With several hundred residents standing in line for the pandemic H1N1 influenza vaccine when the first KFL&A area clinic opened at 10 a.m. today, KFL&A Public Health closed the line to new residents for today at 12 noon, urging anyone who was planning on coming to today’s clinic to hold off until later in the week. KFL&A Public Health is also appealing to residents who are not in the first sequence to be patient and wait until the people who need it most (see list below) get it. By 11 a.m., over 1,000 residents were in line and a nearly 6-hour wait had developed at the clinic at the Frontenac Mall.
“We knew the demand would be heavy at the first clinic,” said Justin Chenier, communications officer for KFL&A Public Health, “but what we are seeing is an unprecedented demand by KFL&A area resident for protection from pandemic H1N1 influenza. We will have enough vaccine to continue these clinics through the week and are expecting more vaccine from the province on a continual basis, so we aren’t concerned right now of a shortage. But we can’t overstress the importance of having the first sequence of people be able to access this vaccine now and that everyone else be patient so we can ensure that those who face serious complications from H1N1 have protection as soon as possible.
For this week, KFL&A Public Health is urging only the following people to come to our Pandemic H1N1 Community Immunization Clinics:
- people under 65 with chronic conditions,
- pregnant women (please call the Influenza Info Line first),
- healthy children 6 months to under 5 years of age,
- health care workers, and
- household contacts and care providers of persons at high risk who cannot be immunized or may not respond to vaccines.
KFL&A Public Health’s Pandemic H1N1 Community Immunization Clinics will run every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and every-other Saturday at the Frontenac Mall in Kingston through December 18, 2009; the Strathcona Paper Centre in Napanee on Monday, November 2, 2009 and Monday, November 23, 2009; the North Addington Education Centre in Cloyne on Monday, November 16, 2009; and Sharbot Lake High School in Sharbot Lake on Wednesday, November 25, 2009. The full list is available in all local newspapers and on KFL&A Public Health’s website: www.kflapublichealth.ca.
Residents with questions on Pandemic H1N1 and seasonal influenza can speak to a live public health nurse by calling KFL&A Public Health’s Influenza Info Line at 613-549-5923 or toll-free at 1-800-267-7875, ext. 500 during Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Saturday and Sundays from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.