Health departments plan more inoculations

The superintendent in Salem was pleased with the orderly process at Friday's clinic.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM STAFF
BELOIT -- Salem, West Branch and Sebring students who missed Friday's vaccination clinic will have another opportunity next week.
The health departments in Columbiana and Mahoning counties are offering the inoculation again.
Matthew Stefanak, Mahoning County health commissioner, said his department will set appointments with those eligible to receive the vaccine from West Branch and Sebring schools.
Eligible Salem students will get theirs from the Columbiana County Health Department.
Robert Morehead, Columbiana County Health commissioner, hasn't decided whether to do inoculations through appointments or another clinic. It will depend on the demand.
If it's a clinic, it will be sometime after Monday, he said.
Went smoothly: Stefanak and Morehead said inoculation clinics at West Branch and Salem high schools were successful. "Things went very smoothly," Stefanak said.
Noting that health officials distributed antibiotics to nearly 37,000 people last weekend and expected to inoculate nearly 5,800 Friday, Morehead said he believes a strong and effective response to the outbreak has been mounted.
Another aid is the more summer-like weather. Last week's cool, damp weather tended to promote coughing and sneezing, which can spread the disease.
"Considering all these things, I'm hoping we don't have any more cases," Morehead said.
Salem Superintendent David Brobeck said he is pleased with the way inoculations at the Salem High School cafeteria progressed.
About two dozen of his staff joined more than a dozen health department employees to handle the effort.
"It's been smooth. It's been supportive and light-hearted. There's a lot of laughing and talking," Brobeck said.
Police were on hand throughout the day to ensure order. Brobeck said there were no problems.
Lined up: People began lining up at Salem High School about 9:15 a.m., prompting officials there to begin administering it before the 10 a.m. start time that had been announced.
By 10 a.m., about 100 parents and students were in line. By 2:30 p.m. nearly 600 of the estimated 925 students and staff had been inoculated.
There was no line in the afternoon; recipients were processed within minutes.
No adverse reactions to the vaccine were reported.
"It didn't hurt," said Jason Irey, a recent Salem graduate.
Irey said he was glad to get the vaccine, that he had been a little worried. "I hang around with some kids from Alliance and West Branch," he said.
"It's a good idea. It reduces the risk," said Steve Shurtleff, a high school English teacher at Salem who had just been inoculated.
Shurtleff, of Canfield, said he had bacterial meningitis when he was 7.
"It wasn't fun," he said.
leigh@vindy.com