Framingham clinics turn away people after flu shots run out
FRAMINGHAM - So many people turned out for a flu vaccination clinic at Framingham High School yesterday that at least 200 were turned away. Most headed to the town’s McCarthy Elementary School, where vaccines were still available, but even there the doses ran out before the clinic’s 2 p.m. closing time.
“I prayed that the last person in line would get the last dose,’’ said Kitty Mahoney, the chief public health nurse at Framingham’s Board of Health.
As the 3,000 doses of vaccine were only available to Framingham residents, Mahoney also had to refuse to vaccinate people who came from Chelsea, Marlborough, Natick, Worcester, and the North Shore.
“Portuguese, Hispanic, Asians, senior citizens, entire families came today in numbers we’ve never seen before,’’ said Mahoney.
Many area flu clinics have been overwhelmed lately, in part because of concern over the spread of H1N1, or swine flu. President Obama declared the swine flu outbreak a national emergency yesterday.
At this time last year, Framingham public health officials had distributed 800 flu shots at the McCarthy School, and 400 at Framingham High. This year, the demand for the free vaccination, available to residents age 2 and older, more than doubled.
Immigrant families, usually skeptical of vaccine’s side effects, this time responded well to the public service announcements that ran on local radio and in newspapers urging people to get flu shots.
Even so, Michael R. Hugo, chairman of Framingham’s Board of Health, said some people are still afraid of the vaccines because of the high rate of reactions they caused in the mid-90s.
“People always ask: What are my chances of getting the disease from the vaccine, of having a reaction, and how bad this reaction will be? It’s an individual decision. But vaccines are much more secure now,’’ he said.
Even though Brazilian parents Fernando and Leia Souza have lived in the United States for 17 years, this is the first time they brought their daughter, Lais, 6, and son, Victor, 7, to be vaccinated.
“It was worth staying at the line for an hour and half, because preventing now is much better to remedying later,’’ said Leia Souza, who heard about the flu shots at St. Tarcisius Church.
Others, like Meri and Cristina Rodrigues, of Brazil, have been in town for only six months. But they heard about the free clinic from a friend and brought their 2-year-old son.
Most children received the vaccine in the form of a nasal mist.
This version of the vaccine is not recommended for anyone 49 or older, people who have asthma, pregnant women, or those who are living with a person who has a chronic disease.
“When you get the shot,’’ said Katherine Early, a nurse at Fuller Middle School, “you can’t get the flu, but you can give it to other people during those 14 days [after getting a shot]. But if you take the mist, you won’t get the flu, and you can’t pass it to other people, either,’’ said Mahoney.
Although Mahoney said three other flu clinics scheduled for November will be canceled because the state is running out of vaccine, Hugo said the situation is not confirmed.
Officials could probably have used at least 1,000 more shots yesterday, Hugo said, adding that he was thrilled with the turnout, especially from immigrant populations.
“We don’t care where families originally come from. These are human beings who live in our towns; if they get sick, they can contaminate other people. It’s a public health responsibility.’’
Clarification: An article in Sunday's Metro section about distribution of the seasonal flu vaccine contained inaccurate information about the vaccine. According to information provided by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, flu vaccines given by injection, whether for seasonal flu or the H1N1 virus, are made from deadened virus that cannot infect recipients. Nasal spray vaccinations, or mists, are made from live but substantially weakened specimens of the virus. They, too, cannot make the recipient sick. Both types of vaccine take up to to 14 days to provide full protection.
Correction: Because of an editing error, a quote in a story about a Framingham flu clinic in yesterday's Metro section was attributed to the wrong person. Kitty Mahoney, the chief public health nurse at Framingham's board of health, not Katherine Early, was the person who described the difference between vaccinations by shots and by nasal sprays.
