Results tagged “h1n1vaccine”

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."

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."

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!!!"

While hypochondriacs are worried about shortages of the H1N1 flu vaccine, Poughkeepsie nurse Suzanne Field is turning her nose up at a chance to score the injection. Not only is she opting out of a free vaccination for health care workers—mandated in September by the New York state health commissioner—she's also intent in making sure no other healthcare worker is subject to the needle. Her lawsuit to overturn the regulation is being heard today at the State Supreme Court in Manhattan.

Drama! Even though the city is urging parents to get their children vaccinated against H1N1, a national survey found out that only 34% would give their children the shot, the rest preferring their children become infected with delicious, porcine goodness. "It’s just too new on the market, and we don’t know what side effects it may have on children," one parent told the Daily News. These concerns still come after Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius insisted that the H1N1 vaccine is perfectly safe, and that the "adverse effects are minimal compared to what can happen when you get the flu" (seriously—swine flu seems TERRIBLE).