By Adam S. Sulfridge / Staff Writer

Hundreds receive vaccine at Whitley Co. Middle School

Hundreds of people waited in line outside Whitley County Middle School to receive free H1N1 vaccinations from the Whitley County Health Department Tuesday evening.

“We have a total of nearly 1,000 doses,” said Gail Timperio, director of the health department. Of those thousand vaccinations, she said 500 were regular shots, 290 were in nasal spray form, 100 were preservative-free shots for infants and another 100 preservative-free shots for pregnant women.

About an hour before the doors were to be opened at 6 p.m., law enforcement officials estimated that nearly 300 people were waiting outside the building. Officers from the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department and Williamsburg Police Department assisted with crowd control, but no conflicts were reported.

Debra McNaughton, preparedness coordinator for the health department, said her office received calls from residents of Knoxville and other locations who planned to drive all the way to Williamsburg in hopes of being vaccinated. “It’s a public clinic… we must assist anyone who shows up,” she explained.

“We hope to give out all 990 vaccinations tonight,” Timperio added. “We have around 24 staff members assisting, and our goal is to get everyone in and out quickly.”

As temperatures started to fall, Timperio and other staffers began pre-registering those first in line so that when the doors opened, the entire process would move more quickly. Even as the sky turned black and the temperatures fell further, hundreds still stood in line outside the school building.

Timperio said the Whitley County Health Department held a similar vaccination event in previous years for those who hoped to receive seasonal flu vaccines, and McNaughton described the extensive training health department officials and community leaders undergo in an effort to stay prepared. McNaughton said such trainings started with concerns over the Avian Flu, but training has continued ever since. “We have practiced this for several years… we do exercises every year.” She continued, “Around 300 people attended the last training we had, and we discussed what each agency would do in response to an outbreak, such as school officials, police, health department officials, and other community partners.”

Even after Tuesday night’s event, the health department is planning more vaccination events. “The Center for Disease Control wants everyone vaccinated, especially priority groups,” Timperio said. One of those priority groups is persons 24-years-old and younger. “We’re trying to go into our area schools, in the fairest way possible, to do after school clinics where parents can be with their children… we’re trying to reach children 9-years-old and younger because they require two vaccinations, which need to be about 28 days apart.” By ensuring the young children quickly receive their first vaccination, health officials say the children can be fully protected from the virus sooner.

McNaughton said, “It’s important to differentiate between the seasonal flu and pandemic flu… seasons flu normally attacks young children and the elderly, and pandemic flu affects young, healthy people most severely.” She also said, “Pandemic flu comes in waves… we’re actually going through the second wave right now, and we can probably expect another wave in the spring.”

Timperio and other health officials extended their thanks to the community. She said, “We really appreciate Principal Prewitt and Superintendent Lonnie Anderson for allowing us to use their facility… it’s a real contribution to the community.”

Both Timperio and McNaughton said the Whitley County Health Department will vigilantly proceed throughout the coming flu season to ensure that everyone who wishes to receive a vaccination is able to. In fact, McNaughton explained that she just recently placed an order for another shipment of H1N1 vaccines but couldn’t speculate as to when they will arrive.

Laurel Co. Health Dept. holding shot clinic Saturday

The Laurel County Health Department will hold a free swine flu shot clinic from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday at the health department, 525 Whitley St., London.

The clinic is aimed only at the target groups recommended by the Centers for Disease Control — these include pregnant women, household contacts and caregivers for children younger than six months of age, health care and EMS personnel, those ages six months to 24 years of age, and those ages 25-64 years of age with chronic health conditions.

“We will screen everyone as they come in,” said Laurel County Public Health Director Mark Hensley. “We’re asking the public to please adhere to those CDC guidelines because there’s going to be ample supply of this vaccine in the coming weeks.”

Hensley said the health department has between 700 and 800 shots for Saturday’s clinic.

This is the health department’s first advertised community H1N1 clinic. In prior events, Hensley said the department has vaccinated between 350-400 health care workers and first responders — and that’s not counting people who were vaccinated at St. Joseph hospital in London.

Calls about both swine and seasonal flu questions have been steady at the health department, Hensley said.

“In order to field the questions regarding both H1N1 and seasonal flu, additional staffing was needed in the support area,” he said. “It’s nonstop, and we are receiving calls from other areas of the state as well.”

The Laurel County Health Department has been receiving “small amounts” of the vaccine targeting the CDC recommended priority groups on a week-to-week basis.

The health department is anticipating receiving enough vaccine this week to conduct Saturday’s clinic for those who can’t make it to the department Monday through Friday.

The shots to be given on Saturday contain the inactiviated (dead) virus. The virus in the shot, though broken up and inactive, is still able to provoke an immune response from the body to prevent any future H1N1 illness.

There are also nasal vaccines that contain the live attenuated (or weakened) virus and are able to be given to healthy people between the ages of 2 and 49. There is a small chance that the weakened virus could be spread to others within the first few days of a person’s vaccination. This vaccine is not approved for pregnant women, those with asthma, or those with underlying health conditions.

For more information on Saturday’s clinic, call the health department at 606-878-7754.