I have two small children below the age of 3. The oldest has had every available vaccine up to the newest updated COVID-19 vaccine. The youngest has recently reached the vaccine age. Despite this, it’s been incredibly hard to get them vaccinated with the updated vaccine. Here are the hurdles we’ve faced.

The pediatrician’s office (part of a large regional hospital chain) will only vaccinate 12-years-old and up.
Our oldest sees a cardiologist at the children’s hospital in the closest major city to us. They have recently changed their policy to only vaccinate inpatients against COVID-19.
Our local health department has did not receive any updated vaccines for a while.
When they did we called to schedule an appointment for the two kids. They will only vaccinate uninsured people as part of the Bridge Program. When asked if we could just not use our insurance they said it doesn’t work that way.
Using the link in this post we searched for more locations that could possibly vaccinate our kids. There were options in the neighboring state, which we live close to. Called to schedule but they only vaccinate people from in that state.
The website is not updated. There are actually a lot of places available, just most of them are part of the Bridge Program as well.
The only place close enough to us is 2.5 hours away, oddly enough in one of the reddest parts of our red state.
We call to schedule. They only vaccinate on random Wednesdays and will not schedule more than a few weeks out.
Convinced them to schedule a date in December, 8:00 am on a Wednesday. I’ll have to take off work. Spouse can’t go because no more PTO. This is the last PTO I have for my contracted year.

Edit: Greatest healthcare in the world

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Are pharmacists able to do the vaccine where you live (or maybe the neighboring state)? It’s been a game changer here. People just go to Walmart or Costco more than a medical office.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They do but not for the age bracket we need.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

That’s awful. Glad you were able to find something at least but those hoops are awful. I also feel like the bureaucracy does a good job of stoking resentment from skeptics towards low income and uninsured people when they limit access to programs that have no alternative options in the community.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Check your local chain pharmacy.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Thanks, but they only do 5-years-old and up in my area.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's awful. You and your kids deserve accessible healthcare. Good on you for jumping through all those hoops to get appointments, and I'm sorry it's necessary to do all that to get basic healthcare.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Thanks. I was vaccinated with the updated vaccine as soon as it was available, so this preventative medicine is totally accessible to me and other adults (as long as you can stomach the cost). It’s children that experience these lapses in public health most acutely. Whether it’s sending kids back to school without adequate protective measures, ending tax credits, ending free lunches, criminalizing gender affirming care… it all shows how little liberal societies care about the lives children.

My kids will be ok. Their parents have the knowledge and means to keep them safe for the time being. But those safety measures are only ensured individually by my spouse and me. Our state has done nothing to protect our children.