Rapid Assessment

By Jim Hall

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Spotsylvania, Fredericksburg to get first clinics

Nov. 2, 2009 2:59 pm

Schools in Spotsylvania County and Fredericksburg will get their first doses of the H1N1 vaccine this week, though the only type of vaccine available will be FluMist, a nasal spray.

The Health Department will send 1,310 doses to Spotsylvania for a clinic at Riverbend High School tomorrow, Nov. 3, beginning at 5 p.m.

The Health Department also will ship 800 doses to Fredericksburg for a clinic at Lafayette Upper Elementary School on Wednesday, Nov. 4, beginning at 5:30 p.m. 

For now, the Health Department has no more of the injectable variety of the vaccine. About 80 percent of children can tolerate FluMist, though children with asthma are not among them, said Dr. John Petrasky, director of the Rappahanock Area Health District.

“The FluMist is a great vaccine. The big problem with it is that the kids who are asthmatics are going to be turned away,” Petrasky said.

The two scheduled clinics follow four clinics last week, at public schools in King George and Caroline counties, and at two private schools, Fredericksburg Academy and, on Saturday, at Fredericksburg Christian.

Dr. Karen Remley, above, state health commissioner, was an observer at Friday's clinic at Fredericksburg Academy.

"I was interested in seeing how we're working with the private schools to make sure that we were meeting the needs of all kids to get vaccinated," Remley said in a phone interview this morning.

For more about the H1N1 clinics and Remley's visit, see the story in tomorrow's paper. 

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Jim Hall is health reporter at The Free Lance-Star

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