Clinic offers free vaccines

Thousands of uninsured people are expected to line up for free H1N1 flu vaccines Tuesday at the Glendale Civic Auditorium, officials said.

The vaccination clinic is one of 63 that the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has held since Oct. 23 in an effort to immunize those without health insurance against the potentially deadly virus. The clinic will run from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the auditorium, 1401 N. Verdugo Road.

Among the uninsured, county officials were most concerned about vaccinating high-risk patients: pregnant women, children and young adults from 6 months to 24 years, health-care workers, people who care for infants, and people between 25 to 64 with chronic medical conditions. High-risk patients have a greater chance of becoming critically ill from the H1N1 flu, also called the swine flu, officials said.

“It’s the high target groups that we are looking for,” said Glendale Fire Battalion Chief Greg Godfrey. “If you don’t meet one of these high target groups, it would be best to contact your physician, your medical plan for the vaccine. This is specifically designed for those who don’t have insurance and for those in the high target groups.”

Supplies of the H1N1 vaccination have been limited because of longer-than-expected production times, said Jeffrey Gunzenhauser, the county’s quality improvement medical director.

Given the complications, he said it was difficult to nail down the number of vaccines available at the Glendale event.

“We are trying to forecast out and make sure we can cover all the cities we promised it to,” Gunzenhauser said. “So on a day-to-day basis, we look at what is available and make decisions about how much we can have there.”

About 2,000 people are expected to attend the county vaccination clinic Tuesday at the Civic Auditorium, and there will probably be enough flu shots to accommodate the crowd, he said.

About 100 doses that do not contain Thimerosal will be available to pregnant women who don’t want the regular vaccine, officials said.

The ultimate number of vaccine shots dedicated to Glendale’s clinic will be based on the clinic’s hours of operation and the number of volunteer nurses, said Godfrey, who oversees the city’s emergency service operations.

“Our hope is to move about 250 people an hour through there, and if we have more volunteers, that will increase,” he said.

Glendale police and fire officials will provide additional support to the county at Tuesday’s clinic, making sure lines outside the auditorium run smoothly, Godfrey said. Up to 150 volunteers are also scheduled to help.

The city has been working with the county for five months to put on the clinic.

“We are hoping for a steady trickle of people all day long,” Godfrey said.

Amid lines at similar clinics that ranged into the thousands, county public health officials began enforcing stiffer screening criteria this week to make sure the high-risk groups and uninsured people were being served.

“What we want to avoid is people standing in line for three hours and getting to the front of the line, finding out that they don’t meet the criteria,” Godfrey said. “So we will have people that will be monitoring the line as people get in line to ensure everybody understands, that everybody knows what the criteria is before they get up there.”

Nurses and doctors have been at the county clinics, asking patients questions about their health to determine whether they qualify to get the shot, Director of Public Health Jonathan E. Fielding said this week.

About 8,000 H1N1 doses were administered Tuesday at county clinics, Fielding said.

The large number of people expected to attend Tuesday’s vaccination clinic has prompted officials to plan for traffic and parking concerns at the auditorium, which neighbors Glendale Community College.

The auditorium’s parking structure and a parking lot at Mountain Street and Verdugo Road will be available to patients, Godfrey said.

Glendale police, volunteers from the Certified Emergency Response Team and California Highway Patrol officers will guide motorists. City workers will set up five large electronic traffic signs advising people where to go.