Second dose of flu shots on the way

County health department to hold clinic Dec. 12 to distribute 1,300 vaccines

The Douglas County Health Department has secured at least 1,300 flu vaccines for distribution later this month, officials announced Tuesday.

The shots will be administered Dec. 12 at Allen Fieldhouse in a clinic that will be similar to the “Flu-X” event in October, when more than 1,400 vaccinations were given.

News of the shots came as a relief to Wilbur DeYoung, a 90-year-old Lawrence resident. Like many others in Lawrence, he has been hoping for a flu shot but hasn’t been able to receive one because of a nationwide shortage.

“I’ll admit, I’m a little anxious about it,” DeYoung said. “I think a lot of us are anxious about it. You never know when it’s going to break out. If it hits, those of us who are older may suffer from it.”

The vaccines that will be administered from noon to 4 p.m. Dec. 12 are the result of cooperation between Kansas University and the health department.

Dr. Myra Strother, chief of staff at KU’s Watkins Student Health Center, said a vaccine distributor recently contacted the center, asking whether it was interested in vaccines.

Watkins officials had already received more than enough flu shots for their needs, Strother said. The center sold 170 doses of the vaccine to the health department earlier this month after administering about 530 doses to students, faculty and staff in priority groups determined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those groups include people over 65, the chronically ill and health-care professionals who work directly with patients.

Strother said Watkins officials decided to accept the vaccines with the idea of selling them to the county health department at cost.

“This was a real win-win situation,” she said. “KU retirees had been looking for it and the whole community needed it. It’s worried me, having so many people in the priority groups not getting the vaccine.”

At least 1,300 flu vaccinations will be administered during a clinic from noon to 4 p.m. Dec. 12 at Allen Fieldhouse.Free parking will be available at the garage and lot adjacent to the fieldhouse.Cost is $17 for adults and $12 for children under 3.Shots will be available only to those listed in high-priority groups by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those groups include people over 65, the chronically ill and health-care professionals who work directly with patients.For more information, call 843-0721.

Janelle Martin, spokeswoman for the health department, said the 1,300 doses would get health officials closer to providing shots to at-risk groups in the community.

“We hoped if we could get close to the 3,000 number (of shots) in the community, it would get us a long way toward covering people in the priority groups,” she said.

The number of shots administered still will be far short of the 8,100 shots distributed by the health department last year for all people.

But the number of shots available may be larger by Dec. 12. Martin said the Kansas Department of Health and Environment had indicated it would distribute more shots to Douglas County, but it hadn’t indicated exactly how many or when. She said the shots might not arrive until mid-January.

Martin said the health department had been receiving an average of 100 calls a day from people asking about flu vaccines.

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<p>“We’re expecting to go through all of the vaccines” on the 12th, she said.</p>
<p>The clinic will be run similarly to the Flu-X clinic, which was at Free State High School, Strother said. Free parking will be available at the garage and lot adjacent to Allen Fieldhouse, and those attending will enter through the northwest doors of the fieldhouse.</p>
<p>Most of the line should be inside the fieldhouse concourse, Strother said. Some of those who attended the Flu-X clinic complained of having to wait outdoors.</p>
<p>The shots will cost $17 for adults and $12 for children under 3.</p>
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The Douglas County Health Department is seeking volunteers for the flu vaccine clinic scheduled from noon to 4 p.m. Dec. 12 at Allen Fieldhouse on the Kansas University campus.Janelle Martin, a department spokeswoman, said a variety of workers were needed, including health care workers to administer vaccines, people to greet and direct clinic-goers, and people to tend parking lots.To volunteer, contact DeeAnne Schoenfeld at 843-0721.

Rhonda Parks, executive director at Presbyterian Manor, said she was relieved to hear more vaccines were headed to Douglas County. But she said she was hoping the health department could secure more shots for those who can’t get out of the nursing facility for the clinic.

“We’re headed in the right direction,” Parks said. “At this point, I think it’s real fortunate we haven’t had an outbreak as early as we have sometimes. We need to get them immunized before we have any problems.”