Results matching “swine flu”

After a Thanksgiving break, the city's Health Department is resuming its weekend clinics for people in priority groups (info here) to receive free H1N1 vaccines. There's one clinic in each of the five boroughs (PDF). Over 26,000 have been vaccinated so far.

This Thanksgiving, the CDC has been concerned that the H1N1 virus may spread further, what with holiday-related travel. The CDC's Dr. Beth Bell said, "It's important to remember the things that everybody can do to stay healthy," as in not traveling if you're sick, washing your hands frequently, and covering your sneezes and coughs—not to mention getting the vaccine. But what about coughing relatives already parked in your home? Long Island College Hospital's Dr. Clifford Bassett tells WCBS 2, "Without causing a political crisis within your family, you really want to quarantine anybody that's ill from an area where the people are congregating. If someone is ill, keep them away from the food preparation area - that's very important."

Eep: 1010WINS reports, "Pharmaceuticals company GlaxoSmithKline PLC said Tuesday it has advised medical staff in Canada to not use one batch of swine flu vaccines in case they trigger life-threatening allergies. Company spokeswoman Gwenan White said that they issued the advice after reports that one batch of the swine flu vaccine might have caused more allergic reactions than normal." The batch of 172,000 doses had been distributed across Canada; it's unclear how many had been given to patients before GSK informed medical professionals.

The city Health Department held its third weekend of free swine flu vaccine clinics open to people in priority groups and 6,008 got the vaccine on Saturday while 5,478 more received it on Sunday. One reader commented yesterday, "Just went to the Queens flu clinic, and the lines were about 15 minutes max. Kudos to NYC DOH on a really well-run efficient operation." (The previous weekend, over 15,000 opted for the vaccine.) The next weekend for the clinics is December 5 & 6.

The Health Department is holding weekend clinics for people in the priority groups—more details here—to get H1N1 vaccines. Here's a PDF of the locations and hours in each borough and there are two more weekends of clinics scheduled after the Thanksgiving Day weekend. Last weekend, 15,000 people opted to get the vaccines.

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."

Since turnout for last weekend's swine flu vaccine clinics for public school students was low, the Health Department decided to open up this weekend's clinics to other priority groups—pregnant women; anyone 4 years through 24 years of age; persons 25 through 64 with underlying health conditions that increases risk of severe illness or complications; anyone who lives with or cares for children less than 6 months old. And on the Upper East Side, at P.S. 290, the lines went for three blocks with at least a 90 minute wait.

Earlier this week Google Maps launched a flu shot finder at http://www.google.com/flushot. Google said it has "been working with HHS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local health agencies to gather information on flu vaccine locations across the country, particularly for the H1N1 flu vaccine (both the nasal-spray vaccine and the shot)."

Yesterday, the CDC said that about 3,900 Americans have died from the swine flu while 22 million had become sick from it in the past six months. The Washington Post reports that the new estimates are based on "detailed surveillance and record-checking in 10 states." Unlike the seasonal flu, in which 90% of the deaths are of people 65 and over (and many are very sick), for the swine flu, "The vast majority of deaths -- about 2,920 -- have been in people age 18 to 64."

The Health Department's first weekend of H1N1 vaccine clinics weren't very well attended, prompting officials to open up the clinics—originally just for students—to people in other priority groups on Sunday. This weekend, the Health Department will continue its program offering the free vaccine in the five boroughs to people in these groups: 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.

When news broke Monday that popular stroller company Maclaren would recall all the strollers they've sold since 1999, the eyes of the world turned to Park Slope. Would there be panic in the streets, stroller bonfires, and children reduced to walking? Naturally the Times was on the scene (the paper's Metro editor Joe Sexton is a life-long Park Sloper, which some say results in myopic Slope-centric news coverage) and found "a palpable sense of anxiety."

Today's mid-day links: A woman was raped on a Harlem rooftop, Senators Schumer and Menendez say nearly 10,000 veterans are homeless in the NYC area, a man dug through tons of garbage to find his wife's wedding ring, and more.

Three Queens students were brought to the hospital yesterday after complaining of sickness right after they received the H1N1 vaccine. Within twenty minutes of getting vaccinated, one student of PS 124 in South Ozone Park "complained of a headache" says NY1, and overall 16 students said they felt ill. However, of the three girls brought to the hospital, one wasn't even given the vaccine in the first place! Maybe the dog ate her homework?

Chris Douglas-Roberts, the second year Nets guard, has swine flu, the team confirmed yesterday. Coach Lawrence Frank spoke to Douglas-Roberts, "e doesn't sound very good...All the measures are taken, now it's a matter of when he feels better." Players are being given Tamiflu as a precaution—forward Bobby Simmons said, "I went to the grocery store this morning, and a lot of people were coughing in there, too. It’s something in the air that’s going on right now. It just shows that it’s very serious, and we can’t take it for granted."

After news that Goldman Sachs (and Citigroup) received 200 swine flu vaccines out of 5,400 requested, which is the same amount as Memorial Sloan-Kettering received for its 27,000+ request for its workers, Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update decided to tap into the populist outrage.

