In the face of our national shortage of influenza immunizations those of us lucky enough to live on the world’s largest undefended border have some options to avoid winter downtime and illness. Yes, fighting off the flu provides yet another excuse to visit our friendly neighbours to the north.

Summarizing the options and rubbing the vaccine deficit in our faces (”Plenty of Flu Shots Available — in Canada”), Friday’s Seattle Times provided an overview of the easiest ways to get your injection fix. [seattletimes]. Based on your bank account and your preferences, you can go by land or sea — rail fares are about $25 each way to Vancouver [amtrak] and the Victoria Clipper is offering a $105 round-trip package that includes the shot . So, it’s really a matter of whether you prefer modern glass metropolis or olde tyme British architecture (+high tea!) as a chaser to your injection.

Look on the bright side, we could be Californians fleeing to Tijuana for medical care.