Wright County Public Health will have plenty of H1N1 vaccine at its Annandale clinic Thursday, Dec. 3, so there’s no need to line up at the start for fear supplies won’t last, an official says. The department will hold the county’s second mass vaccination clinic from 3 to 7 p.m. at Bendix Elementary School for children and young adults through age 24, pregnant women and parents or caregivers of infants under 6 months. Another clinic is scheduled from 3 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 8, at St. Albert’s Parish Center in Albertville, and from 4 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 17, at Buffalo Community Middle School in Buffalo. The clinics were announced last week as state health officials said the supply of the vaccine was steadily increasing and flu activity was dropping, and as the number of confirmed Minnesota deaths from the new H1N1 strain rose to 32. WCPH received thousands of doses of the vaccine last week, spokeswoman Christine Austin-Roehler said. It sent most of it to local medical clinics around the county but kept a few thousand for the public vaccination clinics. "We have plenty on hand and I don’t think we’re going to run out at all," she said, estimating there will be enough to serve about 2,000 people at Annandale. "We’re confident we’re going to have enough vaccine for all these clinics now." Austin-Roehler urged people not to line up ahead of the starting time and to come throughout clinic hours. At every clinic the department has conducted over the years, she said, there have been lines at the beginning and few people at the end. The same thing happened at its first mass H1N1 vaccination Nov. 17 in Buffalo. There were long lines at the beginning but halfway through there were no lines, very little waiting and no eligible child was turned away, she said. The Annandale and other clinics are aimed at vaccinating Wright County residents, but anyone living in a Wright County school district is welcome. The Annandale School District covers some parts of Stearns County. A parent must sign a consent form for a child’s vaccination or send a signed, dated note with another family member or caregiver, the department said. The vaccine is provided free by the federal government, but participants are asked to bring their insurance cards since WCPH may collect an administrative fee to help cover employee costs. Most of the vaccine at the clinics will be in the form of injections with limited FluMist nasal spray available, the department said. A person who is ill, has a fever or a known allergy to eggs shouldn’t receive a vaccination. As it has throughout the state, flu activity appears to be declining in Wright County, Austin-Roehler said, but it’s possible another wave of the illness will hit later, so it’s important that people get vaccinated at the December clinics. "I would anticipate we will be having more clinics," she said. Children 9 and under need two doses of the H1N1 vaccine, so WCPH likely will have additional clinics in January. She also expects the groups receiving the vaccine will widen as more of it becomes available, in line with a Minnesota Department of Health recommendation last week. Though people age 25 through 64 with a chronic medical condition are on the list of priority groups to get the vaccine, WCPH isn’t targeting them because it doesn’t yet have sufficient doses, she said. People over 65 aren’t a priority group, Austin-Roehler said, because it appears they’re not having the same level of illness or complications as younger people. The numbers show that children and young adults into their 20s are more likely to have complications and to be hospitalized. For more information, WCPH has an Influenza Vaccine Information Line at 763-684-2335, and the state operates the Minnesota Flu Line at 866-259-4655 where people who are feeling ill can talk to a nurse.
