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Swine flu shot clinic an all-day affair in Stafford Township
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STAFFORD TOWNSHIP - Headlights snaked into the chilly evening Thursday as more than 2,000 drivers waited in their cars to see if they could receive one of 1,500 swine flu vaccines at the seventh clinic held by the Ocean County Health Department.
By the time the clinic ended shortly after 8 p.m., many had received their H1N1 vaccinations, but many had been turned away.
"There were people turned away, but they were turned away because they were not considered priority cases. No one was turned away because we ran out of shots," said Leslie D. Terjesen, spokeswoman for the Ocean County Health Department. "We ran out of cars. It was like the Halloween parade in Toms River - the police came up the back behind the last cars with their lights on."
The clinic started at 3 p.m., but cars and people started lining up well in advance. By evening, the Southern Regional Middle School cafeteria reeked of rubbing alcohol. Inside the school, children waited in line, some eating pretzel sticks as they watched other kids scream.
Well, they also got a Snoopy bandage, as did the adults.
The line of vehicles stayed long as afternoon turned to night. Police officers waved the cars into the school parking lot, a few feet closer to the sought-after shot.
"The Stafford cops did an amazing job. They were very organized. They came around and talked to people and kept our spirits going. They were polite and professional, waited for three hours, police kept us updated," said Marie James, 64, of Stafford Township, who suffers from emphysema and breast cancer.
About 1,000 people were turned away Monday in Jackson Township, after doses of swine flu vaccine ran out. Ocean County health officials had a 1,500-dose supply that day.
Terjesen said 500 nasal spray and 450 injectable vaccinations were administered last week across five clinics.
At the start of the clinic Thursday, Health Department workers distributed tickets, similar to those given out at a raffle. If you had a ticket, you got a shot. The public began lining up along Cedar Bridge Avenue at about 9 a.m. Thursday.
Jennifer Atanacio, of Barnegat Township, was the first in line, but she and her family would sit until 3 p.m., when they were waved up the school's driveway. Seven family members would be getting the shot, she said. Her 6-year-old daughter, Maddy, was born three months premature. As a result, Atanacio said, Maddy has lung problems that put her at high risk for swine flu.
"Our pediatrician is out of it (vaccines), the state is the only place that has it. I heard what happened in Jackson, and we thought we'd come here," she said.
Earlier this week, emergency medical workers told The Press of Atlantic City that they should get priority in receiving the vaccine. The Long Beach Island Health Department turned away two emergency medical volunteers earlier this week from their swine flu clinic. But Terjersen said they would have to wait in line Thursday with everyone else.
"I have to get to get it. I'm a first responder," said Jeffrey Judka, 44, of Barnegat.
Judka is a member of the Pinewood Estates Volunteer Fire Company's Barnegat Water Rescue Group. He had already been waiting for several hours in an overflow lot near the soccer fields. There was even more overflow about a half-mile away at King of Kings Church on Route 9.
"There should be a separate line for first responders. I mean, don't we do enough?" he said. "I have an incident going on right now in Belmar, a boat overturned that I can't respond to," he said as his emergency radio chirped on his dashboard.
But by 7 p.m., Judka was inside the cafeteria with his family, filling out the necessary paperwork to receive their shots.
Dave Henry, 47, a paid emergency medical technician from Toms River, was waiting in line right behind Judka. Henry, who has a compromised immune system because his spleen was removed, said his company suggests that employees receive the vaccine.
"There should be a separate line for us. We're on the front lines. I've been waiting for two hours, and I don't know if I'm going to get it," he said.
Families had to make due with what they had - especially the ones who had children in their vehicles. Marny Gerckens, of Barnegat, had waited for two hours in her car with three children. They happily ate Burger King kid's meals for dinner.
"Someone came around and told us they were getting close to the limit, to running out," she said. "They shouldn't do this to kids. This is terrible. My daughter had to go to the bathroom in the woods," she said.
Steve Caputo, of Barnegat, brought dinner to his family's minivan. He left for a nearby pizza parlor and returned with a large sausage and pepperoni pie. His wife smiled when he told her he remembered to get paper plates.
Some were not as lucky. Just as the line started moving that Kelly Jones had been sitting in for two hours, the battery in her SUV died.
"I'm such an idiot. I had the heat on," said the pregnant 34-year-old mother of an 11-month-old.
But Jeffrey O'Dell of Stafford Township, left his place in line to jump Jones' SUV. O'Dell, 61, was waiting for a shot because he suffers from asthma.
"I do it every day. That's what I do," said O'Dell, a mechanic.
Contact Donna Weaver:
609-226-9198
Priority groups for swine flu shots
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified priority groups to receive the first batches of the H1N1 vaccination. Those groups are:
- Pregnant women
- Health care workers
- Anyone ages 6 months through 24 years of age
- Anyone 25-64 years of age with a chronic medical condition that places them at high-risk for influenza complications
- Parents or caregivers of infants younger than 6 months
Residents not in a high-risk group must wait to get their vaccinations.
Upcoming clinics
Cape May County will hold an H1N1 vaccine clinic at 11 a.m. today at Atlantic Cape Community College in Cape May Court House.
The Long Beach Island Health Department is offering an H1N1 nasal flu mist to priority groups by appointment Nov. 4. Call 609-492-1212.
The Cumberland County Health Department anticipates opening flu vaccination clinics within the next few weeks, although dates have not been set.
The Atlantic County Health Department has no scheduled clinics for H1N1.
Posted in Top_three, Ocean on Thursday, October 29, 2009 9:40 pm Updated: 2:38 pm.
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