H1N1 vaccines are making their way into the broader community and the kid is scheduled for an appointment at the tail end of the clinic (on the final night actually) to receive her mist.

The clinic nurse called us earlier this week and left a message. The nurse talked about CDC guidelines and asked if we would consider voluntarily removing the kid from the clinic. If so, we would be put on a waiting list for the next round of vaccine in the community. This would enable more vaccines to be available for high risk children or those with underlying medical conditions.

My husband and I stopped, looked at each other and considered. If our daughter was high risk, we would want to be sure a vaccine was available to her or know that the health care system was doing everything they could to get her one.

We considered the length of the current clinic, the anticipated arrival of the next round of vaccines, the 10+ clinics being held at the public schools in the area this week and next. We considered the contingency plans the hospitals and clinics in town likely had in place. We considered underlying medical conditions, and the rate of H1N1 absences in the local schools. We asked, we pondered, and we considered more.

All things considered, we decided to not remove her from the clinic and she is on her way for her 6:00 vaccine appointment right now.

What would you do?