Delaware’s Division of Public Health will hold three H1N1 influenza vaccination clinics to vaccinate up to 3,000 people who are at highest risk for influenza and have not yet obtained a vaccination.
The vaccinations will be administered by an eight-person team from the federal government that is traveling to states to assist with vaccinations of the highest-priority groups. Delaware is the first state to hold these clinics.
The Sussex clinic will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 22, at the Owens Campus. Only eligible people with appointments will be vaccinated in the clinics, which will be held at Delaware Technical & Community College campuses in each county.
Delawareans eligible to receive the vaccine include infants and children 6 months to 4 years of age, pregnant women and those 5 to 64 years of age with chronic conditions diagnosed and documented by a physician.
Individuals must have had regular medical follow-up or been hospitalized during the preceding year. Chronic conditions include heart disease - except high blood pressure; diabetes; asthma and other diseases of the lung; kidney and liver disease; neurological or neuromuscular disorders; blood disorders; cancer and weakened immune systems due to cancer treatment, medications and HIV/AIDS.
“With thousands of children being vaccinated in schools this month and increased supplies of vaccine reaching the medical community in recent weeks, we are making progress in Delaware’s H1N1 vaccination campaign,” said Dr. Karyl Rattay, Division of Public Health (DPH) director. “These clinics are an opportunity to vaccinate a large number of people in a short period of time with help from the federal government, but the reality is there are many people in the highest-risk groups for H1N1 who have not been able to be vaccinated yet, so we are targeting those priority populations with these clinics.”
People who do not meet the clinic criteria should consult their private physicians. A second set of clinics will be held in mid-December, and DPH will accept second-shot appointments for children under 10 years old the week that began Monday, Nov. 16.
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