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5 H1N1 clinics scheduled within next 2 weeks

Photo by James Nix

Emiyah Johnson, 2, gets H1N1 flu vaccine administed by Suzanne Knight of the Cabarrus Health Aliance Wednesday afternoon.

By Jonathan Coleman | Independent Tribune

Published: December 2, 2009

The Cabarrus Health Alliance will make the H1N1 vaccine available to anyone in the community for the first time during several planned clinics in the coming weeks.

The largest clinic is planned for Dec. 10, at the Cabarrus Arena & Events Center.

"This has been an evolving scenario," CHA community relations director Betty Braxton said of recent vaccine shipments. "We finally have enough vaccine that warrants a mass clinic."

Braxton said until recently, CHA was only receiving small numbers of doses, and those had been limited to high-risk populations. During that time, CHA responded to many requests from the public about when vaccine would be available to the general public.

"We have had a lot of inquires," she said. "We feel like the community has been very respectful that early on. We had such limited vaccine and needed to get those doses to targeted populations."
CHA anticipates between 2,500 and 3,000 residents will take part in the clinic, which is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. There will be between 20 and 25 stations set up to help move residents through the process in a timely and efficient manner, Braxton said. Anyone interested in getting the vaccine can log onto the CHA Web site, www.cabarrushealth.org, to download a consent form. Forms will also be available at the clinics.

The alliance is expecting several large shipments of vaccine in the next weeks and anticipates scheduling more mass clinics.

"We've given out over 4,500 doses to the targeted popluations to date," she said. "Our objective is to get this vaccine out to the public. It does no good to anybody sitting in our refrigerator."

There is no cost for the vaccine.

"I am encouraging interested citizens to come to the mass clinic, because we are prepared to vaccinate and accommodate greater numbers of persons at this facility," said Dr. William F. Pilkington, CEO, public health director. "We appreciate Cabarrus County providing the arena for this mass clinic.

Our goal is to make the H1N1 vaccine available to everyone in the community, in a timely way."
In cooperation with Cabarrus County Schools, four additional H1N1 vaccination clinics are scheduled at four school locations:

• Thursday, 3 to 7 p.m., Central Cabarrus High School cafeteria, 505 49 N.C. S., Concord.

• Tuesday, 3 to 7 p.m., Jay M. Robinson High School media center, 300 Pitts School Road S.W., Concord.

• Dec. 10, 3 to 7 p.m., Mount Pleasant High School media center, 700 Walker Road, Mount Pleasant.

• Dec. 15, 3 to 7 p.m., Northwest Cabarrus High School cafeteria, 5130 Northwest Cabarrus Drive, Concord.

The school site clinics were planned prior to notification of additional vaccine shipments in December, and are limited to serving a maximum of 300 persons at each site, due to space and parking availability. Parents are reminded that children age 9 and younger, needing a second dose of H1N1, may receive at any of these clinics, if it has been one month since the first dose of vaccine was administered.

"This is a marathon," Braxton said. "As we get more vaccinations, we'll plan more mass clinics, but we really want to get this vaccine out before the holidays."

Also, appointments to receive the H1N1 vaccine at the Health Alliance can be made by calling 704-920-1300. The Cabarrus Health Alliance is located at 1307 S. Cannon Boulevard, Kannapolis.

Details: www.cabarrushealth.org or 704-920-1213.