The line starts here
A dose of frustration for flu shot vaccinations
Lake County Health Department H1N1 flu vaccine clinics were besieged by crowds Thursday, and officials said the department's first supply of vaccine will likely run out this afternoon.
The long lines across Lake County Thursday reminded one official of the mass polio vaccinations long ago.
(Thomas Delany Jr./News-Sun)
• Photos: Waukegan vaccinations
• Photos: Gurnee vaccinations
H1N1 vaccination clinics continue today. Officials said Thursday they believe the supply of vaccine will run out by this evening.
Gurnee
Advocate Condell Medical Building
1425 Hunt Club Road, Suite 103
Today, Oct. 30, 8 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Mundelein
Carl Sandburg Middle School Gymnasium
855 W. Hawley St.
Today, Oct. 30, 8 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Round Lake Beach
Round Lake Area Park District Sports Center
2004 Municipal Way
Today, Oct. 30, 8 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Waukegan
Field House at Hinkston Park 800 N. Baldwin Ave. Today, Oct. 30, 8 a.m. - 8 p.m.
North Chicago
The Lake County Health Department's North Chicago Community Health Center 2215 14th St.
Today, Oct. 30, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
These clinics are walk-in only. Only the H1N1 flu vaccine, and not the seasonal flu vaccine, is available at these clinics. The clinics will be open as long as the H1N1 flu vaccine supply is available.
Get more info
Residents are encouraged to access reliable sources for flu information and updates, including www.lakecountyil.gov/Health/H1N1, www.flu.gov and ready.illinois.gov.
The Health Department's H1N1 hotline number is: (847) 377-8350.
"This reminds me of the '50s, waiting in line for polio vaccine," said County Board Chairwoman Suzi Schmidt, who spoke at a news conference at the Round Lake Beach clinic Thursday morning. "People in our mid-50s and up have been here before, and trust me, this works."
But getting the vaccine to the majority of the county's population will take time.
The Health Department, which has requested 100,000 doses of vaccine, received just 12,650 doses Monday.
A crowd, estimated by Round Lake Beach Police Deputy Chief Richard Chiarello at 1,000 people, waited in line outside of the clinic located at the Round Lake Area District Sports Center at about 9:30 a.m.
The clinic began giving shots at 8 a.m., but the first person in line arrived at 3 a.m., according to Health Department Executive Director Irene Pierce.
The Health Department set up a wristband system for those in line and was limiting the doses administered by its flu clinics in Waukegan, Mundelein, Round Lake Beach and Gurnee Thursday to 1,300, a figure based on the size of the facilities and number of staff people working the clinics, Pierce said. Because of its smaller size, a clinic in North Chicago was allocated 1,000 doses.
"We want to keep safe and effective vaccination campaigns," she said.
Officials stressed that the department expects to receive additional shipments of the vaccine, and that other health-care providers and drug stores will eventually carry the vaccine as well.
"In the long run, we'll have more than enough H1N1 vaccine for everyone," Pierce said.
For the first shipment, the Health Department is limiting the vaccine to high-priority groups including individuals from 6 months to 24 years old, caretakers and household contacts of children under 6 months old, pregnant women, health-care and emergency medical services employees, and people 25 to 64 years old with underlying medical conditions, such as asthma or diabetes, which put them at high risk for flu-related complications.
Laura Hansen of Grayslake said she arrived at the Round Lake clinic at 6:15 a.m. to get a vaccine for her son, Benjamin, who is 11 months old. She emerged from the clinic at about 10:25 a.m. with that mission accomplished.
"We just wanted to get him a shot as quickly as possible, and our doctor didn't have any yet," she said.
Some people near the end of the winding line in Round Lake Beach complained about the procedures, but for the most part, people seemed orderly and polite.
At mid-morning, Chiarello described the operation as "going very smoothly."
Catherine Higgins of Ingleside said she arrived at the Round Lake Beach clinic with her two sons at 6:30 a.m.
"I knew there were going to be long lines," she said.
Her sons -- Collin, 13, and Jackson, 6 -- were just about to receive their shots at 10:30 a.m.
Officials said that the vaccine isn't the only way to fight H1N1. Frequent hand washing, covering coughs and sneezes and staying away from others when you are sick are also key to limiting its spread.
Dr. Victor Plotkin, an epidemiologist with the Health Department, said adults who stay home from work when sick and parents who keep kids home from school when they are ill "do a great service."
Plotkin said those with the flu are most contagious just prior to becoming ill and for the first three days of the illness. People should not return to work or school until they have a normal temperature without the use of fever reducers.
About 40 people have been hospitalized in Lake County with the H1N1 virus since it emerged last spring, Plotkin said. It declined over the summer, but cases are again increasing.
Two Lake County residents have died from H1N1 complications, including a 41-year-old Gurnee woman who died last Friday. Plotkin said that resident had existing medical issues that he described as "severe."
He said the flu so far has shown no evidence of mutating and is not much different in severity from seasonal flu, although children who get it are at a relatively greater risk of becoming seriously ill.
The major difference, Plotkin said, is that the H1N1 virus targets a younger priority group, including children and young adults.
