| High priority persons getting H1N1 vaccine at Fairview |
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By Joel Stottrup A “very limited” amount of H1N1 novel flu vaccine has arrived at Fairview Northland’s medical clinics and it is only being given to persons classified as high priority, according to Fairview Corporate communications director Ryan Davenport and local clinic director Renee Lipinski. The Fairview Northland clinics are in Princeton, Milaca, Zimmerman and Elk River. The Fairview Northland clinics received the H1N1 vaccine on Oct. 20 and all of it is the injectable type, Lipinski said on Monday. The H1N1 vaccine was first sent to Fairview corporate’s main pharmacy in the Twin Cities, which then distributed it across its clinic system. Among the high priority individuals who are getting this H1N1 vaccine, according to Lipinski and Davenport are: • high-risk children age 49 months through 17 years. They would have health complications including chronic pulmonary diseases like cystic fibrosis or asthma. • pregnant women who are 32 weeks along. Lipinski said they would be able to get the H1N1 vaccination during their regularly scheduled checkup. • health care workers would be next and Lipinski said that is who Fairview is vaccinating now. • parents and primary care providers for children six months or younger, is a category that Davenport noted. The general public will be able to get the H1N1 vaccine at some point but “not in this first wave,” Davenport said. “Eventually, there will be more [H1N1 vaccine] to come. We’ve been told ‘Soon’ but we don’t know when.” Healthy persons will be the very last to be scheduled for the H1N1 vaccination, Lipinski emphasized and said she understands that the H1N1 vaccine won’t come in until after Thanksgiving Day. Fairview’s corporate office made a list of high risk pediatric patients and sent a letter to the parents of each, instructing them to call a certain number for making a vaccination appointment, Lipinski said. The incidences of H1N1 in the state and the concern about being able to get vaccinations for it have resulted in a high influx of calls to clinics. Fairview Northland at Princeton is no exception, according to Lipinski. To deal with that there is a flu telephone line that people are routed to when they call the Fairview clinic at 389-3344 to inquire on what to do about flu symptoms, Lipinski said. A centralized triage nurse will review the symptoms over the phone and can recommend what to do, such as drinking plenty of fluids and resting if the flu occurred within 24 hours of the call. “A lot are coming to the clinic who don’t need to be seen,” Lipinski said, adding that the goal is to prevent the unnecessary spread of the virus within the medical facility. “There is no treatment [if the time of contracting the virus] has gone beyond a certain point anyway,” Lipinski said. She noted that 99 patients came to the Princeton Fairview Northland ER one day in mid to late October and that only two or three of those were treated. None of the 99 was hospitalized, she said. Comments (0)
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