Saturday flu shot walk-in clinic open 11/7
November 3, 2009 by Kenneth Carlson, MD
Saturday walk-in clinic is planned to proceed this coming Saturday (11/7) at our usual time from 0900-1200.
We anticipate having 200-300 doses of H1N1 injectable vaccine available for Saturday walk-in clinic. All children from 6 months to 24 years old are in a priority group and can receive vaccine up to available inventory. We again anticipate demand to exceed supply. This vaccine can be given to much broader group of patients than the nasal vaccine. Only contraindication to receiving vaccine would be prior allergy to influenza vaccine or prior allergy to eggs.
We are currently out of injectable seasonal flu vaccine but have about 100 of nasal seasonal influenza vaccine. Nasal vaccines are for children over age 2 without chronic illness, such as asthma. We are hoping for more injectable seasonal vaccine by mid-November. Will update when this has been confirmed.
We will not be screening for risk factors at the door but do ask that if your child does not have other chronic illnesses, is older than age 5 or has already experienced influenza illness in recent weeks to wait for future weeks to get the vaccine so those most in need can get the vaccine. In addition, some people are getting close coming due for second H1N1. We ask those to also wait (and will be screened at the door) so that more can go to those who have not yet received their first H1N1 influenza vaccine.
We understand that close to 10 million doses have been shipped around the country in last week so the “trickle” of vaccine should increase to a “steady drip”. Our office continues to pressure health department to release any available vaccine to us for distribution.
We are trying a new system that will involve handing out tickets to match available shot inventory. Tickets will be handed out between 8:15 and 8:45 on a first come-first serve basis. We hope this will reduce wait time and promptly let families know when all available doses have been allocated. Patient does need to be present to get a ticket.
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Will my son be able to make an appointment to get an h1n1 shot since he cant get one on a Saturday, at some point?
As supplies ease we will begin giving during regular appointments. At this time we don’t have available schedules to accommodate need due to high number of sick kids needing to see our doctors. If your child is due for check-up or recheck in next 4-6 weeks recommend scheduled check-up and if vaccine is available can be given at that time. Due to short supply we are not giving during regular scheduled appointments at this time.
My children(age 8 &5) got the nasal H1N1 vaccine on October 11. At that time we were told they should come back in 3 weeks for another dose. Are you still recommending that and is this clinic open to them?
Since supplies are so short we are recommending deferring second dose until there is more vaccine available. This was just discussed in the office about 2 hours ago, so you are getting the latest information. We hope to start doing second doses once we get more first doses completed in coming weeks. We will continue to monitor this on a weekly basis.
My daughters (4yr & 7mos) just got the seasonal vaccine on 11/2/09, the nasal for my 4yr old and the shot for my 7mos old. Do either of them have to wait to get the H1N1 vaccine?
The only restriction on timing of seasonal and H1N1 vaccines is with the nasal vaccines. Both nasal vaccines cannot be given on the same day and must be separated by 28 days. There is not restrictions on timing of injectable vaccines or any interaction between injectable vaccine and nasal vaccine. In other words nasal+nasal=NO. All other combinations are fine without restriction.
I just want to know when are you going to get the h1n1 flue vaccine
thankyou
As stated in the post we have confirmed availability of vaccine for our Saturday clinic on 11/7 and will be able to administer vaccine at that time.
I have 2 kids that need the seasonal flumist. Is this something they can do at the clinic or do I need to make an appt?
Thank you
it says that 6 months to 24 months are a priority does that mean my 5 month old son cant have the h1n1 vaccine?
can my 4 yr old my 23 month old and my 5 month old have the seasonal flu shot on saturday the 7th as well as the h1n1?
Influenza vaccines (both seasonal and H1N1) are only FDA approved for children 6 months of age or older. Once your infant is 6 months old he could get the shot.
