Area holds first H1N1 clinics

By Lynne Hendricks
Staff Writer

November 19, 2009 03:52 am

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AMESBURY — Considering how long the public has waited to get access to a scarce nationwide stockpile of available H1N1 vaccines, local health officials were surprised yesterday at the orderly procession of at-risk residents who lined up to receive doses at the first H1N1 flu vaccine clinic.

Fire Chief Jonathan Brickett was expecting a line out of Amesbury Town Hall yesterday. Instead, he and Newburyport health nurse Melinda Gibbons witnessed a slow trickle of residents who fit the "at-risk" profile of pregnant women, caregivers and the immune-compromised children between the ages of 6 months to 9 years old (those with lung, kidney, heart, liver, nerve or blood disease).

"It's been steady on and off, not uncontrollable at all," Brickett said yesterday afternoon, as the clinic was wrapping up. "There's much less demand than I was expecting."

But Brickett was anticipating a bigger crowd for the clinic in Salisbury last night because it was one many parents and residents would have an easier time getting to.

Above and beyond the 80 registered recipients, there were a number of residents who came to the clinic without being on the list, which was just fine with Brickett.

"We haven't turned anybody away, and we wouldn't," he said.

"They were screened as best we could," added Gibbons, who said she didn't require proof of residency or doctor's notes for those wanting the shot. It's mostly been an honor system, whereby officials trust anyone showing up is there because they fit the at-risk profile, she said.

That at-risk population includes the youngest among us, Gibbons said.

"That's why this is such a scary virus," she said. "I would hope with the way things are that people would tell the truth."

Health officials offered a few remaining syringes already filled with the vaccine to a few well-known Town Hall occupants — DPW director Rob Desmarais and Mayor Thatcher Kezer among them.

"Once it's in the syringe, we have a very limited time to use it," said Amesbury paramedic David Mather, who after being trained and deputized to administer the vaccine has been heading up seasonal and H1N1 operations on the town's behalf.

Gibbons explained that officials take the limited supply of vaccine they've received and fill four to six syringes at a time in advance of needing them.

"I took the shot a little better than my son took the seasonal shot," joked Kezer after getting his H1N1 shot, which he said didn't hurt a bit.

"We had more ready than we had people show up to get them," said Gibbons of the few remaining syringes left over when the clinic doors closed.

While the glass vials can keep the H1N1 virus fresh for 30 days, the plastic syringes only keep it fresh for about two hours, she said.

The first clinics, held yesterday at Newburyport's Emergency Operations Center, Amesbury Town Hall and the Salisbury Fire Station, will be followed up on Nov. 30 with a reservation-only clinic for healthy children ages 2 to 9 years old. Gibbons wishes she could hold a bigger clinic now, for the entire population, but the current distribution method doesn't allow for that.

"We're getting them all the time, slowly and in very small amounts — not significant enough to do a large clinic," Gibbons said. "We're getting small amounts of vaccine (100 at a time), so we're trying as best we can to get this to the high-risk population."

The Nov. 30 clinic will be held from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Newburyport Emergency Operations Center, 59 Low St. Another will be held from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. at Amesbury Town Hall, 62 Friend St. And later that night, another will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Salisbury Fire Station, 37 Lafayette Road.

Note: Residents of the three communities may attend any of the available clinics; they do not need to be a resident of the specific community hosting the clinic. However, all vaccines will be given by reservation only; walk-ins will not receive the vaccine. Reservations for the clinic should be made by calling the Newburyport Health Department, 978-465-8562. Recipients will be pre-screened to ensure the very limited number of vaccines is going to the specific target population.