BUFFALO
Hundreds turn out for swine flu shots
Published: December 13, 2009, 12:30 am
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While cases of the swine flu appeared to be on the wane both locally and nationally, parents who lined up inside Waterfront Elementary School on Saturday weren’t taking chances with the H1N1 virus.
“I’m relieved,” said Jennie Dorner, moments after her daughters Brittney, 14, and Amber, 7, were vaccinated against both swine flu and seasonal influenza. “Our doctor’s office for the children, they still didn’t have the shots, so we kept the day open to be here.”
Officials from the Erie County Health Department and Kaleida Health expected to deliver as many as 1,000 swine flu vaccines and 1,000 seasonal flu shots to each of three Buffalo elementary schools where free clinics were set up Saturday.
Despite recent reports suggesting that the swine flu had peaked in late October and early November, medical professionals continued to urge vigilance and caution in protecting against the spread of the virus, which could be headed for a third wave sometime in January and February, perhaps coinciding with the traditional high point for seasonal influenza.
“Right now is the best time to vaccinate, while we have the vaccine and before the next wave comes,” said Sandra L. Diagostino, a registered nurse and immunization specialist for the county health department.
Hundreds up parents and children turned out at Waterfront School Saturday afternoon for the free vaccinations.
Yaritza Martinez brought her two nieces, Nicole and Evannie Diaz, putting up with a few tears from the girls, ages 5 and 2, in exchange for peace of mind.
“I feel relieved because it’s going around everywhere. I feel much better now,” she said.
Martinez’s three-month-old son, Angel Medina, was still too young to be vaccinated against swine flu and seasonal flu.
Martinez said she waited about 35 minutes. Dorner said she waited about an hour with her daughters and her husband, Bruno. The entire Dorner family ended up getting vaccinated.
The availability of the swine flu vaccine remains a problem, although the situation has improved, said Dr. Steven J. Lana, a pediatrician and medical director for Buffalo Public Schools.
“That’s been our biggest challenge — having a sense of what to expect, how much to expect and when to expect it,” he said. “We shouldn’t have had to wait this long. Ideally, we would’ve been doing this in September.”
Lana said there’s still no way of predicting which medical providers will get the swine flu vaccine and when.
Each clinic site was staffed by about 70 nurses, screeners and other employees in a collaboration of the health department, Buffalo Public Schools, Kaleida Health, Independent Health and BlueCross BlueShield.
The health department provided the swine flu vaccines, by shot and nasal spray, and Kaleida provided the seasonal flu vaccines.
The downturn in swine flu cases doesn’t mean they won’t soon go up again.
“We can’t let our guard down,” said Lana. “We can’t tell for certain, but chances are there will still be another wave.”
e-mail: jtokasz@buffnews.com
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