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County Conducts Free Flu Immunizations in Brewster
Moderate turnout bodes for similar clinic to be conducted in Western Putnam
by Margaret Sternberg
 | | After being greeted at the POD and registering, a patient discusses her health with one of the staff before moving to the next area, where she will receive the vaccination. |
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Putnam County is serious about having its residents avoid the flu this winter. In fact, so much so that a free flu shot was given to anyone who went to the County-sponsored clinic at Brewster High School on November 28, 2007.
Not only was the public benefiting from the shots themselves (flu kills more people than all other vaccine-preventable diseases combined, about 36,000 people each year) - but the public was helping the Putnam County Health Department, who administered the clinic, to assess themselves and their procedures in the event of an emergency.
The clinic, in this case known as a POD ("point of distribution,") was staffed with Health Department employees and volunteers from the public who are members of the Putnam County Medical Reserve Corps. These are the same people who would staff a POD in the event of an emergency during which county residents would receive medications.
The immunization "drill" assessed how fast residents were processed - from initial greeting and registration, to receiving some medical counseling to finally getting the vaccine. The Health Department will use their observations to improve their disaster preparedness response to be able to treat large numbers of people as quickly as possible.
For participants, the entire process took less than ten minutes, from reception, filling out a form, a short consultation to determine whether a person has any health conditions that would prevent an inoculation, to the vaccination.
Short of the vaccination itself, the most time one spends is in the health education area, where a patient's general health is ascertained and whether there are specific allergies or any other reason for not giving the vaccine. Patients are also given some general health education, and the purpose of the vaccine is explained.
The vaccine covered three of the flu strains most likely to occur: the Solomon Islands, Malaysia and Wisconsin. Jeanne Klein, Immunization Coordinator for the Health Department, said that studies have shown that annual vaccinations for flu help to decrease the severity of the illness should one contract the flu despite precautions. Klein said, "the three strains that always show increase the efficacy of the flu vaccine to prevent illness," describing the protection as interrelated, rather than discreet.
Commissioner of Health Dr. Sherlita Amler emphasized that the flu vaccine not only helps protect the person who gets it, but anyone that person comes in contact with: family, relatives, friends, neighbors and co-workers by decreasing communicability to others who have not been vaccinated. She also said that pregnant women should be vaccinated because the vaccine will confer passive immunity to the baby until age six months. Amler called it "herd immunity," describing the phenomenon as "the more people get immunized, the better for the population as a whole." The most vulnerable are the very young, the elderly who are in poor health and those with chronic conditions.
The clinic lasted for seven hours. One third of the way through, 236 of 1,000 free vaccines given to the County by the State had been used. Based upon those numbers, the Health Department expects to hold a free vaccine clinic on the western side of the County within the next three weeks.
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