Thursday, October 23, 2008

Get Your Flu Shot!

During the flu epidemic of 1918 (by the way, a flu epidemic that swept the world and killed an estimated 50 million people), my grandfather was so sick, the priest came to give him last rites. Clearly, he survived or I wouldn't be here to write my swell blog. But hearing that story gave me a strong understanding for how deadly the flu can be. In fact, scientists say that if THAT particular strain ever comes back, it would be just as deadly.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending the California Women's Conference as a guest of CVS/Pharmacy . I was really excited to attend the conference as I had heard lots about it and it sold out within 3 hours of tickets going on sale! CVS had a booth set up and were giving 1000 free flu shots to the first 1,000 attendees to stop by. When I visited the booth in the early afternoon, they had actually already given out 1,000 but were going to keep going as long as people wanted vaccines. The booth was humming along and there was a steady stream of visitors. I have a special bond with CVS as I worked there way back when I was in high school in Massachusetts and it is my favorite drugstore. Now that they are nationwide, I'm so psyched that I can go out here in LA. I actually did not take them up on their kind offer of a free flu shot as I had already gotten one two weeks ago at Chip and Lulu's pediatrician (that I paid for, drag!)

I had fun strolling around the exhibit floor with Lulu strapped into her Ergo baby carrier. There were lots of informative booths and lots of freebies, which I always love, of course. They had fabulous speakers in the convention hall. I had the chance to hear Maria Shriver and Condoleeza Rice among others. Some of my comrades at The Los Angeles Moms Blog blogged live all day at the event and have some great posts up on the site. So check them out. You can even see a video of one of our moms getting a flu shot at the CVS booth.

I'm very grateful to CVS/Pharmacy for getting me into this awesome event! You can stop into any CVS/Pharmacy yourself and get a flu shot, at low cost. I recommend you do it, the flu is a serious illness....Ask my grandfather.

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