Flu vaccinations to be limited at Windsor, Santa Rosa clinics

Thousands of North Coast residents are expected to descend today on sites in Windsor and Santa Rosa for their shot at the swine flu vaccine, even as local residents like Susan Venema — a 78-year-old diabetic who endures four daily insulin shots — sits on the sidelines.

Venema is not among the priority groups targeted for vaccination today. Neither is William Serbin of Rohnert Park, an 80-year-old, partially retired psychiatrist with incurable lung cancer.

On Friday, the two seniors wondered if county officials might make an exception, given their medical conditions.

“I don’t want to further increase my liability to H1N1,” said Serbin. “But I would not take the last available vaccination from a pregnant woman. If it came down to that, I’m 80 years old. I can be sent out to sea.”

The answer was definitive.

“No,” said Dr. Mark Netherda, the county’s deputy public health officer. “I don’t want to sound heartless, but we can’t waffle on this one.”

Netherda said that it seems almost obvious that people over 65 with underlying medical conditions should be among the priority population. But they are not.

“That group of people are not as high risk of catching this form of flu as younger people,” he said, adding that older residents should not hesitate in getting the regular seasonal flu vaccine.

“It feels harsh, or might seem harsh,” he said. “But it’s a perceived risk that’s not there when you look at it statistically.”

A shortage in the swine flu vaccine has forced federal, state and local public health officials to continue reserving the vaccine for a handful of priority groups. They include young people, those who care for young babies, pregnant women and health care providers.

Two county-run H1N1 clinics will be held today from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., one at Lawrence Cook Middle School in Santa Rosa and the other at Windsor High School. Both events will be walk-up clinics and staffed with more volunteers than were present at the county’s two prior clinics on Oct. 23, Netherda said.

The county will have on hand about 5,000 doses of vaccine in various formulations, 2,500 at each site. Clinic volunteers will vaccinate as many people as they can accommodate during the six-hour vaccination period.

“We have to be out of those buildings at 5 p.m, so we have to shut down at 3:30,” Netherda said.

He said the county public health department didn’t receive any new vaccine this week and thus “borrowed” 500 doses of preservative-free vaccine from Sutter Health. This formulation of vaccine, he said, will be reserved for pregnant women who want it, with 250 injections available at each site.

In addition, there will be about 2,000 mist spray doses and most of the remainder in multi-dose form, which has preservatives.

He said people should expect long lines.

“People should plan to bring a book because they may be in line for a while,” he said. “They should bring water, food if they need it, and proper clothing.”

Netherda said he sympathized with older residents whose frail health normally puts them at risk for seasonal flu. But he stressed that people over 65 are far less likely to contract the H1N1 virus than younger people.

“We have to stick with these priority groups,” he said. “The priority groups were set for very good epidemiologic reasons.”