Swine flu vaccine delayed for local schools
A few vaccination clinics will go ahead, but most are postponed, with officials unsure until when
Published: October 24. 2009 4:00AM PST
Limited supplies of swine flu vaccine forced the Deschutes County Health Department on Friday to postpone most of the vaccination clinics for area schools, just one day after they began.
The Health Department vaccinated its first group of students Thursday at Ponderosa Elementary School in Bend and hosted a second clinic Friday at Bend’s Bear Creek Elementary School. But a vaccination clinic scheduled Friday for Ensworth Elementary School was canceled, and 17 more school-based clinics scheduled for next week have been postponed, said Shannon Dames, Deschutes County communicable disease manager. However, a couple of clinics are expected to take place, as scheduled.
Dames was hesitant to guess when the Health Department will have enough vaccine to reschedule the clinics.
“It’s not just us that are reluctant to make predictions, the people who give us predictions are reluctant to make predictions,” she said. “We’ve all been burned all the way up the line.”
Dames said the labs that culture the H1N1 virus to create vaccine — the virus is grown inside a chicken egg — are finding it takes considerably longer than the same process for seasonal flu. Between the slower process and strong demand for swine flu vaccinations, Dames said labs are struggling to meet the commitments they made to state health departments.
Bob Jones, director of student safety for Bend-La Pine Schools, said a little more than 50 percent of the students at Ponderosa and Bear Creek were vaccinated on Thursday and Friday. Ponderosa was selected to go first because it hosts a program for students with medical difficulties, Jones said.
Parents have been reasonably understanding about the delays, he said.
“I think that parents have been very level-headed, and they appreciate the efforts of county health and the schools to put these clinics on,” Jones said. “It’s probably a lot more convenient for parents. You don’t have to go to a clinic or schedule an appointment with a physician. It can just happen at school.”
Dames said the county Health Department is looking to use its available stocks to vaccinate children, as they are the most effective transmitters of disease.
Vaccination clinics Monday at Jewell Elementary in Bend and Lynch Elementary in Redmond are expected to proceed as scheduled, she said, but additional supplies will be needed for clinics planned Tuesday at Sisters, La Pine and Three Rivers elementary schools.
Swine flu is proving to be a challenge for Cascade Healthcare Community hospitals as well.
Spokeswoman Janette Sherman said mechanical ventilators used to help patients breathe have been moved to St. Charles Bend from hospitals in Redmond and Prineville. While there are enough for patients who need them, the hospital is tracking their numbers closely, she said.
Deschutes County has recorded 27 confirmed cases of swine flu since Sept. 1, Dames said, and 76 suspected cases are awaiting confirmation at the state public health laboratory.
The list of confirmed cases only includes individuals who have been hospitalized, she said, and it’s assumed only 1 percent of infections are serious enough to require hospitalization.
Until vaccine supplies are replenished, the Health Department is advising local residents that the best way to avoid contracting or transmitting swine flu is by washing their hands and covering their face when they sneeze or cough. Dames expects more vaccine will be shipped as producers improve their manufacturing process.
“In these types of scenarios, it’s really tempting to find a scapegoat,” she said. “Some want to point the finger at us, and we want to point the finger at others, but it just kind of is what it is — there’s no one who’s really to blame.”
Scott Hammers can be reached at 541-383-0387 or at shammers@bendbulletin.com.
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