Sweden is currently vaccinating its population against A H1N1.
When this was first announced I was not sure I wanted the vaccine. The statistics suggested to me I was at low risk of succumbing to the risks presented by the media’s hysteria campaign, and the fear of insurance companies to cover health professionals made me think the vaccine was perhaps not as well tested as it should have been.
But Sweden does not take big risks with its able-bodied population. The government decided to test the vaccine on vaccinate children, the high risk and hospital workers first. These early results helped allay my fears. Plus I read an article on how me not getting sick reduces the risk other people won’t get sick, and I guilted myself into accepting the vaccine.
In reality the vaccination program is a very orderly process. The all-knowing government has divided the population into groups based on risk, and those at greatest risk go first.
But early in the roll-out the media’s hysteria campaign got some more fuel. Two woman died shortly after receiving their vaccines. But given they were aged 99 and 108, and both suffered from a list of medical complications longer than my arm, I did not seem to be experiencing the same sense of alarm as the media (or other people I know).
Last week my social security number came up in the vaccine lottery, and I receive a letter in the post giving me a time and place to get vaccinated. I found this odd for a number of reasons:
- I cannot imagine Australia being so organised.
- I have avoided the health system at all cost here – so the fact they had made some assessment as to my risk level and placed me ahead of everyone else I knew was concerning.
- Despite being a government employee, I was assigned a time in the middle of the day 90 km from my office (that said I won’t complain, as the location was conveniently placed one block from my house).
So earlier today I was vaccinated.
I figured as this was a medical issue it was important to understand. I told the first nurse I did not speak much Swedish, but she was confident my Swedish was good enough. It later turned out I had not correctly understood her instructions on filling out the form and [more specifically] throwing certain parts of it away. My excuse is that the form specifically stated I needed to hand the nurse all sheets. But despite the nurse’s disappointment/frustration, the problem was easy enough to resolve.
I was then sat down. Shortly afterwards a second nurse came to collect me, and assigned me to a third nurse. The third nurse checked my ID and paperwork. Double checked I was not allergic to egg, and that I was right handed – then gave me the injection.
What concerned me most came next – the nurse put the plastic cover back over the syringe needle and put it down on the desk with all the other syringes. While I have never worked with needles a number of alarms went off in my head. After every injection I have had in Australia the needle has been placed directly into a biohazard bin, and I thought this would be standard practice for a number of reasons:
- When nurses put the plastic cap back on a syringe they are at risk of a needle stick injury. As the needle has been in the patient, this puts the nurse at risk of contracting something.
- How does the nurse know which syringes have been used and which have not? Specifically, how do I know the syringe used on me was not used on someone else?
With specific regard to the second point I like to think there was a process that I was not aware of as all of this took place in under one minute. But I still worry about the nurses, and feel much more confident with the biohazard bin solution.
The form I had earlier completed said I would be given two injections – 21 days apart. I asked the third nurse about the second injection, but she told me that it seemed people only needed one. If I need a second injection I will receive a letter in the mail.
(It seems to me they need to reprint the forms.)
I was then told to sit in the room next door for 15 minutes to make sure I was okay (they provided coffee and cake), before being sent on my way.
The timetable for the remaining vaccinations is based on age (at least in Skane). The Region Skåne website had information about the vaccination programme in Skåne in English and other languages.
