So if I went to get vaccinated right now...Ohio I don’t have 3 weeks?
Hard to say. But with the flu the idea is to vaccinate before there is a breakout. The flu may never spread as far as Ohio, or it could be there already and we just don’t know it yet. But it is a moot point, it doesn’t sound like the CDC is planning on making a vaccine against this stuff.
Add the time it would take to manufacture a vaccine in large quantities to the three weeks it takes to get immunity from the flu vaccine, and the horse is way out of the barn. The possible epidemic will just have to run its course. The good news is the fatality rate in this country with appropriate medical care is quite low. The other good news I read upstream is that this particular strain appears to be sensitive to Tamiflu.
However, having said that, we are way overdue for a flu pandemic. Even with good medical care here, a large flu outbreak would overtax our medical system. During flu season we are often at the point where there are no free hospital beds in the city, let alone ICU beds. If tens of thousands of people were to come down with flu badly enough to need hospitalization, the system would break.