More than 400 local residents, many of them children, received H1N1 flu vaccinations at a mass clinic at the Caldwell County Primary School Thursday.
Allison Beshear, public information officer for the Pennyrile District Health Department, said 421 people took advantage of the clinic.
Children from preschool through fifth grade were targeted for vaccination, but Beshear said the vaccine was also offered to students’ siblings and parents.
The CCPS clinic was the latest in a round of mass vaccinations in the health department’s service area, which includes Caldwell, Crittenden, Livingston, Lyon and Trigg counties.
The H1N1 vaccine was available by either nasal spray or by shot, in different variations based on age.
Children under nine years old who took the vaccine will require a booster dose a month from now.
Reminder cards were sent home with families participating in the clinic, Beshear said.
For those who forget, there is still some benefit with only the first round of the vaccine. “One dose is definitely better than no dose at all,” she said.
A second round of mass vaccinations, this one targeting older students, will begin next week.
For Caldwell County students, the clinic will be held Tuesday, Nov. 24, once again at the primary school.
Middle school students (grades six through eight) will be vaccinated from 4 to 5:30 p.m. High school students (grades nine through 12) will be vaccinated from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
Lyon County students will be vaccinated Monday, Nov. 23, at Lyon County High School. The times and age divisions are the same.
Thursday evening’s clinic at the primary school went off smoothly, Beshear said Friday.
“I heard some really nice things said. Overall, the clinic flowed well,” she said.
Participants entering the school were shown to the library, where they registered and waited for their names to be called.
Twelve health department nurses operated out of six classrooms to minimize wait times, Beshear said.
Other health department staff handled support duties, taking registration and assisting as needed.
After the school clinics are complete, the health department will begin scheduling vaccination clinics for the rest of the community.
The department hopes to begin those clinics in early December, but no dates have been finalized, she said.
The health department is receiving weekly shipments of the H1N1 vaccine.
“We’ve not had a clinic where we’ve run out of vaccine,” she said.
Concerns about the safety of the vaccine are unfounded, she added.
The manufacturing process for the H1N1 vaccine is the same as the process by which the seasonal flu vaccine has been made for the past few decades; the only change is the formulation of the vaccine, she said.
Clinical trials conducted determined possible side effects and/or adverse reactions were similar to those experienced by those taking the seasonal flu vaccine, she said.
As far as the seasonal flu vaccine is concerned, the health department is out of this year’s supply, and officials do not anticipate obtaining any more.
Most manufacturers have stopped production on that vaccine in order to keep up with demand for the H1N1 vaccine.
For more information on the clinics, call the health department at (270) 365-6571.
