By CHRIS PUTZ
Staff Writer
HUNTINGTON — While initial fears have subsided over the supply of vaccines for the swine flu, local cities and towns are still holding free H1N1 vaccination clinics for interested people.
Huntington is the latest town to announce a free flu clinic for the public. On Tuesday, January 5, Gateway area residents are invited to attend the clinic to receive the H1N1 vaccine. The shots will be given at Gateway Regional High School from 4 to 7 p.m.
School officials have worked with the boards of health from Blandford, Chester, Huntington, Middlefield, Montgomery, Russell and Worthington, as well as the Hilltown Community Health Center, to ensure the distribution of vaccine to interested individuals.
“It is a great effort … that otherwise would be very difficult for private individuals,” Gateway Regional Superintendent of Schools David Hopson told the Westfield Evening News on Tuesday morning. “It has been a concerted and choreographed effort so to speak.”
It will be the seventh clinic hosted by the school district. Many elementary school-age children, and students from the middle, junior and senior high schools, have already been vaccinated at area schools. A second-dose clinic was held for students ages 9 and under in mid-December.
Hopson said the schools were chosen as the central location to administer shots because of their size, accessibility and parking availability.
The H1N1 vaccine, which was first only made available to high priority groups, is now available for all healthy people over the age of six months. Despite that initial waiting period, the school superintendent said there have never been any supply shortages, and more than enough volunteers have been on hand to assist with the vaccinations. In fact, he said, the demand appears to be slowing down.
“We noticed at the last clinic that there were fewer people than expected,” Hopson noted. “I think a lot of people are beginning to realize that the H1N1 virus is no more severe than the seasonal flu.”
Hopson said the school district is prepared should another wave of the swine flu begin to work its way into the area.
Planning for the pandemic vaccination clinics has been under way for several years. Emergency preparations have been put in place and funded by federal government dollars.
Anyone attending next Tuesday’s flu clinic is asked to park in the front of Gateway Regional High School at 12 Little River Road. The entrance to the clinic is located by the ramp leading to the Superintendent’s Office.
Published Tuesday, December 29, 2009
The PennySaver