Saturday, October 24, 2009
CINCINNATI (AP) — Hundreds of people waited in pouring rains Friday for H1N1 vaccinations — some in wheelchairs, lawn chairs or baby strollers — but health officials turned many away an hour after the free clinic opened.
“Overwhelming response,” said Pat Burg, Butler County Health Department director, in a statement that no more people could be accepted at the clinic at the county fairgrounds in Hamilton, about 30 miles north of Cincinnati.
Burg wasn’t immediately available to say how many H1N1 vaccinations the county had planned to give in the two-day clinic.
Pam Bramlage, 30, of West Chester, said the line was about six football fields long when she arrived at 8:30 a.m. with her 3-month-old son, Patrick.
She said she didn’t mind waiting nearly three hours for the vaccinations.
“Hopefully, some of my anxiety will slow down now,” she told The Cincinnati Enquirer.
Traffic packed busy Ohio 4 outside the fairgrounds, and vehicles filled nearby parking.
Authorities said they had received inquiries from people as far away as Tennessee about getting the vaccine.
The flu shots and nasal spray were offered to county residents considered at higher risk from swine flu, such as pregnant women, parents of infants, and people with underlying health conditions.
Through Monday, the state had received and distributed about 434,000 doses of the swine-flu vaccine from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Kristopher Weiss, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Health.
Most have gone to local public-health agencies, hospitals and other health-care providers.
“We’ve known all along that there were going to be challenges with the vaccine distribution and production,” Weiss said. “Clearly, 434,000 doses is not going to be enough right now for all of the high-risk people in Ohio.”
The department does not have a clear number on how many at-risk patients are in the state. The agency has received some calls expressing concern over the availability of the vaccine, Weiss said.
Additional doses will be distributed as they become available from the CDC.
“We urge people to be vigilant, to be patient,” he said.
Beth Bickford, executive director of the Association of Ohio Health Commissioners, is hopeful supplies will go up again in a week or so.
“The idea is to have frequent clinics, so as soon as more vaccine comes, they can get more people vaccinated as quickly as possible,” she said. “We’re trying to get as much vaccine out there into the community as fast as we can.”
The Cincinnati Health Department began offering vaccinations this week for school children and also had a special free clinic for pregnant women Thursday evening.
Spokesman Rocky Merz said about 200 pregnant women received the vaccine, while more than 300 others who called to register were told to wait for future opportunities.
“Because of the high demand, we had them call ahead and get a confirmation number,” he said Friday.
Warren County, which neighbors Butler, set a two-hour free clinic for early today at its fairgrounds in Lebanon.
Health Commissioner Duane Stansbury said staffers will screen people who line up to make sure they are eligible for the 1,800 nasal vaccines available.
They include people age 2-24 without chronic health conditions, caregivers for infants, and health- and emergency-care workers.
“We won’t let anyone in until we’re ready,” Stansbury said Friday. He said the county has been giving shots to pregnant women, who aren’t supposed to get the nasal vaccine.
In the Akron area, the Summit County Health District has about 4,900 vaccine doses on hand and will have its first swine-flu vaccine clinic for targeted populations Tuesday. At least 8,000 people have signed up online.
The three-hour free clinic will be a first-come, first-served basis.
“We’re hoping that folks don’t incite panic and worry about it because we do believe there will be more coming,” said Donna Skoda with the Summit County agency.
Vaccinations were offered several times this week in Columbus and surrounding Franklin County, and no one was turned away, said Jose Rodriguez, spokesman for Columbus Public Health.
Vaccines were given to hundreds of people in three priority groups: health-care workers, pregnant women and caregivers of children younger than 6 months.
Rodriguez said Friday the department was taking inventory of the vaccine it had left before scheduling additional clinics. He said officials hoped to expand the inoculations soon.
Federal health authorities report H1N1 flu is widespread across the country, and production of the vaccine is running behind schedule.
At least 95 children have died from the illness since April, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.
The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.