Though greetings are stymied, most will get H1N1 vaccine

It may be minute in size but the H1N1 flu virus has become big, big news.

Not a day goes by without the media reporting on some aspect of the virus, first its appearance, then its effects and now the vaccine used to ward it off. Most of these news stories appear on the front page or lead broadcasts. In two months time, when 2009 comes to a close, it will be a shock if H1N1 is not the newsmaker of the year.

And it appears to be changing how we interact with each other.

For hugophobes, who cringed at the thought of physical contact even before H1N1 was a household word, the emergence of the virus formerly know as swine flu must seem like sweet vindication. But now we are seeing a sad drop in the level of handshaking.

After talking to one of my daughter’s teachers the other day, I stuck out my hand as a parting gesture but she demurred, offering to wave instead.

Other people prefer the clenched-fist knuckle-bump. But without the accompanying salutation “hey dude,” that move just doesn’t seem sincere to me.

So we are left stagnant and offer awkward salutations like, “Er, hi,” as we struggle with the appropriate way of greeting each other. And, of course, then there is the parting pronouncement—“Er, bye.”

The lack of desire for close human contact did not seem to bother the hundreds who showed up for the first H1N1 vaccine clinic in Kelowna Monday. Lined up around the outside of the building, seniors, parents, babies in strollers and even a dose of healthy-looking middle-aged people stood shoulder to shoulder for hours in the cool air waiting for the vaccine.

Some may not have been in the high-risk categories that have been encouraged to get the vaccine first but that didn’t seem to matter.

A few grumbled about mixing of seasonal flu vaccine and H1N1 vaccine at the same clinic, but generally the folks I saw, talked to and, yes, shook hands with, were a cheerful, if chilly, lot.

Most had the same view about getting the vaccine. While they were obviously there for themselves, they also thought it was important to do it for others around them. Sharing may be one of the traits we learn early in life but sharing germs is an exception.

Inside, people traipsed through the clinic in an orderly fashion, no one pushing, no one shoving, everyone in it together. The picture was repeated yesterday in West Kelowna at the second local clinic of the week. But there the lines were shorter.

According to Canada’s chief public health officer, by next week, he expects 20 per cent of the entire population of Canada will have been vaccinated and by Christmas, everyone who wants the vaccine will have had the opportunity to have it. That’s a lot of arms.

And hopefully, the hands at the end of those arms will keep shaking other hands.

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