The Flu Shot
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Brian pulled back on the scooter’s throttle, bringing it to a close in front of the storefront. As it stopped he hopped off and parked it on one of the available charging stations. There was an optimistic sound acknowledging this, and would complete the transaction based on the trip.
He had stopped in front of the pharmacy, a small local store on the first floor of a historical building.
“I just got to the UniPharm. I’ll talk to you later Emily,” he said right before tapping on his earpiece. The call ended.
UniPharm was the primary pharmacy that serviced this neighborhood of the city. Created as part of a public-private partnership, it was owned and managed by the university as a for-profit institution. Still, as the owners were part of the public university, it kept prices fair and provided internship opportunities for undergrads.
Brian headed past the racks of snacks towards the back. A young nurse was jotting notes down on a tablet.
“Good afternoon,” she stated with a hint of cordiality.
“I’m hoping you can help. I’m going to be visiting my grandmother soon. She’s in Iowa. I want to make sure I get my flu shot.”
“Give me one second,” she said.
She looked down at her tablet and tapped a few times on the glass. While Brian couldn’t see what was on the screen, it seemed to give her some sort of positive affirmation.
“It looks like there is an influenza variant that was recently spotted in Illinois. I’ll prepare a flu shot to target that strain.”
She tapped twice more on the tablet.
“The bioprinter is going to prepare a dosage for you. Please sit here for a few minutes. It’ll be ready soon,” she advised before walking behind the counter.
Brian looked at the row of chairs, rigid and uncomfortable. He took a seat down at one end of the row. An elderly man was sitting down at the other end.
“What are you here for?” the other man asked.
“Flu shot, just in case,” Brian stated with a shrug. He hadn’t intended to get into a conversation with anyone.
“Cancer for myself.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It’s not that bad. I’ve been getting weekly treatments here. My arm is a bit sore, but it seems to be in remission.”
“Oh that’s good to hear,” Brian said, trying to exaggerate a positive attitude.
“They have my biopsy on file and use some sort of printer to create a treatment for me.”
“Oh that bioprinter. Yeah they’re using it for my flu shot too. I guess they have some sort of database of RNA that they can synthesize on the fly.”
“Whatever it is, it’s certainly a miraculous invention.”
“I guess. I guess I don’t really appreciate what it was like before it,” Brian stated apathetically.
“Let me tell you a story. It was when I first started my career. I was in California at the time…”
The nurse came back and interrupted the story. Brian silently thanked her in his head. He was not in the mood for a long-winded tale. He was a bit antsy to get his vaccine and head out. There were other errands he had to finish.
“Mr. LaRue your treatment is ready. Please come with me to the back. And you sir, I’ll be with you in just two minutes.”
“Thanks,” Brian said with a nod.
As he continued to wait, now in the quiet, he did begin to wonder what it must’ve been like for Mr. LaRue. Before near-instant viral sequencing, before viral surveillance, before bioprinters… it must’ve been a scary time. Public health would’ve been harder to monitor. Any sort of tracking system would’ve been ad-hoc and insufficient.
He had read about pandemics and epidemics in stories, but they always seemed like stories. It seemed like something like that couldn’t happen anymore. Public health would catch any infection and prevent its spread. Perhaps it was his own hubris, or perhaps people had learned from their mistakes.
Mr. LaRue returned to the waiting area and he grabbed his coat. Brian stood up and walked towards the nurse, now his turn. As he passed the old man, he gave a slight head nod. The man winked back.