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1,800 H1N1 shots ready to be given at MUM

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By Tiffany Y. Latta, Staff Writer 10:54 PM Thursday, October 29, 2009

MIDDLETOWN — The Middletown Health Department will hold its first free H1N1 clinic Saturday, Oct. 31, inoculating people at the highest risk of suffering complications from the disease.

The clinic, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Miami University Middletown’s Johnston Hall, will be for pregnant women, young children and their care givers, who are at the top of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s priority list.

The health department has 1,800 doses of the vaccine and is urging healthy adults to wait to get the H1N1 vaccination to allow the most vulnerable to get inoculated first.

“If we opened it up to everybody, we would run out and may not get the target group that needs it most,” said Jackie Phillips, director of nursing for the Middletown Health Department.

Middletown’s clinic comes a week after the Butler County Health Department held its H1N1 clinics at the fairgrounds.

The clinic attracted between 5,000 to 6,000 on the first day of the two-day clinic, said Patricia Burg, director of the health department. The large crowd forced officials at one point to shut down the fairgrounds to new arrivals.

Phillips said Middletown health officials hope to avoid massive crowds because of their limited supply.

She said residents will be given cards upon arrival to prevent people from waiting in line after the supply is depleted.

Phillips said people 50 and older seem to have some immunity to the H1N1 virus because of previous vaccinations and previous exposure to other flu viruses.

“Let’s be smart,” Phillips said. “We’re concerned about our citizens. We don’t want our babies dying.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2180  or tlatta@coxohio.com.

Free public H1N1 clinic

When: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.  Saturday, Oct. 31; doors open at 8:30 a.m.

Where: Miami University Middletown, Johnston Hall, 4200 N. University Blvd.

Other info: Residents may preregister, but it is not required and does not ensure vaccination. To register, complete forms at www.flu.ohio.gov or h1n1vaccine.odh.ohio.gov.

High-risk groups that can be vaccinated include:

• Pregnant women

• People who live with or care for infants younger than 6 months

• Officials will ask which high risk category you fit in

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