Flu clinic
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on November 16, 2004 2:01 PM
Wayne County Health Director James Roosen said that in the first hour of today's flu clinic, 130 of the 600 doses had been given.
Roosen said he expected the supply would be out by day's end.
The vaccines were being dispensed only to those considered high risk. Because of the shortage, Roosen said, his department tried to devise a better way to distribute the shots so that patients did not have to wait outside for hours in the cold.
"We let in people in groups," he said. "We told the first group they would be seen, then told the next group there would be an hour wait and the next group there would be a two-hour wait and just to come back.
"They're able to sit in their cars, go shopping for an hour," Roosen said. "It's a lot less uncomfortable for people."
The next step, he said, will be making sure the doctors get the doses they will need. The Health Department expects to receive an additional 6,000 doses, but is unsure when they will arrive. "We want the primary care physicians to call us, and we'll allocate the doses to them," he said.