Today's mid-day links: A fatal house fire in Queens, swine flu vaccine is available to students at weekend clinics, dog owners say good-bye to a Washington Square Park dog run friend, and more.

While some think that focusing on how Citigroup and Goldman Sachs received swine flu vaccines is distracting, this is kind of annoying. The NY Times reports, "Citigroup has received 1,200 doses, more than half of what it requested, health officials said, and in late October, Goldman received 200 of the 5,400 doses it asked for. By contrast, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center received 200 of the 27,400 doses that it requested for its workers, according to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene." City Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said, "My understanding is that Citi had multiple clinics and facilities, and they placed several orders. The person filling these might not have realized it was one company."

Today's mid-day links: Police convince a woman not to jump, a Daily News columnist thinks parents should let their kids get the swine flu vaccine, a bird really loves to do business on a certain Battery Park bench, and more.

Main St. v. Wall St.! Some New Yorkers are up in arms upon finding out that Citigroup and Goldman Sachs have received numerous doses of the much-coveted H1N1 vaccine. The two banks each received a several hundred doses for at-risk employees (pregnant women, etc...), but the city's Health Department has had to explain themselves to citizens who believe companies shouldn't get preferential treatment over people waiting in line for the vaccine. "Wall Street banks have already taken so much from us," union official John VanDeventer wrote on the Service Employees International Union website, "But they should not be allowed to take away our health and well-being."

After giving the impression that Snap, Crackle & Pop could save your kids from swine flu, Kellogg is reportedly "discontinuing the packaging of its Cocoa Krispies cereals that claim to boost children’s immunity." NYU's Professor Nestle said that the company had no choice, “They had to. [It's] too embarrassing and [it faced] too much risk of setting off the FDA." Which leaves onions to capitalize off the H1N1 epidemic.

In stark contrast to many city parent outcries, parents of some pre-kindergarten tykes are upset that their kids won't receive the H1N1 vaccine. Because their programs are not located in public schools but in day care centers, churches, community centers, etc. because the schools are too crowded, over 33,000 children ages 6 months to 4 years — the highest risk age for infection — will not have the option to get the vaccine in school. (Pre-K kids in city schools will.) One parent told the Daily News, "It's unfair. My pediatrician doesn't have the vaccine yet, so I think we should be given the option." Though a News commenter may have put it better: "Look what happens when the government runs (RATIONS) healthcare!!! NO PUBLIC OPTION!!!"

It was only a matter of time before the Swine Flu hysteria escalated to the next level and what better place for it to heat up than New York City on the D train. The Business Insider's Lawrence Delevingne caught a glimpse and an earful of the first reported swine flu-induced subway altercation this morning while nearing the 42nd St Street- Bryant Park stop.

This is such great news: the Kellogg company says that Cocoa Krispies builds your immunity! Who needs a flu shot when you can just eat Rice Krispies Treats? And not only can the sugary cereal save your life, but this news could also help bring back the school bake sale.

Now it turns out that one of the public school students given the swine flu vaccine without parental consent had to go to the emergency room after getting sick. Six-year-old Nikiyah Torres, who suffers from epilepsy (her parents had been waiting to see what their family doctor said about the swine flu vaccine) told WCBS 2, "He just gave me the needle, without asking me what is my name."

So much for those parental consent forms! Two public school students, one in Brooklyn and one in Staten Island, were given the swine flu vaccine without signed consent forms. The NYC Health Department told the NY Times, "We are working to determine how this occurred, and to implement additional safeguards."

Governor Paterson has declared a state of emergency over swine flu. The AP reports, "The executive order means that far more health care professionals -- including dentists -- will be permitted to administer vaccines with only brief training. The order is needed to suspend provisions of state law.State officials say the number of vaccine doses is also being increased. The federal government is ramping up availability of the vaccine, allowing the state to order twice as many doses as a week ago, a trend that's expected to continue." President Obama declared swine flu a "national emergency" a few days ago.

Yesterday, the city's program to give NYC school students swine flu vaccines began at 125 elementary schools. A 9-year-old at PS 157 in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn who received an injection told the Daily News, "My mom told me that the flu would hurt more than the shot...It felt a little bit sharp, and it kind of hurted." Aww.

• From the Gothamist Newsmap: A bank robbery at Canal St & Mott St in Manhattan, a pursuit on the southbound New England Thruway in the Bronx, and 196pl & Union Turnpike in Queens.
• There were 31 construction-related deaths on the job in 2008, and 90 on-the-job deaths total for the year: "The toll of on-the-job fatalities, which had been on a downward trend for the past decade, was up 11 percent from 81 in 2007."
• The city will make $40-110 million from the World Series, thanks to increased business all around, from restaurants to newsstands across from the stadium.

The NYC Health department is starting its swine flu vaccine program at 128 elementary schools today. According to WCBS 2, 40,000 doses were set aside for the students: "School nurses at those sites will administer the nasal spray vaccine starting Wednesday to students whose parents have signed consent forms. Nurses expect to vaccinate 15 to 25 kids per day, per school."

Today's end of day links: The city is holding a Yankees rally tomorrow in Times Square, swine flu vaccines at schools start, Northwest pilots who overshot the Minneapolis airport had their FAA licenses revoked, and more.