A good turnout for H1N1 vaccine

Nassau County’s vaccination program for the H1N1 influenza virus has been successful so far, health officials said.

At the first two clinic dates, one held at the Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow and the other at the A. Holly Patterson Extended Care Facility in Uniondale, more than 1600 people were vaccinated, said Dr. Steven Walerstein, NuHealth’s executive vice president for medical affairs and NUMC’s medical director.

“The community response and outpouring of support has really been great,” Walerstein said. “I think that really reflects the importance and understanding of getting themselves protected from the H1N1 virus.”

The H1N1 vaccination program is coordinated through a partnership between the Nassau County Department of Health, NuHealth System and North Shore-LIJ.

More vaccination dates have been announced through the month of December. See this week's editorial for an updated schedule.

According to Mary Ellen Laurain, a spokeswoman for the Nassau County Department of Health, vaccinations schedules can only be released on a two-week basis, due to the uncertain availability and shipment of the vaccines.

“Hopefully the vaccine will be more readily available, but right now they are limited, so we will probably do this in two-week increments,” Laurain said. She said that the county estimates that nearly 500,000 Nassau residents are within the priority groups outlined by the Center for Disease Control, which can also be seen in this week's editorial.

For those who remain undecided about the vaccine, or have questions or concerns, there is a county hotline available for information at 1-888-684-4271. The hours are from Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Otherwise, Walerstein explained, people should ask their primary health physician if that resource is available to them. There are also resources available online, at cdc.gov and flu.gov.

“From a public health point of view, the more people vaccinated,” Walerstein said, “the more people that will stop the spread of virus from running out of control.”