H1N1 vaccine distributed

• Waiting in line

Brian Korthals/Daily Globe A long line forms for Wednesday night’s H1N1 clinic hosted by Nobles-Rock Community Health Services at Prairie Elementary in Worthington.
• Flu Shot

In a file photo, registered Nurse Karen Bullerman prepares to give a flu shot to 22 month old Kate Noble, Rushmore, while sitting on the lap of her mother, Sarah, during an H1N1 clinic at Prairie Elementary in Worthington. (Brian Korthals/Daily Globe)

Talk about it

WORTHINGTON — Some people reportedly stood in line for two hours Wednesday night, waiting for their children to receive the H1N1 novel influenza vaccine at Prairie Elementary in Worthington. It was the second flu clinic hosted by Nobles-Rock Community Health Services this week, with the first on Monday in Luverne.

The public clinics were the first to be offered by the agency since the vaccine became available.

NRCHS administrator Brad Meyer said 346 children were immunized during the three-hour clinic in Worthington. The event was strictly for children between the ages of six months to six years old.

Meyer said NRCHS staff, volunteers in the Medical Reserve Corp and employees from both clinics and the hospital in Worthington helped distribute the H1N1 vaccine. Six stations were set up in the school’s gymnasium, including three to distribute the flu mist and three to distribute the injectable. Eventually, one of the flu mist stations was closed and a fourth injectable station was opened.

“We saw a lot more children who needed the injectables because they were from six months to two years old, or had a medical condition that required them to have the injectable,” Meyer said.

Despite the long lines to start with — and the long wait for families — Meyer said there was “more than enough” vaccine on hand. In fact, more than 250 doses were not distributed on Wednesday. In Luverne on Monday, NRCHS distributed just 95 of its 400 doses of the H1N1 vaccine.

Meyer said a meeting is planned today among local health officials to discuss the next step in the vaccination process.

“One of the things we’re going to be working on is getting the EMS, fire and law enforcement officials vaccinated,” he said.

After that, he said they may schedule more community clinics. It isn’t known if those clinics would be during the day or evening, or if they will be conducted in other communities throughout Nobles and Rock counties.

“The problem with doing daytime clinics is we’re not able to get a lot of volunteers or nursing staff to help,” said Meyer. To rely on NRCHS staff would be difficult, because the agency is required to staff mandated programs like WIC.

At this time, Meyer said the agency will not schedule individual appointments to administer doses of the H1N1 vaccine. That may change, however, after the discussion today.

“We’re just trying to figure out the best way to serve the population until our next order arrives,” said Meyer. “We don’t know when that will be.”

Children ages six months through nine years old must receive an H1N1 booster at least 28 days after the initial vaccination. Meyer said they may coordinate the next clinic in 30 days in order to provide those children with the booster.

“We want to get this vaccine out to the people who really need it,” he said. “We would like to get as many people vaccinated as we can by the third week in January. That’s when we’re expecting to see the third wave hit.”

Meanwhile, Meyer said the state has received some reports of the seasonal influenza.

Since April, there have been 45 influenza-related deaths in Minnesota. Of those, 39 have been confirmed as H1N1 novel influenza. The deaths have included a child under the age of nine, to an adult over the age of 90.

Tags: h1n1, novel influenza, swine flu, h1n1 flu, news, worthington, clinic, vaccinations