11/7/2009 10:00:00 PM County doles out 700 H1N1 vaccinations Saturday Most residents remain in wait-and-see mode
Matt Hinshaw/
The Daily Courier Cynthia Fields consoles and braces her daughter Camryn, 2, while Registered Nurse Bill Anders administers the H1N1 vaccine Saturday morning (above) at the Yavapai County Health Services building in Prescott. Lines around the building (below) started building as early as 5:40 a.m.
As of Oct. 24, Yavapai County has had 74 laboratory confirmed cases of H1N1 Swine Flu. 3,594 laboratory confirmed cases and 64 H1N1 related deaths have been identified in Arizona. Every county in Arizona except Greenlee County now has had confirmed cases.
PRESCOTT - Although he was just a half an hour away from receiving a coveted H1N1 flu vaccination, Roy Sherrard stood anxiously inside the lobby of the Yavapai County Community Health Services Department's offices Saturday morning.
The 52-year-old Chino Valley resident has had good reason for his tattered nerves of late. Soon after his healthy wife Tami contracted H1N1 in late September, she complained of a sore throat, diarrhea and vomiting before getting the chills and a fever.
It sounded like the common flu - except it didn't end there.
"She went to the hospital in Prescott and the doctor sent her back home saying it was just the normal flu," Sherrard said. "Three days later she had double pneumonia and was in Yavapai Regional Medical Center East for five days in the Intensive Care Unit.
"Then they put her up in the cardiac ward and sent her home. And the doctors are not sure if she's going to be able to come back to work because she might be on oxygen the rest of her life. She darn near died."
Roy, who is disabled and suffers from an autoimmune disease, was fortunate to get one of the 700 H1N1 vaccinations that the county health department distributed Saturday morning from its Prescott offices at 1090 Commerce Dr. Some 80 percent of the five different vaccinations available came in shot form while the remaining 20 percent were nasal injections.
More than 20 volunteers, including 17 registered nurses, doled out the vaccine at seven stations inside one long hallway of the county complex.
Hundreds of people wrapped themselves around the building from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., keeping their fingers crossed that they would get the vaccine.
Only pregnant women, family members or caregivers for infants under 6 months old, health care workers or emergency personnel, persons between 6 months and 24 years old, and adults who are 25 to 64 years old with a chronic health condition received it.
Jan Hart, the county's assistant director of public health services, said people began arriving at the complex shortly before 6 a.m. for the clinic. However, folks did not start getting vaccinated until 9:50 a.m., 50 minutes after the clinic's official start time.
Prescott Valley resident Holly Smith, 38, who doctors diagnosed with low-grade lymphoma a week ago, waited in line for several hours.
"I've been really freaked out about H1N1 because I know that my immune system is shot," Smith said. "I'd rather take the shot and be safe than get the virus."
Chris Wright, a 37-year-old father from Prescott Valley, also stood in line for hours with his wife Emilie; sons Caleb, 8, and Joshua, 4; and daughter Abigail, 3, to get shots for his youngest two children. Caleb was vaccinated two weeks ago at school.
"I'm not as afraid for myself as I am for my children," said Chris, whose wife keeps Joshua and Abigail at home. "But life goes on. We're just trying to take precautions so that we can move forward and not worry about it so much."
Prescott resident Nancy Maurer, an asthmatic who's over 50, arrived for the clinic at 7 a.m. and did not receive the shot until three hours later. She suggested that anyone with a compromised immune system or extenuating health problems get immunized.
"My daughter's already had this (H1N1), and it was pretty ugly," Maurer said. "She wasn't hospitalized, but I think her immune system has just been compromised after having this virus. She's been sick ever since with one thing after another."
One Prescott mother, who did not want to give her name, said her 5-year-old son tested positive for H1N1 a few weeks ago. She thinks he contracted the illness at a local private school.
On Saturday, she waited for at least three hours behind the county complex in hopes of getting her 2-year-old daughter the vaccination. She said she was making her fourth attempt to get the shot for her toddler.
"It's safer to get the shot than to actually get sick," she said. "I saw how sick my son got and we were pretty scared it was going to spread throughout our house."
County health officials say those adults not on the county's list of H1N1 at-risk groups should wait until December to get the vaccine.
The health department thinks more of the shots will be available at that time for the general population. Hart said the silver lining in all of this might be that less than 1 percent of seniors over 65 need the vaccine because of a natural immunity to H1N1.
At its first H1N1 clinic Oct. 24, the county offices in Prescott vaccinated 588 people, while the complex in Cottonwood did so for 250 folks.
Hart said the county's had trouble receiving all of the vaccinations it needs for the public because it took the nation's four vaccine manufacturers longer to produce the shots than officials from the Centers for Disease Control initially believed. County officials, for example, did not know until Thursday that they would be able to put on Saturday's free clinic.
"We've gotten about 5 percent of the vaccinations, or around 12,000 doses, that we need for the whole county. When the vaccine arrives, we usually get about 24 to 48 hours' notice," said Robert Resendes, director of the county health department. "We're not stockpiling this vaccine. We don't know in advance what we're getting. It's a day-to-day thing."
Residents who wanted the vaccine and did not get it Saturday should check with their doctor or clinic. Children ages 10 and over need only one dose, while those 9 and under need two shots. Those up to 6 months don't get vaccinated. Vaccinated pregnant women pass on their immunity to the womb.
"We gave out thousands of doses to about 90 practices who voluntarily agreed to vaccinate their patients," Resendes said. "We got more vaccinations this week than we got all of last month, so that's a plus."
Those participating in future county vaccination clinics likely will have to fill out a one-page consent form to get the shot. To download the form on the Internet, log on to the county's website at www.co.yavapai.az.us.
Reader Comments
Posted: Sunday, November 08, 2009
Article comment by:
Jan Hart
In addition to the number of volunteers mentioned in the article, the Jeep Posse also provided 6 officers to assist with traffic control. There were also 3 Yavapai College of Nursing Instructors and their students who served as vaccinators. Yavapai County Community of Health Services (YCCHS) is very fortunate to have the assistance of the volunteers who are committed to serving the community. There are also many YCCHS staff who work the clinics and behind the scenes to make the mass immunization clinics a success.
Posted: Sunday, November 08, 2009
Article comment by:
Fear kills
Please enlighten us with your research Joe. Please show me where to find a credible source who can prove that the vaccine is MORE dangerous then not taking it. You need to be very very careful spreading unwarranted fear. 72 people have died from H1N1 in Arizona alone. Please show me were I can find 1 person on the planet Earth who has died of the vaccine. The odds are 100,000 to 1 in your favor by getting this vaccine. If you can't recognize this you should really stay away from Vegas. Those people who vocally call out for people to not take this vaccine will have to live with the burden that their bad advice caused children to die. That is a heavy burden to place on ones soul.
Posted: Sunday, November 08, 2009
Article comment by:
Joe
The vaccine is poison. My advice is to to A LOT of research on it before you put it in your body. I believe it is far more dangerous than the strain of flu it is designed to protect against.
