Santa is just going to have to wait, say state health department officials
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Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) officials indicated today (Nov. 18) that retail store Santas will have to wait like everybody else to get vaccinated for H1N1 until people at greater risk get theirs.
“We have heard about Santa’s request,” said MDH Director of Infectious Disease Epidemiology Kristen Ehresmann.
Media reports have department store Santas arguing that they should be allowed to be vaccinated because their duties require them to be around children.
But Ehresmann theorized that most retail store Santas are older people, and older people generally are at less risk for H1N1 flu than the young.
Because of this, there’s no pass to the front of the vaccination line for Santas.
An MDH spokesman stressed that if children are feeling sick, parents shouldn’t take them to meet Santa or anyone else, for that matter.
They should stay at home, he said.