Clinic draws hundreds wanting flu shots
Fewer than 20 were turned away
WHEATFIELD — Call it a sign of the times.
Hundreds of people waited in line for hours Friday at a Wheatfield medical equipment store to pay $20 for swine flu shots.
Passport Health, a Williamsville company, made 536 doses of flu vaccine available at a clinic here and used all but three of them.
Those doses were special nasal spray vaccines for adults with no risk factors, who were not the primary focus of the clinic.
Fewer than 20 people were turned away from the clinic without getting a shot once they entered the line, although many who drove in were told the vaccine was spoken for before they arrived, said Donna Tortoretti, co-owner of Passport Health.
The crowd was generated by an announcement Thursday on a television newscast.
"The first person got here at 2 a.m.," said Joanna Daeschner, executive director of Passport Health, who was one of two nurses wielding the needles. "The next person told me he was here at 6 a.m."
Vaccinations didn't start until 11 a.m. The clinic was supposed to last until 5 p.m., but the vaccine was gone well before that time.
"It was a great day. We didn't have a lot of chaos," Tortoretti said. "We had a security guard we didn't need."
Passport Health, whose primary business is administering shots for exotic diseases to travelers, set up the clinic in its satellite office inside Health System Services on Williams Road.
"We're just happy to provide a venue," said Robert A. Minicucci, president of Health System Services. "Obviously it's an important issue locally and nationally." The primary targets of the clinic were young people ranging in age from six months to 24 years old, as well as pregnant women and adults with chronic medical conditions that research shows make them vulnerable to the flu virus.
Barbara and Frank Dablewski of Cheektowaga brought their 9-year-old granddaughter Jessica Dablewski, and all three were immunized.
"I have one lung. My husband has lymphoma," Barbara said. "You live in fear. It was more important for Jessie to get hers."
Jessica, a fourth-grader at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School in the Cheektowaga-Sloan district, said some of her classmates have been out with the flu.
"One was out for a week," she said.
Patricia Zdarsky of Williamsville also brought her grandchildren: Matthew, 5, Aubrey, 4, and Alexa, 11 months. Their mother, Sharon Zdarsky, also was in line, eligible for a shot as a caregiver to young children.
"We were scheduled for the 21st at the pediatrician, but they ran out of seasonal vaccine," Sharon said. "The H1N1 just goes in and out [of availability.]"
Tortoretti said Passport Health obtained its vaccine supply from the state Health Department for free, although it was allowed to charge $20 for administrative costs.
Workers were screening people at a table before they were allowed to enter the vaccination room.
Some of those lined up had questions even as they were rolling up their sleeves. Nurse Karmell Macoretta assured one woman, "This is a dead virus. You cannot get the flu from the shot. It's impossible."
Minicucci said, "If they get more vaccine, we will [hold the clinic] here. You know, the young ones under 10 need a booster."
e-mail: tprohaska@buffnews.com
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