PARKERSBURG - Area health departments expected to administer nearly 2,000 H1N1 vaccinations Saturday during two open clinics.
The Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department gave more than 1,000 doses in both shot and mist form between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the Dils Center for their first priority group clinic.
"Everything went very well," said Carrie Brainard, flu information coordinator for the Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department. "People came in, filled out the paperwork and were on their way out in no time."
The department expected roughly 1,400 people to attend the Saturday clinic in the priority risk groups including pregnant women, children ages 6 months to 18 years, health care workers and those with consistent contacts with infants under 6 months including parents, grandparents and day care workers.
"I decided to come here because I have two small kids my daughter is just 6-months-old and my son is in preschool and I want to make sure my family is as healthy as possible," said LaDawn Joy of Washington.
Joy and her daughter, Lydia, received the vaccine while son Tole, 3, received the nasal mist vaccination at the Dils Center.
"If (Tole) wasn't in preschool and around other children all of the time, we probably wouldn't be (getting the vaccine)," Joy said. "I'm a bit scared to get the shot because it's new and the effects aren't really known, but I guess it's better than being sick in the hospital."
The Washington County Health Department vaccinated 84 residents between the ages of 2 to 24 with no long-term health problems, health care and emergency medical service personnel age 49 and younger with no long-term health problems and those 25 to 49 who have no long-term health problems and who live with or care for infants 6 months or younger during a free clinic between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
"We had enough vaccine ready for 700 people and only 84 showed up," said Washington County Health Commissioner Kathleen Meckstroth. "Not as many people showed up as we expected, but those 84 people are now protected where they weren't before."
Meckstroth said one reason the clinic in Marietta did not have a strong showing was because only the nasal mist was offered and not the shot.
There are restrictions to the mist that are not on the shot, Meckstroth said. These restrictions include that pregnant women and children under 2-years-old cannot receive a mist vaccination because it contains a weakened live virus as opposed to the killed virus in the injected vaccine.
"I feel people were thrown by the mist and either don't know enough about it or are uncomfortable about it to get it," she said.
Marietta resident Donna Dye was not wary of the mist vaccine and brought her daughter Alyssa, 4, to the Washington County Health Department on Muskingum Drive for the clinic Saturday morning.
"I just want to make sure she is protected," Dye said. "I'd feel awful if something happened to her and I didn't take advantage of this opportunity."
Brainard said the Parkersburg location was quick-moving and patients were treated without losing much time.
"We were here at 7:30 a.m. to set up and there were already people waiting in line for their shot the first person said he started the line at 6 a.m."
By 10:30 a.m. the line had been pared down to a few people and those who came in had little to no time to wait between registration and vaccination.
"We are very fortunate to have so many volunteers, which helps us serve so many people so quickly and efficiently," Brainard said.
Three registered nurses with AirEvac Lifeteam, based at the Mid-Ohio Valley Regional Airport, volunteered their time to give the H1N1 shots at the Dils Center.
"We, at AirEvac, are firm believers in giving back to the community and this is one way we can give back," said Dixie Davenport, registered nurse and flight nurse with the medical company.
Over the next few weeks, both health departments plan to continue giving out H1N1 vaccines to priority groups.
Meckstroth said the Washington County Health Department will begin clinics in schools this coming week and will plan more priority public clinics in the coming weeks.
"Right now, we are working on a schedule," Meckstroth said.
The Mid-Ohio department has now held 36 H1N1 vaccination clinics across the region, which includes Wood, Pleasants, Wirt, Ritchie, Calhoun and Roane counties, in the past three weeks, said Dick Wittberg, executive director of the health department. Most of these clinics have taken place in schools and include two evening clinics for school-age children at the Dils Center last week.
Saturday's clinic was the first for people on the CDC priority list and the health department has planned three others for those in the risk groups for Nov. 18, Nov. 21 and Nov. 24.
It has yet to be determined when public H1N1 vaccination clinics will be held by both Washington County and the Mid-Ohio Valley health departments. Both Wittberg and Meckstroth said they hope to be able to hold an H1N1 vaccination clinic for the general population in December.
For more information on the H1N1 vaccine, contact the Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department at 304 485-7374 or 888 550-6797 and the Washington County Health Department at 740 374-2782.
