Monday’s H1N1 vaccination clinic saw far fewer people than expected, and organizers are hoping Thursday’s clinic sees more people.
Renee Hively, director of public health for the Lyon County Health Department, said the vaccination clinic, which is targeted for priority groups presently, only saw about 200 people during Monday’s morning and afternoon clinics. In previous weeks, the vaccination clinic had administered anywhere from 600 to 900 doses, Hively said.
“We didn’t have the turnout we expected based on the last three weeks we had,” Hively said. “We were all geared up and had a couple of other dosers to administer the vaccine.”
Hively said another clinic will be held Thursday for priority groups:
• Children 6 months to 4 years of age.
• Children and adolescents 5-18 years of age who have medical conditions that put them at higher risk for influenza-related complications. Among the types of conditions that put children at risk for complications are asthma, diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease and any type of autoimmune disease.
• Pregnant women.
• Persons who live with or provide care for infants less than 6 months of age (parents, siblings and day care providers).
• Health care and emergency medical services personnel who have direct patient contact with patients or infectious material.
The health department has about 600 doses left for this week. Each week the health department gets an e-mail from the state letting them know their allotment for the next week, Hively said.
“There are about five different vaccine types and you have to order in lots of 100,” she said. “If they allotted me 956 doses of flu mist I could only get 900 of those. Every Wednesday I get that e-mail and I usually place my order by Thursday to get my vaccine for the next week. ... I never know each week how many doses I will have.”
In the past few weeks, the vaccination clinics have taken a lot of staffing, Hively said. People are needed to administer the vaccine and help direct traffic flow into the clinic area.
“I’ve been told the lines have been pretty lengthy at times,” Hively said.
For now, the H1N1 vaccination clinics will continue at the health department because of limited dose availability. At one time, it was anticipated that clinics would be in schools.
“At the very beginning the state was pushing school-based clinics and that’s when the state thought the vaccine would be very abundant,” Hively said. “But it’s not coming out that way. It’s coming out in small lots. I think parents are still thinking that there’s a chance their child will still get vaccinated at school. At this time it’s not realistic.”
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