Beautiful British Columbia is just a hop, skip and jump away from Seattle, and indeed, the ideal place to get that highly coveted flu shot. Spurred on by both the vaccine shortage and the hysteria fanned by the media, Americans are heading to both our Northern and Southern borders to get that jab in the arm.

From Seattle, it is a no-brainer to get to Canada. We’re practically right on the border, give or take a few hours. The Victoria Clipper cashed in by offering discounted “flu cruises” where you sailed to Victoria, got a shot in the ferry terminal, and a cheaper rate. Such a deal

But now spurred on by the phenomenal success of the Victoria Clipper, other venues also seek to make their fortune. Kenmore Air and the Hesselgrave International charter-bus company have announced that they too, will offer desperate Americans “flu packages” that include not only a painful shot, but lunch as well.

The deal from cost $205 (American, not Canadian, sorry…) and takes you on a roundtrip excursion by seaplane from Lake Union in Seattle to Victoria. There you get your shot and then lunch at Kipling’s Restaurant in the Empress Hotel. Actually, that’s a pretty nice place for lunch. They’ve got a great buffet.

For the more economy minded, Hesselgrave charges $65 for a round trip bus ride to Vancouver. It makes several stops between Tacoma and Seattle to pick up passengers, and then drops them at a clinic in Vancouver. This deal only gets you a box lunch.

As far as the Victoria Clipper, they have ended their discounted flu cruise, and while no longer taking new reservations, are still honoring the ones that have already been made. It seems that clinics in Canada normally don’t start giving flu vaccines until November, so some have not even received their allotted doses. The Clipper service will resume when the vaccine supply can be guaranteed with the Victoria clinic who partnered with them.

So how popular are these Canadian trysts? This past weekend, almost 400 people sailed on the Clipper for a flu shot.

The media is certainly milking this for all its worth, fanning the flames of hysteria and convincing people that they somehow need this shot. It should be noted that the flu vaccine is only about 6%-60% effective, and last year they totally miscalculated which would be the dominant strain to protect against. So the flu shots were really almost worthless.

While people at high risk should consider getting one, I think that the actual “crisis” has been blown way out of proportion. The real story is about the infrastructure of our healthcare system, and how not only vaccines but a number of drugs also tend to be in chronic short supply.