Swine flu vaccines go quickly
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Reese Gregoire, who is almost 3 years old, gets an H1N1 nasal flu vaccination at the American Legion in Middlebury on Tuesday with her mother, Sarah, who came over from Plattsburgh, N.Y., for the first clinic. Vyto Starinskas / Rutland Herald |
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By Cristina Kumka Staff Writer - Published: November 4, 2009
MIDDLEBURY — The state's first H1N1 flu vaccination clinic left at least 100 people out in the rain without vaccinations Tuesday, but state and local health officials promised more shots would make their way to the state by the end of the month to meet the growing demand.
H1N1, or swine flu, is "widespread everywhere in Vermont right now," said Brant Goode of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at an emergency preparedness conference in Killington earlier in the day.
And there's no telling how long the flu will last, he said.
Goode, presenting alongside Vermont Health Commissioner Wendy Davis, said anywhere from 180,000 to 300,000 Vermonters will become infected with swine flu according to estimates released in August by PCAST or the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
In Vermont, anywhere from 60 to 120 deaths are estimated, Goode said.
The Middlebury clinic, conducted by the Addison County Home Health & Hospice at the American Legion, drew people from as far as Montreal to try to get free vaccinations.
Hospice Executive Director Larry Goetschius said vaccine dissemination wasn't limited to Vermont — he fielded calls from Massachusetts, New York, Canada and New Hampshire and told people the date and time of Tuesday's clinic.
High-risk individuals are a priority according to Davis and some of Tuesday's recipients — pregnant women, children and young adults age 6 months to 24, adults age 25 to 64 with chronic medical conditions and infants.
But being high risk doesn't necessarily mean vaccines will be delivered more quickly. And, people don't have to show medical proof that puts them in the high-risk category, according to Goetschius.
"We decided to not question people on their word," he said.
By about 4 p.m. 100 men, women and children in a line that wrapped around the building were turned away.
All 300 doses, 50 more than were expected to be delivered, were given in about an hour, according to Goetschius.
Cornwall's Monique Bedard waited in line for about four hours before getting her shot. She had 40 people ahead of her.
Bedard said she met three criteria — she has a chronic lung disease, diabetes and is under the age of 64. Bedard said she had yet to get a seasonal flu vaccine – no clinics for that were scheduled in her area, she said.
Dairy farmer Deven Dubois, 27, of Addison, was also at the clinic early. Dubois has chronic asthma, and after registering was told by nurses to come back later in the day. He did and outside the clinic at about 4 p.m., he waved a small yellow ticket with the number 93 printed on it, signifying he would get a shot.
"I don't fear dying but I would like to last a little longer around here … I am only 27," Dubois said.
"These people are standing out here for nothing," he said. "They definitely need to get more out to the public out here."
Turned down were a family of four from Berlin with an 18-month-old son with reoccurring pneumonia and a 13-year-old boy from Jericho with muscular dystrophy.
Berlin mom Sadie Richer wanted one for her ill son but said she would forego a vaccine for someone else who really needed it.
Mother Joanne Wechsler said her son was high risk because the flu could paralyze him due to his muscular dystrophy,.
"We can't get the shot anywhere, the school clinic was canceled," she said, minutes after she was told there were no vaccines left. "If he gets the flu he probably won't walk again."
Davis called the national swine flu vaccine distribution "frustrating yet remarkable."
Swine flu prevention nationwide is a joint effort by the federal departments of Homeland Security, Education and Health and Human Services, according to Davis.
"I truly believe it's an unprecedented response by the large agencies," Davis said, mentioning that this year's swine flu strain wasn't fully identified until April.
"It's hard to imagine how this could have been done quicker or more effectively."
According to healthvermont.gov, "vaccine supplies will increase over the next several weeks, and we expect that everyone who wants the vaccine will be able to obtain it."
People over the age of 65 aren't high risk for the 2009 swine flu, according to Davis.
According to national statistics provided by Davis, there have been 22,080 cases of swine flu in people ages 5 to 24, compared to 573 identified cases in people age 65 and older.
The theory is that people in that age range have developed an immunity to swine flu because of coming into contact with a similar flu in the past, Davis said.
cristina.kumka@rutlandherald.com
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