly lady got heat exhaustion and was wandering in search of shade when she fell and hit her head on the electrical meter, and died later. I was thinking at the time that she probably would have been better off, and still alive, if she'd taken her chances with getting the flu. There were also long lines at an area Costco, and two elderly people collapsed from heat exhaustion and had to be treated. It was hot here last week, upper 80's and lowe 90's, and elderly folks don't have the ability to regulate their body temperatures as well as younger people, so are susceptible to such things as heat exhaustion.
I've gotten a flu shot occasionally, but I must say that in the years I haven't gotten the shot, I've only gotten flu maybe once that I can remember. At any rate, I won't be getting a shot this year since I'm not in one of the risk categories.
"you'll never turn me against him....I ADORE<LOVE< Him.....hes a STRONG, brave leader!!
Hey last time I was over there, I rode these kind of "boats?" that was like a spider floating on top of the water and zoomed across from the White Cliffs of Dover...know what I mean jellybean? it was so much fun!"
Oh well, if you feel like that, of course you can HAVE him...we'll even pay his (one way) air fare ;o)
Sky is falling bump.
One way to turn a crowd of Florida senior citizens into a lynch mob. Tell them there's shortage of flu shots.
ok now tell me the name of those doughnut shaped boats or water spiders I rode on....I cant remember to save me.....
as for Tony, he is MORE than welcome to come to America...we love him here....well, most of us, the ones with brains :))
Yes. You are absolutely right. The Dems are making this a HUGE issue and Kerry is saying in his campaign rallies that President Bush will not let our seniors get cheaper meds in Canada but he is looking to Canada for help with flu vaccines. (Of course, it is probably too late to ensure their vaccines are safe in time for flu season, but it is an option we are considering if we can ensure safety in time).
It's the media who's inciting the panic.
I washing my hands of this whole mess !.........:o)
Strange Days. A mighty fortress (lower case) is the FreeRepublic...
I've wondered that, too. We should try to get photos of the people so desperately waiting for flu shots. I'm sure there will be a lot of the same crowd weeping after Nov. 2 that they just couldn't figure out the ballots, or that some Republican at the poll intimidated them not to vote.
It's a COLD for crying out loud!! Get over it.
You'd think it was the middle of the desert after 30 days and they were rationing out a ladle full of water.
hehehe
"ok now tell me the name of those doughnut shaped boats or water spiders I rode on....I cant remember to save me.....
as for Tony, he is MORE than welcome to come to America...we love him here....well, most of us, the ones with brains :))"
Can't help you with the boats or the spiders.
The thing with Tony B. Liar is that he has a long history of saying and doing only that which he thinks will get himself re-elected (he also has a reputation for reneging on deals even with colleagues in his own government). I believe that the ONLY reason he backed Bush & the US on Iraq was that he felt it would strengthen his position at home (recall that Thatcher was on the way out before The Falklands conflict but her popularity soared after the victory).
While personally I am glad that we backed the US on Iraq as I believe that it was just and necessary, I don;t for one minute believe that Phoney Tony had any other interests in mind but his own when he made the decision.
Please remember that most Americans know Blair only form his stance on the war and haven't had to put up with 7 years of his leftist social policies and oily public declarations.
Also please know that Blair is very much PRO Europe and if it were not for the efforts of Gordon Brown (miserable Scots pinko that he is) we would inevitably be further ensconced in the quagmire that is the EU and would probably have already sacrificed our currency for the hated Euro.
*** I'm only 52 and rather lean and mean if I must say so, but my aortic valve was replaced with a carbon composite in '90. I take flu shots every year. ***
My Mitral valve was replaced same year. I'm 57 and have never taken a flu shot. I have not had flu in years but the common cold tears me up!
Years ago a physician said not to worry about flu as most people die as a result of complications from PNEUMONIA after having the flu. We still have plenty of pennicillin for that.
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