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closeH1N1 clinic serves 600 at Peninsula High School
Each eligible person in line receives numbered card
Nate Hulings
of the Gateway
Six hundred was the lucky number for the line of people who were waiting for an H1N1 vaccine during last Wednesday’s clinic at Peninsula High School.
The Peninsula School District, in collaboration with the Franciscan Health System, vaccinated 600 in the priority risk group of 6 months to 24 years old during the afternoon session.
Among those who lined up in the warm hallways were Peninsula High School students, including Lindsay Langford, who said the thought of missing classes during her senior year was enough to get her to stand in line for the vaccine.
“I have a lot of friends that have gotten the swine flu,” she said.
Anna Heacox, also a PHS senior, said she didn’t want to get the shot, but her mom insisted.
Since parental consent was needed for children younger than 18, many in line weren’t even there for the shot. One parent was Beth Buffington, who took her three boys, two of whom attend Evergreen Elementary, which Buffington said has seen its share of absences.
“I want to make sure if they get sick, they don’t get too sick,” Buffington said.
There was a common theme of disagreement between parents and children on the necessity of the shot.
Laura Jacobsen, the mother of Gig Harbor High School student Trey Flores, said the H1N1 virus concerns her.
“It’s a bigger problem than people think it is,” she said. “It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
Her son had a different take.
“I just don’t feel like I need one,” he said.
Wednesday was the second H1N1 clinic the school district hosted. Key Peninsula Middle School had a clinic last month, when Franciscan Health System nurses vaccinated 610 school-aged individuals.
And while the two clinics shared the common goal of vaccinating against H1N1, Peninsula School District Superintendent Terry Bouck said the district learned from the first clinic to help last week’s event run more smoothly.
Instead of a rough count of crowd size, each eligible person received a numbered card, essentially giving them a ticket to a vaccination while enabling organizers to get a more accurate count.
The 20 people who were in line but shut out at last month’s clinic at KPMS were served first, Bouck said.
Not everyone who came with hopes of getting a vaccine left with a shot in the arm. Several adults, confused about the purpose of the clinic, expected to receive the H1N1 vaccine. However, the clinic was specifically for the 6-month to 24-year age group, Bouck said.
The clinic comes as the district returns to normal absentee rates. No PSD schools contacted the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department during the week of Nov. 9 for a required report of absenteeism levels when they are higher than 10 percent.
During a two-week span last month, the district placed 37 calls to the TPCHD, and more than 170 students were sent home with a fever.
The H1N1 virus has hospitalized 139 people in the county since May 1, with 10 related deaths.
The TPCHD has received nearly 23,000 doses of the H1N1 vaccine; all have been allocated, according to the department.
The department also has reported that nearly 127,000 vaccines have been shipped directly to health care providers and pharmacies throughout the county.