11/5/2009 1:58:00 PM Canceled school H1N1 clinics will not be rescheduled Vaccine shortages make rescheduling ‘nearly impossible’
The H1N1 walk-in, high-risk clinic was held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday in the Board of Supervisors Room at the Yavapai County Court Building. The line outside began forming at around 7 am and stretched around the building by 9 am. Saturday's clinic was restricted to persons in the high-risk categories: pregnant women; household contacts or caregivers for children under six months of age; children from six months to 24 years of age; health-care workers and emergency personnel; and persons 25 to 64 years of age with underlying medical conditions that put them at a higher risk from H1N1. Health care workers inside felt optimistic that they had sufficient supplies of vaccine to handle the day's crowd. VVN/JON PELLETIER
Saturday H1N1 Vaccination Clinics Will Be Held
Yavapai County Community Health Services plans to hold H1N1 mass vaccination flu clinics in Prescott at 1090 Commerce Drive and Cottonwood at 10 S. 6th Street this coming Saturday from 9am-1pm. Those at high risk for H1N1 can be vaccinated:
Pregnant women
Household contacts and caregivers for children younger than 6 months of age
Healthcare and emergency medical services personnel
All people from 6 months through 24 years
Persons aged 25 through 64 years who have health conditions that put them at higher risk of medical complications from influenza. Persons with the following conditions:
Disorders that that can compromise respiratory function or the handling of respiratory secretions or that can increase the risk for aspiration (e.g., cognitive dysfunction, spinal cord injuries, seizure disorders, or other neuromuscular disorders)
Immunosuppression, including that caused by medications or by HIV.
Due to the ongoing uncertainty of H1N1 flu vaccine availability, people are encouraged to check flu clinic schedules at www.yavapaihealth.com or call (928) 442-55613 in Prescott, or (928) 639-8139 in Cottonwood before any clinic to assure vaccine availability.
In times of heavy demand and vaccine shortage, it is possible for vaccine to run out during a clinic. Yavapai County Community Health Services apologizes for any inconvenience.
COTTONWOOD - The number of children vaccinated against the H1N1 flu likely will not keep pace with the spread of the virus. The hit-and-miss distribution of the vaccine to the age group most at risk will be dependent on the availability of the vaccine for scheduled school clinics.
"We tried in the beginning to reschedule school clinics, but found it nearly impossible because we had already booked the school clinics daily through the end of December," said Leslie Horton, community health education program director and public information officer for the Yavapai County Community Health Services.
"At this point we are holding the school clinics when we have vaccine available, and canceling when we must due to vaccine shortages," Horton said. "We are not rescheduling schools at this point."
An official communication from Yavapai County officials and the Yavapai County Superintendent's office cancelled all school-based clinics scheduled for Monday, Nov. 9, due to lack of vaccine. School clinics for Friday, Nov.6, were already cancelled. The mass public high-risk clinic scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 7, in Cottonwood will be held.
Horton said the county hopes to provide other arrangements, such as after-hours mass clinics, or combining school clinics in order to vaccinate some of the students missed due to cancellations.
In earlier communications from Horton covered in The Verde Independent, she said the county was using a 48-hour cancellation policy. That was based on when vaccine shipments were received or not, and it was designed to allow schools enough time to make rescheduling arrangements. But that policy has changed.
"We have a 36-hour cancellation policy now," Horton said, "since we generally get our vaccine by 2 p.m. and can make decisions based on our inventory."
She said the 36-hour cancellation policy allows the county time to update its website. "We generally release a (public service announcement) by Thursday afternoon to the local news media in order to inform the public on the status of our mass vaccination clinics."
Horton said the Yavapai County Community Health Services department is in a very difficult position regarding H1N1 clinics. "We had planned our clinics based on projections of how much vaccine we were supposed to receive, and now we have only received a fraction of what we were expecting."
She said YCCHS is trying hard to accommodate local health-care providers so they can serve their patients, as well as making sure hospitals have vaccine. At the same time, the department is still trying to hold school and mass vaccination clinics to serve the general public.
The H1N1 walk-in, high-risk clinic will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in the Board of Supervisors Room at 10 S. 6th St. in Cottonwood. That clinic is restricted to persons in the high-risk categories: pregnant women; household contacts or caregivers for children under six months of age; children from six months to 24 years of age; health-care workers and emergency personnel; and persons 25 to 64 years of age with underlying medical conditions that put them at a higher risk from H1N1.