We do not currently have injectable seasonal flu shots available. We are hoping for more in coming weeks. Influenza vaccines are FDA approved for children 6 months of age or older.
does my 2 year old daughter need the nose or shot for the h1n1 vaccine. I don’t know which one to give her.
Is the h1n1 vaccine free or are you guys charging for it.
The H1N1 influenza vaccine is being purchased by the federal government and being distributed to county health departments to then distribute to numerous sites within the county. Locations include health department itself, schools and health clinics. We do not charge for the vaccine itself. We do charge an administrative fee for giving the vaccine which is charged for all vaccines given by health clinics.
For children over age 2 without chronic medical conditions (like asthma) either vaccine (nasal and injectable) is effective and acceptable to be given.
I see that you charge an administrative fee for giving the H1N1 vaccine. Is it possible to find out how much the fee will be? Is it something that is covered by insurance?
Thank you.
What is the difference (between adult and children between 6 month and 36 months for the injectable ones. ) in both cases seasonal flu and H1N1)
Do you have the nasal spray and the single dose syringes injectable vaccine available for this Saturday the 7th or do you only have the multiple dose vials that contain thimersol?
If your child has asthma can they have either the nasal or the shot?
So if a parent waits in line early is it ok for children to come later in line as long as the kids are there when tickets are handed out?
We do not currently have nasal vaccine available in H1N1 formulation. We do have a small number of seasonal flu vaccine nasal remaining.
For the first time we did receive a small number of single dose syringes that do not have preservative and these are for kids 6 months to 36 months old. The multidose vial is the form we have had available up to now and will be used for kids over 36 months.
Kids with asthma should not get nasal vaccine.
The main difference between flu vaccine for younger compared to older is the dose. Kids 6 months to 36 months have a dose of 0.25 milliliters while kids older receive dose of 0.5 milliliters. Both vaccines are available in single dose and multidose formulations. Currently we have some single dose for 6 months to 36 months and multidose for children over 36 months.
Vaccine administration fees are usually covered by most insurances. You will need to contact your insurance to find out if is covered on your plan. The H1N1 vaccine has a new vaccine administration code we are using and not enough time has passed yet to know if insurances are reimbursing for the charge. There are also delays in insurance processing claims as the new code that was announced end of September has not been loaded in many insurance company systems yet.
My two children were sick for two weeks. They had very bad ashma and also got a flu. This week they are getting better and I would like them to get flu shots but the line always long and when we got there to get in line waiting we saw the sign “close”. How can my children get the flu shots?
My 7 year old daughter has Asthma , is she considered as a “priority ” for getting the H1N1 shot ? If so how do go about getting her to be on that “priority ” list ?
All children are a priority group under CDC guidance on use of vaccine. Our highest priority was about 200 children that had multiple chronic illnesses that placed them at high risk for complications from influenza. Since those children have now been offered vaccine we are no longer restricting or maintaining any priority list, instead offering it first come-first serve to our established patients. Due to space constraints we have done this through walk-in Saturday clinics. We hope to begin offering shot appointments next week. Our office used all available vaccine last Saturday and will begin offering appointments AFTER vaccine has been received and confirmed in our office. Health department told us at the end of last week to anticipate 400 more doses in the coming week.
Asthma is a risk factor for complications from influenza but so far vaccine supplies have not been sufficient to selectively offer to patients with asthma as we estimate several thousand active patients in our practice that have asthma. For our patients with asthma we recommend having a current albuterol inhaler on hand and treating early for signs of asthma exacerbation. We will continue to offer vaccine as quickly as we can with each batch that is received.
I was told you were out of the regular flu vaccine and to check your website for updates but I don’t see anything listed. Can you tell me when you anticipate getting more?
Last word we got was by mid-November. We are hoping for more directly from manufacturer and from the state. We have not had any recent updates yet. Many manufacturers diverted their capacity to get H1N1 to market which has affected shipments of seasonal flu vaccine. We have yet to receive all seasonal doses we originally ordered.