Over 15,000 Opt For Swine Flu Vaccines At Weekend Clinics

Photo taken inside P.S. 290 by Peter Sang

After opening up its weekend H1N1 vaccination clinics to priority groups beyond public school students, the Health Department gave out 15,606 free vaccines this past Saturday and Sunday (the previous weekend's clinics saw less than 4,000 people receive the vaccines). Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley told the Daily News that in spite of NYC's low infection rate, "We haven't escaped it entirely. Rates are falling in most of the country now, but they're still rising here."

There were long lines at P.S. 290 on the Upper East Side, the only Manhattan clinic location this past weekend (there were one each in the Bronx and Staten Island while Brooklyn and Queens each had two locations). All told, the number of vaccinations in Manhattan represented 38.4% of the total, while Queens had 26.4%, Brooklyn had 15.4%, Staten Island had 10.4%, and the Bronx 9.4% (the figures are after the jump).

The Health Department is holding these weekend clinics for three more weekends—for priority groups like pregnant women, anyone 4 years through 24 years of age, persons 25 through 64 years of age who have underlying health conditions that increases risk of severe illness or complications, and
anyone who lives with or cares for children less than 6 months old—here's a list of locations.

Total number of vaccinations given on Sunday 11/15: 7,822 Sheepshead Bay H.S. 700 Brooklyn P.S. 196 534 Queens I.S. 77 608 Queens P.S. 19 1,370 Manhattan (P.S. 290) 3,035 Bronx (H.S. 166) 845 Staten Island (I.S. 51) 730 Total number of vaccinations given on Saturday 11/14: 7,784 Sheepshead Bay H.S. 696 Brooklyn P.S. 196 476 Queens I.S. 77 611 Queens P.S. 19 1,530 Manhattan (P.S. 290) 2,962 Bronx (J.H.S. 166) 616 Staten Island (I.S. 51) 893

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By Jen Chung in News on November 16, 2009 5:40 PM

Comments [rss]

Clarice City

I waited in line at one of the clinics in mid town. It was awful. I got there pretty early and there was already a line that looked like it was wrapped around the block. I waited for over an hour while people in the line ushered in their relatives and friends into their spots, cutting everyone behind them and making the line even longer. People protested but there was, from what I could see, no one regulating the line. When the mom three people up from me called her friends on her cell to tell them where she was two women with little kids showed up and joined her in line. Really fucked up.

I'm three months pregnant and given the long wait outside and the potential for exposure just waiting in that line, I left and went home. Two days later I had the worst cold of my life: sore throat, coughing, fever, and...lots of trips to the bathroom. Still wonder if I should try again, but it's not worth it if I'm exposed to all kinds of other germs anyway.

Snoopy

Can someone tell me Chicken Little's view of this situation?

Yes HIV individuals might be more vulnerable to the virus, but then again they are living on borrowed time set by their own doings.

ANGRYGOD11

It seems this must be on the honor system as you can't always document if there's a young child in your home or if you really have a qualifying chronic condition. I haven't decided if I have an orphaned nephew, or two, at home and have diabetes or asthma, yet.

DC1974

What are the underlying health conditions? And is it just an honor code? Like HIV? Is that an underlying health condition? Would be helpful to have more information here.