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October 3, 2010 in City
Flu shots for patients on the go
Hoping to make immunization easy, health district holds drive-through vaccination clinic
WSU pharmacy student Cyrus Tumbaga administers a flu shot to Dolores Neddo, of Spokane Valley, at the Spokane Regional Health District drive-through flu clinic near the Spokane Valley YMCA on Saturday.
(Full-size photo)(All photos)
Spokane-area residents got something healthier than french fries at a drive-through Saturday: flu shots.
The drive-through influenza vaccination clinic, organized by the Spokane Regional Health District, was the first vaccination clinic of its kind in Spokane County.
“We’re just trying to make flu shots as accessible as possible,” said health district spokeswoman Kim Papich. “We actually don’t have a preference where people get their flu shots – we just care that they do.”
Drivers and up to three passengers were directed to one of three drive-through lanes, where they rolled up their sleeves and received an injection protecting them against influenza for the season.
Spokane resident Jason Kampf said he usually gets vaccinated in a clinic, not his car.
“It seems pretty convenient,” he said. “I’d probably rather do it like this. It seems organized.”
The purpose of the flu clinic was twofold: Vaccinate the public against the flu and test the effectiveness of the drive-through format.
Drive-through vaccination clinics have been successful in many other communities, Papich said.
“This is the only drive-through clinic we’re doing this year,” she said. “If it is a success, we want to do more next year.”
Students from the Washington State University College of Pharmacy, WSU College of Nursing and Spokane Community College nursing program helped run the clinic.
The clinic gave students hands-on training in responding to large-scale public health emergencies, said Colleen Terriff, a clinical associate professor in the WSU College of Pharmacy.
“We train our students to be screeners, vaccinators, educators, supply runners, whatever they need to do to serve, but they are predominantly here to vaccinate,” she said.
Papich said she thought the clinic, which was held at the Spokane Valley YMCA at Mirabeau Point, started out successfully. By noon, more than 200 cars had been through the line – and there was still another hour to go.
“I think we’ve had a lot of people happy with their flu shots,” she said. “We’ve got a lot of good feedback.”
The shots were free for kids and $10 for adults without Medicare or Medicaid.
This year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone age 6 months and older receive the flu vaccine, Papich said.
Unlike last year, most people only need one shot, which protects against two strains of seasonal flu and H1N1, also known as swine flu. In some cases, children 6 months to 8 years may require two shots.
For more information on influenza vaccinations, visit www.srhd.org or call SRHD’s Public Health Clinic at (509) 324-1600.
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eagleproducer on October 03 at 9:38 a.m.
To save everyone wading through the commentary section some time, I’ve condensed the replies you’d expect to see from regular thread contributors in response to this story.
gmorton: Great, now you don’t even need to leave your car to get your free lunch.
dazeeminkin: The private sector should be supplying vaccinations and providing for public health. I bet there are Obama stem cells in the serum and this is another of his endless attempts to turn us all into Saul Alinsky zombies!
Gramma: I remember when people just died of the flu. What was wrong with that?
lewis: At least citizens are getting shots from someone other than our local police!
ron-the-cop: I’ve filed a brief in federal court and sent thousands of e-mails to media outlets charging the Cowles family of conspiring with flocks of chickens in China to manufacture a virulent strain of seasonal flu.
soccermomsusie: Why do the people in the photographs have different skin color than us? I’ll bet they are illegal immigrants coming to steal our jobs, get free health care and jam our schools with their unteachable children. Why should I work hard every day to pay taxes so people don’t get sick and start a pandemic? This program has to be the product of a bunch of pointy headed intellectuals trying to cram their ideal of socialism down our throats. I can’t believe the nursing students helped with this scam. They used to actually help people and not simply used as pawns of Obama’s communist takeover of everything we hold sacred. Hear my voice!
Please don’t be offended if I left you out and leave me a note should you wish to be included in future parodies.
mc on October 03 at 11:50 a.m.
Well done, spoketucky. Well done.
misjustice on October 03 at 12:00 p.m.
spoke: you are spot on! Way to preempt and also to save regular contributors the bother of having to do so! ; )
I participated in the drive-thru flu shot clinic. The location was not that convenient but that is my only complaint. The clinicians administering the shots were top notch professionals; as were those checking the paper work and collecting the payments. Everyone involved seemed to be having fun too, and I thank them for giving up a sunny Saturday to work at the clinic and help citizens.
This was a simple, quick, cost effective way to take care of the fall ritual of getting a flu shot. My many thanks to the Regional Health Department!
eagleproducer on October 03 at 7:23 p.m.
thanks folks… I don’t get flu shots, but it’s a good idea. It might even work to slow spread of flu by not having everyone come to wait at centralized locations mingling with potentially sick people.
drywitt99 on October 04 at 6:00 a.m.
spoketucky: Keep up this funny work, and I’m going to have to hold my nose, switch sides. and become a teabagger. I can’t stand anyone on my team being more clever than I am.
No chance of that if I line up with susie, daisy, et al.
MrNatural on October 04 at 2:31 p.m.
roflmao!…Well done spoketucky
47% of those polled believe that this is just another one of these socialist attempts by those who love big government.
36% believe that this is another example of taxpayer funded “Obamacare” for illegal immigrants
69% believe that liberals cause the flu