Officials ask those not in a priority group to wait for vaccine
PORTLAND, Ore. – Multnomah County opened its first H1N1 vaccination clinic Thursday but some of the most vulnerable to the flu didn’t get the vaccine because people not in the high-risk group got in line first.
An estimated 1,200 people showed up at the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization’s central office on Northeast Glisan Street for just 400 doses of the H1N1 flu vaccine. The line started at 7 a.m. even though the clinic didn’t open until 10 a.m.
Multnomah County Incident Commander Graham Harriman said to ensure that priority groups are getting the vaccine first, information about high-priority people is being published on the county’s Web site and that “we’re looking at that as people come through the line.”
But that’s not exactly what happened. When the clinic first opened Thursday no one in charge was screening people or pulling people out of line who weren’t on the priority list. As a result, some people who truly needed the vaccine didn’t get it.
“The people we turned away were really, really upset,” said Margaret Ormsbee of the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization. “There were a lot of people in the high-risk demographic that weren’t able to get in today.”
According to health officials the people who are considered high-priority are those six months to 24 years old, caregivers of children younger than six months, people ages 25 to 64 with chronic illnesses, pregnant women and health care workers.
County officials said this was the first go around for them and have learned from what happened Thursday. But they said they are really hoping that people are honest, and if they are not in a high-risk group to wait until there is more vaccine later in the season.
Meanwhile, Legacy Emanuel Hospital set up tents outside to triage and contain flu cases, and the state Department of Human Services activated a full-time command center in Portland to monitor the situation by tracking the number of vaccinations, the number of anti-viral medications available, and the number of H1N1 cases.
The tent at Legacy Emanuel will be used to check in and screen patients who come in with flu symptoms. Nurses will examine the patients and be able to administer fluids, if needed.
If the symptoms are more serious, the patient will be sent to the emergency room or admitted to the hospital.
Many have complained that their doctor offices have not received any of the vaccine. It is the county that controls the distribution of the vaccine. So far, Multnomah County has gotten 12,000 doses. Of those, 8,040 have gone to the health system to vaccinate health care workers, 2,770 to county and public clinics, but only 1,250 have ended up in private doctors’ offices.
Since Sept. 1, 385 people in the state of Oregon have been hospitalized with the H1N1 virus. Of those, 10 have died, including two in the past 24 hours. More than half of the cases are in people ages 25 to 64.
In the state of Washington, 163 people have been hospitalized with the H1N1 virus and nine have died.