Wilsonville Spokesman Online

H1N1 vaccine offered this week in Clackamas County

• Published: 11/3/2009 10:29:40 AM

OREGON CITY – Clackamas County’s H1N1 (swine) flu vaccine clinic is open again this week, today (Tuesday) through Thursday.
 
The clinic, at 168 Warner-Milne Road, is open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
 
Vaccines, available in nasal spray and shot form, will be distributed to individuals in the priority groups on a walk-in basis. The clinic will issue time-stamped tickets in an effort to streamline the vaccination process, reduce traffic congestion along Warner-Milne Road, and cut back on waiting periods.
 
Those issued tickets but not served at the Oct. 22 clinic can bring their tickets this week and will be seen on a priority basis.
 
The priority vaccination groups include: people six months through 24 years old, pregnant women, people with underlying health conditions (such as asthma, heart disease and HIV), health care workers and emergency responders, and those caring for infants less than 6 months old.
 
Although the H1N1 vaccine remains in short supply, due to a delay in production, health officials in the Portland area reported Oct. 28 that 47,000 doses (two to three times the size of recent weekly shipments) would be shipped to the region by the end of this week, according to the NW Regional Flu Site.
 
As of Tuesday morning, Oregon has still received only about 6 percent of the vaccine needed to inoculate all those in the priority groups. Federal and state health officials continue to predict that the shipments and availability of the vaccine will increase.
 
From Sept. 1 to Oct. 30, 698 Oregon hospitalizations and 18 deaths were attributed to the Influenza A virus, of which H1N1 is a strain. Clackamas County saw 66 Influenza A hospitalizations and no deaths from Sept. 1 through Oct. 27.
 
Most flu cases are no longer being tested specifically for H1N1, but this fall has seen increased flu activity and flu-related absences from schools, leading public health officials to stress the importance of vaccines (for both H1N1 and seasonal flu) and prevention tactics such as frequent hand washing and staying home when sick.
 
For more information, visit www.clackamas.us/swineflu or call the Clackamas County Pandemic Flu Information Line at 503-722-2777. Both sources are updated daily.

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