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Beach Haven First Aid Squad captain says members should be among first to get swine flu vaccine
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BEACH HAVEN - The captain of the Beach Haven First Aid Squad says she and her colleagues should not have to wait two days to receive the swine flu vaccine, but instead should be among the first to receive it.
Deborah Whitcraft, a former mayor and outspoken public figure, added that as a resident of Beach Haven and a taxpayer who funds the Long Beach Island Health Department, she should be able to receive a vaccination at the clinics.
Whitcraft said the department told her she could not make an appointment to receive the swine flu vaccine at the clinics today and Wednesday. Tim Hilferty, the department's director, said Whitcraft and other emergency personnel can receive the vaccine Thursday at Southern Regional High School.
But that's not soon enough for Whitcraft. She said she answers more than 200 first aid calls per year along a 10-mile stretch of Long Beach Island and that she will not be so quick to take calls anymore after being denied a vaccination.
"If there are flu symptoms on a call, I just won't answer the call," the 10-year volunteer said.
Hilferty said that because of the limited supply of vaccine, the department and the Ocean County Health Department had to establish two sub-tiers of priority cases. The local and county departments are waiting for more vaccine to arrive every day, Hilferty said.
Whitcraft said that is all the more reason to vaccinate emergency medical personnel immediately.
"We started with pregnant women and young children. It was determined that those populations we were seeing were having the most complications from the flu. This is the population that is most vulnerable," Hilferty said.
LBI Health Department employees are not even vaccinated yet, he added.
Whitcraft referred to areas around the country that are using their vaccinations on emergency medical workers.
According to a report in the Chicago Sun Times earlier this month, the Chicago Department of Public Health's first shipment of about 16,000 doses of vaccine will be distributed primarily to hospital employees who have direct contact with patients and the Chicago Fire Department's emergency medical workers.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that the vaccine began arriving in King County earlier this month and that health care workers were the first to get it. They were selected because they are most likely to get sick and to pass the illness on, the report said.
"We'll certainly open it up to the next population as soon as vaccinations are available. We're ready and willing to vaccinate everyone. It's not our objective to deny anyone the shot," Hilferty said.
The clinics offered over the next two days by the Long Beach Island Health Department are by appointment only.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends that when vaccine is first available, programs and providers administer the vaccine to five target groups: pregnant women, people who live with or provide care for infants less than 6-months-old, health care and emergency medical services personnel, people 6 months to 24 years old and people 25 to 64 years old who have medical conditions that put them at higher risk of influenza-related complications.
These five target groups comprise an estimated 159 million people in the United States, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"We cover 20 of the 18 miles of LBI, and we are the first to deal with these people. We've already had one swine flu case in Holgate," Whitcraft said.
Contact Donna Weaver:
609-226-9198
Posted in Ocean on Tuesday, October 27, 2009 3:05 am
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