Free H1N1 clinic scheduled Monday in Richmond
January 28th, 2010 Posted in OpinionBy Hillary Bowler
RICHMOND–An H1N1 vaccine clinic will be hosted by Richmond city on Monday, Feb. 8. The clinic will run from 2 to 6 p.m. in the city offices, 6 W. Main St. It is open to all Cache Valley residents. The Bear River Health Department will be administering the vaccines and the clinic is completely free, thanks to federal funds for the vaccines.
Councilwoman Terrie Wierenga, who is also employed as a safety officer in agricultural labs by the United States Department of Agriculture, said the idea originally started with her employer. They had tried to obtain the vaccine for all employees in October of last year when there was a shortage. Bear River Health Department called recently to offer the vaccine now that supplies are up, she said, but employees no longer wanted the vaccine. Wierenga said that many people have an “I haven’t got it now, so it’s not going to hit me” attitude towards H1N1.
She seized the opportunity when BRHD called and asked them if Richmond could host a clinic. After discussing the idea with the council and other public officials in the area who all thought it a good idea, she received permission for the clinic.
Due to the nature of her job, Wierenga receives weekly pandemic reports and said that the H1N1 pandemic is on the rise again. At its peak in September and October, the pandemic rate was 6.1 percent. It went down to 1 percent for some time and recently rose to 1.4 percent. That rate “doesn’t mean it’s killing people off, but it means it’s widespread,” said Wierenga.
Richmond citizens have experienced some cases of their own, especially in children. She said that health officials predict a third wave of infections. “We’re not out of the woods by a long shot.”
Advertisements and information for the clinic will appear in the city’s newsletter, on the KUTA TV channel, local radio broadcasts, and other community calendars. Consent forms must be picked up at the city offices or downloaded from the city’s Web site, www.richmond-utah.com. Information on the vaccines specifically can be obtained at the BRHD website, www.brhd.org
NW.
One Response to “Free H1N1 clinic scheduled Monday in Richmond”
By Ally on Feb 3, 2010
i remember being scared of getting infected by H1N1 during the height of the pandemic. at least two of my classmates got infected by H1N1.