Owen Health Care News Page

H1N1 Pandemic "Swine" Influenza Information

How will the H1N1 vaccine be distributed through the Owen Medical Group private practice?

Until recently, San Francisco Bay Area medical offices have only received a very limited supply of H1N1 vaccine and we have had to vaccinate those at highest risk first. Now it appears that the H1N1 vaccine supply is becoming more plentiful so we are now making it available to any of our patients who would like protection against the H1N1 "swine flu" pandemic strain.

Just call our office at (415) 861-2400 and leave a voicemail with the message that you would like to be vaccinated against H1N1 influenza. One of our staff will contact you during the next business day to arrange an appointment. You no longer need to use the special H1N1 email address to sign up.

If you have a regularly scheduled appointment coming up soon for a physical examination, chronic disease monitoring, etc., we can also vaccinate you against pandemic H1N1 "swine" influenza at that time. When you call to confirm your upcoming appointment, please mention your interest in receiving H1N1 vaccination to our staff. They will verify the availability of the vaccine and make a note of your request on your appointment entry.

Where can I read more about the risks and benefits of the H1N1 "swine" flu vaccine?

Read the brochure entitled "2009 H1N1 Vaccine - What You Need to Know". Ideally, you should download and read this leaflet now in advance of receiving the vaccine to make sure that you do not have any of the contraindications to receiving the vaccine (e.g history of egg allergy, Guillaine-Barre Syndrome, etc.) However, we will have copies of the brochure available to read at our office in case you wish to review it before receiving the vaccine. Les ofrecemos también una versión en español, "2009 vacuna contra H1N1 - lo que necesita saber" y se puede descargarla aquí. For those of you who are linguists or whose native language is other than English or Spanish, you may obtain a translation of the brochure into 36 other languages!

How much will the H1N1 flu vaccine cost me?

President Obama has generously agreed to provide us with the H1N1 vaccine free of charge. However, there is a government imposed administration fee that is geographically based. For San Francisco the set administration fee is $27.43 but our office will round that down to $27.00 even.

We will accept cash for the administration fee (must be exactly $27.00 since we will not be able to make change). We will also take checks or money orders. We regret that we will not be able to accept credit or debit (ATM) cards or to bill insurance plans or to generate a "Superbill". If you need a receipt for tax purposes or for reimbursement from a Health Savings Account (HSA), just ask us and we will provide you with one.

At the time you receive the H1N1 vaccine, we will provide you with a wallet-size card indicating that you have been inoculated and including the name of the manufacturer and the lot number of the vaccine you have received. You may use this card if employers or immigration officials require proof of H1N1 vaccination or if there is ever a recall of certain H1N1 vaccine lots.

Where can I get more information about H1N1 influenza and vaccination?

A good place to start is a website created by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, flu.gov but the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) H1N1 website also contains some useful information. The State of California Department of Public Health also has created a California H1N1 website. And SFDPH has put together a San Francisco website about both H1N1 and seasonal influenza.

Regular "Seasonal" Influenza Vaccine

How available is seasonal flu vaccine right now?

As of November 23, 2009, we have exhausted our supply of the standard or "seasonal" influenza vaccine. Check the website of the Adult Immunization & Travel Clinic (AITC) of SFDPH to determine availability of seasonal flu vaccine at that location.