A fine swine Some observations by a Weekly editor who got the H1N1 vaccine this week:

1) This thing is now free. Let me repeat, it’s FREE. Your government is paying for the whole thing. Did I mention it’s free?

2) The screening process needs a bit of work. The Ravenholt Public Health Center offices on Thursday were set up primarily for children ages 2-4, health-care workers and parents and caregivers of children 6 months and younger, but I fall under none of these categories (I’m a somewhat hale and not-at-all hearty 44-year-old, and it is recommended for ages 25-49, but only if you’re a health-care worker or care for infants 6 months and younger), and I breezed right through. A spokeswoman I talked with said she expects everyone to “be on the honor system,” but I was completely upfront during the entire process. Not once was I sent packing.

3) Inhaling a vaccine kicks absolute ass over that needle garbage.

4) Either my nurse had a weird sense of humor, or the damn thing is really supposed to taste like strawberries. Not to me.

5) There’s plenty of H1N1 vaccine left. SNHD got 20,600 of these puppies a week ago, and they’ve only administered a few hundred so far. (For the next offering, check cchd.org.)