Phil’s Findings: Here’s One Way to Beat the Flu Vaccine Dilemma (Source: Fontana Herald News)
From the article:
An imaginative approach to the flu vaccine shortage in the U.S. was offered by the Victoria Clipper, a Seattle ferry service.
It was a sensible and a practical solution in that it combined a brief sea voyage with a vaccine injection at the end of the trip.
In October, the "flu cruise" became a short tourist trip to Victoria, Canada, where a team of registered nurses waited at the terminal to deliver the flu shot into the deltoid muscles of the off-loaded passengers.
There was no vaccine shortage in the medicine chest of our eager-to-help neighbor to the north. The purpose was to help worried seniors, especially.
It was a not a get-rich scheme of the operators taking advantage of worried Americans who merely wanted projection against influenza, that unpredictable illness which has victimized people all over the world.
According to Darrell Bryan, vice president of Clipper Navigation, which operates the catamaran Victoria Clipper, a discounted round trip price of $105 persuaded hundreds of Americans to take the 2 1/2 hour excursion from Seattle. The price for the vaccine was included.
Editor’s Note:
This article looks back at the Victoria Clipper flu shot cruises. We would again like to thank Clipper Navigation for offering Americans what was perhaps the most pleasant flu shot experience ever. Thank you all and we wish you a happy and healthy holiday!