H1N1 FLU UPDATE
Montgomery County, Maryland
Montgomery County is holding its first H1N1 vaccination clinic—Friday, October 9—at the Dennis Avenue Health Center in Silver Spring. However, the clinic will only offer the nasal spray version of the vaccine, which is not appropriate for those with underlying health problems, for people who have received the seasonal flu vaccine in nasal form during the last 28 days, or for pregnant mothers.
For more information on the clinic and who should receive the nasal vaccine, see the Montgomery County flu http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/mcgtmpl.asp?url=/content/exec/swine_flu/index.asp.
There will be another vaccine distribution sometime next week. Once the county receives the injection vaccine, it will make it available in public schools on Wednesdays after school hours from 4:00-7:00 pm. Private school students are welcome to get the vaccine at any of the three, school-based clinics they will set up—one in the lower portion of the county, one in the mid-portion, and one in the upper portion. Health workers will distribute the vaccine on a first-come, first-serve basis. When county health officials actually receive shipment of the vaccine, they will make public a more detailed schedule of vaccination clinics.
District of Columbia
D.C. will be announcing a revised distribution plan which will be posted at http://doh.dc.gov/doh/cwp/view.asp?a=1370&q=604320&PM=1.
According to DC health officials, the new plan calls for the District to set up mass vaccination clinics in the DC public schools. These clinics will operate during after-school hours and will be open for all students. Private school students can receive the vaccine at these locations if they go with a parent or if they have a signed parental consent form. The D.C. Department of Health plans to post the parental consent form on its website. Even if a student is not from D.C., the Department will not turn away anyone seeking the vaccine on the basis of his/her residence.
Fairfax County, Virginia
Fairfax County is scheduled to receive its first shipment of the H1N1 vaccine the week of October 19. It will hold its first vaccination clinic over the weekend of October 24-25, though county health officials have yet to set an exact time-frame. The vaccine will be offered only to children, though the county has yet to establish what age children will be eligible to receive the vaccine. Students in the covered age ranges in public, private, and parochial will all be eligible to receive vaccinations at these locations. Nine middle schools distributed throughout the county will host vaccination clinics. These nine middle schools are: Franklin, Frost, Glasgow, Hughes, Key, Kilmer, Liberty, Longfellow, and Sandburg. Starting the week of October 26, county health officials will begin offering the vaccine at walk-in health clinics. As more information becomes available, Fairfax County will post the information at http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/flu/.