LETTERS

Re “Free H1N1 clinics swamped,” Oct. 28

For weeks I have been trying to get an H1N1 vaccination for my 12-year-old son. His asthma makes him a vulnerable target for this flu. While scores of people who do not fit into the high-risk groups have been vaccinated in clinics around the L.A. area, my doctor has yet to receive the vaccine.

Logically, it makes the most sense to concentrate the vaccine among those who are at the highest risk. Where are the pregnant women? At obstetricians’ offices. They should have been the first to get the vaccine. Where are the children? At pediatricians’ offices -- or even more likely, at school. Why not give the vaccines to schools to administer?

Instead, low-risk, unemployed and retired individuals are standing in lines for hours to receive a vaccine that could save the life of a child. We are starting to look like a Third World country, where long lines for basic necessities are the norm.

The working class is once again being penalized for being hardworking, responsible and taxpaying. Having a job with healthcare has proved to be a detriment in this case -- while those who are unemployed are taken care of.

Maybe those on government assistance got the shot first because the government didn’t want to have to foot the bill if they got sick.

Carol Elsner

Burbank

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Your article on the lack of availability of swine flu vaccine makes me wonder if we’re seeing a preview of what all healthcare will be like with the much-awaited healthcare overhaul -- long lines and some government official deciding who gets treatment and when.

Supposedly the government has known about this threat for more than a year. If someone other than Barack Obama were president, wouldn’t the media be all over him for not taking care of this in a timely manner and for putting families at risk?

Dan Naber

Santa Ana