Close to 130 North Andover Middle School sixth-graders lined up early yesterday morning to receive the H1N1 FluMist vaccine. Later in the day, 30 pregnant women, stroller-toting mothers, fathers, and medical professionals still in their scrubs stood outside Andover Senior Center waiting to be vaccinated.
Another 70 or so people showed up to that hour-and-a-half-long clinic.
As shipments of the H1N1 vaccine start to trickle into the Merrimack Valley, cities and towns are beginning to hold clinics for the most vulnerable.
"I have two little ones, and I also work with kids in an elementary school," said Andover resident Amanda Smith, who brought her 4-month-old daughter Sadie with her to the clinic. "I'm at risk and I feel the best way to protect her is to protect myself."
Yesterday's clinics — the first two for the area — went off without a hitch. No stampedes. No shortage of vaccine. But vaccine only was available to select groups.
"It was a great dry run," said Andover Health Director Tom Carbone. "We actually expected more people."
So, what if you're not a middle-schooler, pregnant woman, parent of an infant, senior or medical professional? Well, health officials said you have more waiting to do.
It still could take weeks, maybe months, before the state ships enough doses for communities to have H1N1 flu clinics for the general public, they said.
While health departments are now receiving the swine flu vaccine weekly, it is in limited doses. So while they will continue to hold clinics in the upcoming weeks, they will target specific high-risk groups.
"We're getting it little by little," said North Andover Health Director Susan Sawyer. "It's been slow."
As of last week, there had been 1,768 confirmed cases of H1N1 flu reported in the state since April. In 308 of those cases, the person had to be hospitalized, and 17 people have died.
Sawyer said they will continue holding clinics for North Andover schoolchildren in upcoming weeks, and will slowly begin to phase in clinics for the at-risk populations.
"In the next couple of weeks we will do the same thing for seventh- and eighth-graders," she said. "If we get enough injectable we will, at some point, have a public clinic."
Andover's next move will be to hold a clinic for middle- and high-school students.
"Our next plan is to work with the schools," Carbone said.
In Methuen, Health Director Brian LaGrasse said he should have the details of a joint clinic with Lawrence ironed out by today.
"We will probably have restrictions because we haven't received large quantities," LaGrasse said. "We'll probably restrict it to the top few groups on the priority list put out by the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.) If we get more vaccine, we'll expand it."
According to Massachusetts Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach, the state has received a million doses of the vaccine since early October, or less than a third of the total amount it has ordered from manufacturing companies. The rest is going to pharmacies, medical offices and hospitals.
Sawyer said in North Andover they have set up a sign-up form on the town's Web site, www.townofnorthandover.com, for residents who are most at risk. Residents fill out the form and the Health Department will notify them when they can come in for a vaccination.
"It's a start," Sawyer said. "We want to get to the small amounts of people who really need it first and we'll feel better going into the large clinics. We'll know we already reached them."
The people walking into Andover's clinic and rolling up their sleeves yesterday had various reasons for being there.
One woman said she works with babies with developmental disabilities. Another has two small children and another on the way. And then there was Rich Gervais, whose wife is pregnant. He was the last person to be vaccinated yesterday.
"I'm here because my wife told me to," he said.
Who is the at-risk population?
Pregnant women and their spouses.
Caregivers for infants younger than 6 months old.
Health care and emergency medical personnel.
Children and young adults.
People with health conditions associated with a higher risk of medical complications from influenza.
Information taken from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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