From the Associated Press comes the straight skinny on the loss of half our supply of vaccines against influenza: Adults, Kids Urged to Skip Flu Shot.

The article says that "Health care workers can't legally bar insistent, lower-risk patients from getting shots but will try to persuade them to do otherwise." But when yours truly tried (in Essex County, NJ) to get in line for a flu shot, he was practically thrown out of line and even threatened with arrest, fine, imprisonment, or a combination of the three if he attempted to get a shot by any form of subterfuge.

Of course, this looks forward to a day when something far more dire than influenza will kill one-fourth of the people then inhabiting the planet [Revelation 6:7-8]. As a practical matter, all I can suggest is to carry a canister of pre-treated hand wipes with you when you travel, and talk to your employers or supervisors about some simple, common-sense infection-control policies. The specific recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control can be found here.