News - Local News

POSTED: Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009

1,200 get swine flu vaccine at Bellingham's first mass clinic

Priority list narrowed when not enough vaccine was available

BELLINGHAM - Dads held young daughters getting shots, and moms soothed sons receiving their doses, during the first mass vaccination clinic for the H1N1 flu in Whatcom County on Wednesday, Oct. 28.

A total of 1,200 adults and children received the vaccine in a large room at St. Luke's Community Health Education Center. The clinic was for people high on a priority list for receiving the vaccine, and who were able to book an appointment through a call center.

The clinic opened at 9 a.m. and lasted until 3 p.m. There were some bottlenecks but it was otherwise orderly.

By 9:55 a.m., the line to enter the clinic was growing longer, snaking out the front door and under an awning outside. In the parking lot, crews were directing traffic for the people who managed to secure one of the clinic slots.

Fathers waited patiently with their infants, as did pregnant women, and teens with medical conditions that placed them at risk of complications from the flu.

Some of the children - the one's receiving shots in their arms or thighs - howled or cried.

"No, no! I don't want to," a little girl wailed.

Other children were distracted enough by volunteers, nurses or their parents and didn't utter a sound when they received their shots.

Nasal mist forms of the vaccine also were available.

Katlyn Cammack, 16 months old, didn't make a peep when the needle went into her chubby little thigh.

Her mother, Linde Cammack, said Katlyn was the only family member who qualified for the H1N1 vaccine Wednesday.

Public health officials in Whatcom County had hoped to vaccinate a greater number of people that the U.S. Centers for Disease and Control said were at high risk for contracting the flu or had medical conditions that could cause complications for them if they contracted H1N1.

But when the initial federal release of the vaccine slowed because it was taking longer than expected to make the vaccine, health officials narrowed their priority list for the Bellingham clinic and for two others in the coming days.

So Linde Cammack, who is 31 and has asthma, can't yet be vaccinated. Nor can her other daughter, who is 10.

"Under the original guidelines, three of us would have qualified," the Bellingham mom said.

Ferndale residents Garrett Remsen, 15, and Kayla Remsen, 11, also received shots Wednesday.

The siblings qualified because they were young enough and they both have health conditions that could cause complications if they come down with H1N1. Both have asthma, and Garrett also has an immune disorder.

"I don't like needles," he said, "but it wasn't bad."

Laura Remsen, their mother, said the clinic was crowded on the front end and a bit chaotic, but she was understanding, given the large number of people.

Kristen Swanson, a 31-year-old Bellingham resident who was 35 weeks pregnant with her first child, also was appreciative, even though the process took about 11/2 hours.

"They told me it would take a half hour," Swanson said. "There are a lot of volunteers, so you can't get mad at volunteers."

The clinic was a major undertaking for a countywide coalition, including the Whatcom County Health Department, which was created to respond to pandemic flu.

Regina Delahunt, department director, said a drill three years ago when avian flu was of greater concern helped with the organization of the H1N1 clinic.

"That type of practice helped us out a lot," Delahunt said.

The last time the department had mass vaccines comparable to what may occur in the coming weeks was in August 1989, when more than 22,000 people were immunized against hepatitis type A. That was after a produce stocker at a local grocery store was diagnosed with the disease, which is non-fatal but contagious.