Hundreds line up for swine flu vaccinations
AURORA -- Standing in the cold drizzle, hundreds of moms pushing strollers and dads carrying toddlers descended upon East Aurora High School Monday to receive the swine flu vaccine.
The Kane County Health Department allowed for about 4,000 vaccines at the free five-hour community clinic, one of three held throughout the county Monday. The department had about 17,500 doses of vaccine against the swine flu, otherwise known as the H1N1 influenza.
(Heather Eidson/Staff Photographer)
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• Awaiting their shots
• Related links: Health agencies
• Related: H1N1 Q&A
Try these links for more information about the H1N1 virus, also called swine flu, or for more health information:
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Question-and-answer session with Tom Schlueter, spokesman for the Kane County Health Department:
Q: What I would like to know is if the doctors are not testing for this flu but they say you have it, do you need to get the shot when it is available? Common sense tells me no, you already had the flu; but what if it wasn't or you can get it again but worse? Or maybe if you did have the swine flu already, would the shot contradict that? They are pushing so much for this vaccine, but yet they say millions have had the flu already. Who should still get vaccinated? I have a 10-year-old who has asthma. He is in a high-risk group to be vaccinated. But he just got over the flu — doctors say probably swine, but not testing for it. Do I risk not vaccinating him, or can the vaccine do more harm?
A: The Centers for Disease Control is recommending that the people in the target groups (pregnant women, people taking care of infants younger than 6 months, children 6 months to 24 years, health workers, and adults with chronic medical conditions) get the vaccine, even if they have already suffered from other symptoms of the flu.
Q: I am diabetic and a bartender. Should I get a vaccination?
A: Persons with chronic medical conditions, such as diabetes, are in the first priority group to receive the vaccine.
Q: My questions are these: Without a medically confirmed H1N1 diagnosis, shall I still get the shot? What amount of time is needed for it to take effect? My daughter is pregnant and due Dec. 5. Do those around her need the shot as well?
A: The CDC is recommending people in the priority groups get the vaccine when it is available. The vaccine takes about seven days to take full effect. People taking care of infants younger than 6 months are in the target group to receive the vaccine first.
People also are urged to contact their physicians if they have questions about their medical care.
But anyone who arrived right at the opening of the fieldhouse doors at 3:30 p.m. had been standing in line outside for about two hours, even three hours for some, residents said.
By 4:30 p.m., residents said the line had stretched and zig-zagged down several blocks past Gates Elementary School.
"This is ridiculous. It's three hours of time," Brad Clark of Batavia said, walking back from the throngs of people that, from afar, looked like dots.
"It took 30 minutes just to park. A drive-through (vaccine) would've been better."
Cynthia Moreno, 18, said she fell into a line outside Gates Elementary School, diagonal from East Aurora High School's fieldhouse entrance at 3 p.m.
Moreno, like hundreds of others, were instructed by Aurora police officers to form a single file line to receive a red wristband, which granted access to the fieldhouse. By the time Moreno, along with her grandmother, mother, and three young siblings entered the fieldhouse foyer, it was about 4:50 p.m.
But once they were in, the process was smooth and fairly efficient.
By 5:10 p.m., they had filled out paperwork, completed medical screenings, and each received the vaccine, either by shot or nasal spray.
"The hardest part is standing out there. Being outside in the rain was not fair for the little kids," Moreno said.
Health Department workers were running on schedule after the first half hour or so, with close to 250 shots being administered every 30 minutes, the Health Department's Community Health Director Michael Isaacson said.
The goal was to vaccinate about 500 residents an hour, which Isaacson was confident about reaching.
By evening, the vaccine allocation had been exhausted at East Aurora High School, and at St. Charles East as well.
Another resident, who would not give his name, said he arrived on school grounds around 1 p.m. when lines were just beginning to form outside East Aurora High School.
He said he was told by Aurora police to move his car off the property. The Aurora father then said he was told to get into two other lines by other officers.
At around 3:30 p.m., he eventually ended up in the main line outside Gates Elementary School where wristbands were being distributed. And by that time, dozens of people were already in line. He received a wristband by about 4:30 p.m., more than three hours after he had arrived.
"That wasn't fair. They should've known better, and it's sad because they didn't have control," the father said.
Clayton Muhammad, spokesman for the School District, said parking on school grounds was not made available until after 3:30 p.m. for safety reasons because classes were still in session until that time.
Muhammad also noticed lines forming around 1 p.m. And some residents were at the school as doors opened at 6:45 a.m. just to make sure the clinic wasn't already accepting patients, Muhammad said.
Undoubtedly, the rain and the cold forced many families to step out of line and go home.
Many people couldn't help but talk about the irony of standing out in the cold to get a flu shot.
"I might just get sick standing out here already," said Jonelle Liston, who is nine months pregnant. "I really have to take it easy."
But Isaacson of the Health Department said special accommodations were made on a case-by-case basis. Some pregnant women, handicapped children and children with autism were allowed to get through the lines quicker.
