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Public health clinic runs out of H1N1 vaccine
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A nurse at the Rockdale County Public Health Department administers an H1N1 nasal spray vaccine to a patient at the county's public health clinic. - photo by Annette Godwin
The Rockdale, Newton, and Gwinnett health departments have exhausted their initial supply of H1N1 Influenza vaccine.

The East Metro Health District, which serves Gwinnett, Newton, and Rockdale counties, initially received about 6,100 doses around Oct. 6 and ran through their supply on Oct. 13.

The district had opened their five clinics for additional hours on Saturday, Oct. 17, to provide the H1N1 influenza vaccine nasal spray. "Over 1,900 doses of nasal spray were provided on Saturday alone," says Suleima Salgado, public information officer for the East Metro Health District. Around 420 doses were administered in Rockdale on Saturday.

Additional shipments of vaccine will be slowly arriving over the next few weeks and months and will become more widely available at health department clinics, doctors' offices, walk-in clinics, pharmacies, and other sites within the community.

Once additional vaccine arrives, the health departments in East Metro will continue to offer the vaccine to those who fall into the priority groups recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

"As vaccine supplies become more readily available, additional Saturday clinics will be considered," said Salgado. "This vaccination campaign is expected to last many weeks and possibly months."

In the meantime, persons are encouraged to continue to follow basic preventative steps to avoid the spread of germs.

For more information call the Georgia H1N1 Hotline at 888-H1N1-INFO (888-416-1463) for vaccine availability. The Rockdale County Public Health clinic can be reached at 770-785-5936.