By KEN de la BASTIDE
The Howard County Health Department has expanded the target population for the second H1N1 clinic.
The second clinic is noon to 5 p.m. Sunday at Havens Auditorium on the Indiana University Kokomo campus.
Karen Lopke, H1N1 administrator for the health department, said the clinic has been expanded to include people between the age of 25 and 64 with chronic medical conditions including asthma, neuro-developmental conditions, chronic lung disease, liver and kidney disorders, weakened immune systems, blood disorders, heart disease and endocrine disorders, like diabetes.
Lopke said the health department expects to have doses of the H1N1 vaccine available in nasal and injectable forms for Sunday’s clinic.
“I was disappointed,” she said of the turnout for the first clinic. “We had 4,000 doses available and used 700. It has been the same way throughout the district.”
Lopke said the clinics at local schools are delivering half of the vaccinations that they could be administering.
“There is a reluctance on the part of parents,” she said. “Even if children have had flu-like symptoms they should still get the flu shot.”
Lopke said some people are misreading information about the flu and believe the number of H1N1 cases is on the decline.
“It’s going to come in waves,” she said. “With the holiday season, there will be more interaction and close contact with people from other communities. There will be waves of the flu throughout the winter.”
Lopke predicted an increase in the number of H1N1 cases following the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons.
“The only true protection for the kids is the vaccine,” she said.
Lopke said children should receive a second booster shot of the H1N1 vaccine but no clinic dates have been set.
“We don’t have enough vaccine to give the second shot,” she said. “It is supposed to be administered after 28 days.”
Lopke said booster shot clinics for children will take place in late December and January.
• Ken de la Bastide is the Kokomo Tribune enterprise editor. He can be reached at 765-454-8580 or via e-mail at ken.delabastide@kokomotribune.com
