Health departments to conduct clinics

ALBANY, N.Y. (RELEASE) - Governor David A. Paterson today announced that county health departments across New York are mobilizing to conduct H1N1 flu vaccination clinics as more vaccine becomes available in the State.

“Due to delays in manufacturing the H1N1 vaccine, our statewide vaccination campaign has not been mobilized as rapidly as we had hoped,” Governor Paterson said. “As we move into the middle of November, more H1N1 vaccine is becoming available, and health care providers are receiving more shipments. Some county health departments have already held vaccination clinics, and others are gearing up to hold them in the next two weeks.”

The Governor urged New Yorkers to check with their health care providers to see if they can be vaccinated in their offices and, if not, to check the State Department of Health’s (DOH) website at http://www.nyhealth.gov to determine when H1N1 vaccination clinics will be conducted in their communities. The website features a flu clinic locator that links residents to the website of their county health departments, where they can find more information about vaccine clinics being planned.

To date, approximately 85 percent of counties outside of New York City have either conducted H1N1 flu clinics or will hold clinics in the coming weeks. The first clinics will be targeted to individuals in the high-priority groups, as established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Priority groups to receive the H1N1 influenza vaccine are:

Pregnant women;
Children and young people ages six months to 24 years;
People who live with or provide care for infants under six months of age;
Health care workers and emergency medical services personnel; and
People ages 25 to 64 years who have medical conditions that put them at higher risk for serious illness and influenza-related complications. These medical conditions include: cancer, blood disorders, chronic lung disease (including asthma or heart disease), diabetes, kidney disorders, liver disorders, neurological disorders, neuromuscular disorders, and weakened immune systems.
State Health Commissioner Richard F. Daines, M.D., said: “Vaccination provides the greatest protection against influenza, and I encourage New Yorkers to take advantage of opportunities to get the H1N1 vaccine. As the vaccine becomes more plentiful, vaccination clinics are being set up at some county health departments, schools, hospitals and other locations to immunize those at highest risk for complications from the H1N1 flu. County health departments will not schedule vaccine clinics until they have enough supply on hand to meet the demand, so in some instances, clinics will not be scheduled right away.”

Due to the current limited supplies of the H1N1 vaccine, counties are determining which individuals within the established priority groups will be first to receive vaccine, in compliance with the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ guidelines.

As of November 9, 1.3 million doses of H1N1 vaccine have been shipped to areas in New York State outside of New York City – representing the full allocation available to New York to date. DOH continues to receive vaccine orders from health care providers outside of New York City and more orders are placed daily. The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene coordinates vaccine distribution in New York City.

Also this week, in accordance with Governor Paterson’s recently issued Executive Order No. 29 declaring a State Disaster Emergency, DOH issued curriculum to train additional health care personnel to administer vaccinations at mass vaccination clinics sponsored by county health departments.

The dominant Type Flu A strain currently circulating in the State is H1N1 flu. DOH reported more than 4,000 positive laboratory reports for Flu Type A statewide during the week of November 1-7, surpassing the peak number of reports seen during the Spring 2009 H1N1 outbreak. The entire State is considered to have widespread influenza activity at this time.

Hospitalizations for influenza have increased significantly in the last few weeks, with over 450 reports of patients hospitalized with confirmed influenza during the week of November 1-7. However, hospitalization rates have not risen to the same degree that positive laboratory reports have, indicating that the majority of patients ill with flu continue to suffer only mild to moderate disease. As expected with such a high level of flu activity statewide, the number of deaths reported in patients with influenza has increased, including four pediatric deaths in the last two weeks.

Additional information about seasonal and H1N1 flu, including educational resources and direct links to CDC’s website, is available at www.nyhealth.gov.