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Wednesday, 04 November 2009 |
By KAREN CAMPBELL
Assistant Managing Editor
Weeks after the H1N1 vaccine first became available, the Auglaize County Health Department has received enough to plan its first mass clinic.
Scheduled for 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday at New Bremen High School, anyone from the county in the top priority groups is encouraged to attend to receive the vaccination.
Top priority groups at this time include children 6 months to 18 years, parents and caregivers of children 6 months and younger, pregnant women, health care workers and Emergency Medical Services personnel who provide direct patient care. Also in the priority group are those ages 25 to 64 with chronic medical conditions.
In addition, some vaccine is being distributed by Health Department staff as they are available throughout the week. Those interested who fall within the top priority groups should call to see when they may be able to receive it.
“We’re hoping that we have plenty,” Auglaize County Health Commissioner Charlotte Parsons told the Wapakoneta Daily News on Tuesday afternoon. “We’re taking a step of faith and hoping we don’t have to turn people away.
“It’s been very frustrating to get such a small supply and to be limited on how we can distribute it,” she said. “Now we finally feel like we have enough to distribute a lot in a one-day setting. We’re sincerely hoping we don’t run out.”
Parsons said the vaccine is to be administered on a first come, first serve basis and she recommended preregistering online to save time waiting.
After receiving the largest shipment of vaccine to date and doses of all three types Tuesday morning, Parsons said they may run out of one type but should have plenty of another.
She declined to specify the exact amount of vaccine the Health Department received as that much may no longer be available on Sunday.
Some of the vaccine is being transferred to county obstetritions and pediatricians.
Most people ages 3 and older who are healthy will be offered the nasal mist vaccine, as it is most plentiful.
Pregnant women and those 49 and older cannot receive the mist.
Children 9 and younger require two doses at least three weeks apart.
“Initially people were leery of the nasal mist, but as more people got sick, most decided it was worth it to go ahead and get protection,” Parsons said. “It offers the same protection as a shot and there are no reported side effects with it.”
She said the Health Department was delayed in receiving large doses of the vaccine because larger counties were getting most of the supply.
Ohio Department of Health spokesman Kristopher Weiss said counties have been receiving shipments of the vaccine in proportion with their portion of the state’s population.
Representing 4.1 percent of that population, Parsons said one week’s shipment was approximately 40 doses.
“That’s very frustrating,” Parsons said. “It’s been a concern among all the smaller counties in the state.”
She said in addition, larger counties ordered more so they received larger percentages and the original reporting system was not correct, but all of those factors seem to be working out better now after smaller health departments in the state banded together and took their concerns to the Ohio Department of Health.
Parsons said they would offer clinics in schools as soon as they were able.
“The number of new cases is less this week than it had been, but we’re still seeing reports of sick students,” said Parsons, explaining that the way to test for confirmed cases has changed with only those hospitalized tested for H1N1.
There continues to only be one confirmed hospitalized case in Auglaize County, Parsons said of a child who was released a couple weeks ago. She declined to provide more information out of respect for the child’s privacy.
No Auglaize County schools or daycare centers have been closed due to H1N1, but statewide 23 schools and five daycare centers have closed. None are closed currently.
Ohio has received 984,700 doses of H1N1 vaccine thus far.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 05 November 2009 )
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