H1N1 vaccination sessions at capacity

As the supply for the H1N1, or swine flu, vaccine trickles in slower than expected, officials in Marion and Polk counties are scrambling to keep up with demand     Marion County Health Department began offering appointments Thursday for residents without health insurance to get the H1N1 vaccine. In less than a day, those appointments were filled.

In Polk County, health officials ran out of vaccine after distributing 1,085 doses during a community clinic hosted at the Polk County Fairgrounds in Rickreall on Wednesday. About 250 people were turned away.

“Because we were one of the first (clinics), there was a very high demand, and it exceeded the number of doses,” public health manager Andy Walker said.

Public health departments are distributing the H1N1 vaccine to people in targeted priority groups: pregnant women, anyone in a household and caregivers for infants younger than six months; young children and adults from six months to 24 years old; and adults 25 to 64 who have health conditions associated with a higher risk of medical complications from the flu.

County health departments were directed to have 30 percent of allotted vaccine available to anyone in the priority groups without insurance or a medical provider; the other 70 percent is being distributed among school districts, health care providers and other agencies such as front-line emergency responders.

In Polk County, Walker said schools are reporting students out sick, but he’s keeping a closer eye on the severity of cases. So far, Polk County has had five cases that required hospitalization since September. Marion County has had 22 hospitalizations.

“It’s there, it’s present in the community,” Walker said. “People are getting the flu, but not everybody is getting sick from the flu — it’s not spreading aggressively.”

Marion County is distributing its vaccine on an appointment-only basis in order to streamline wait times and ensure priority groups are served first.

Anyone in a priority group without a medical provider or insurance can call Marion County Health Department to schedule an appointment. All other adults should contact their medical provider hursday was the first day the county opened its appointment line, and by mid-day the appointment slots were filled. Anyone wanting to make an appointment can call the health department beginning MondayMarion County health officials are not releasing specific number of doses available by appointment because of the constantly changing allotment.

“At this time, the vaccine shipments are unpredictable,” Marion County Public Health Officer Dr. Karen Landers said. “Scheduling appointments based on the number of vaccine we have is the best way to ensure that the people who have an appointment will get vaccinated. Eventually there will be enough vaccine for everyone who wants it; however, it will take some time.”

Spokeswoman Tonya Johnson said officials expect enough vaccine eventually will arrive, but shipments were taking longer than anticipated.

“We want people to know that we’re doing everything we can to get the vaccine out,” Johnson said. “We appreciate their patience. It’s basically out of our control.”

Once people in the priority groups have had access to the vaccine, the Marion County Health Department will make the H1N1 vaccine available to the general public through local health clinics, pharmacies and at the health department.

Marion County officials still are working with Salem-Keizer School District to plan vaccination clinics.

Ruth Gelbrich, the director of student services, said because of the delay in vaccines, no clinics would be held within the schools until at least the week of Nov. 16.

Gelbrich said Salem-Keizer officials were close to preparing its first flu clinic at a high school and have it serve the area feeder schools, but cancelled that event because a lack of vaccine supply.

District officials will have daily attendance counts by next week to monitor absentee rates among students and staff — until now, attendance data from all schools was not collected on a daily basis, Gelbrich said.

“We’re hearing that the numbers are rising,” she said.

So far, no Salem-Keizer schools have considered closing, but absentee numbers are higher to date than a year ago, she said. Individual schools make the decision to close depending on a shortage of students or staff.

Flu toolkits filled with face masks, digital thermometers, sanitizing wipes and hand sanitizer were distributed among many schools, and more were being prepared, Gelbrich said