DonCT
01-02-2006, 15:25
I actually won an award from the New England Press Association for this one. For community papers, this is pretty prestigious.
People flock to town for flu shots
Trumbull clinic is one of few around with flu vaccines available
October 15, 2004
By 1 p.m. Friday, tempers were growing short at the First Aid walk-in clinic on White Plains Road.
A woman helping her wheelchair-bound mother from her car received a tongue-lashing from an irate motorist. Horns blared in the parking lot as people jockeyed for the 12 spaces. People who had been waiting outside in the unseasonable warmth for three hours were growing visibly restless. And there was no end in sight.
"It is not fair to make people stand out here for hours like this," said Visiting Nurse Lelia Dorbat. "These people need to take their medication. Some of them are diabetic and they need to get home and eat."
Dorbat's patient sat next to her in a wheelchair with her eyes closed and a handkerchief over her head to ward off the afternoon sun. The two were among a group of about 40 people waiting outside the clinic.
People from as far away as Woodbridge, most of them senior citizens or those with chronic health problems, made the drive to Trumbull when word got out that the First Aid clinic was one of the few in the region that had flu vaccines available.
"The line started forming before 6 a.m.," said First Aid office manager Barbara Quarles. "We've been going non-stop all day."
As Quarles spoke, she directed patients to sign in and take a seat in the office waiting room. All 20 seats in the small area were full, and the heat in the crowded room was stifling.
"We've given more than 100 immunizations today," Quarles added. "We'll run out sometime today and there won't be any more. I haven't even gotten a shot myself."
This year has seen an unprecedented shortage of flu vaccines due to the closing of an English company that was one of only two in the world licensed to supply the vaccine to the U.S.
Due to the shortage, most places that normally would provide flu shots at this time of year have nothing to offer. Throughout the area, clinics, nursing services and doctors' offices are turning away people seeking the vaccine.
On Wednesday, Trumbull's Director of Nursing, Judith Locke, said the town has no vaccine and therefore will not conduct a flu clinic this year.
Doctors are recommending that only people in the highest risk categories, such as those over 65, pregnant women and diabetics, get flu shots in order to preserve the supply as much as possible.
Time on the line
Steve Grant, who manages the Bruegger's Bagel store adjacent to First Aid, watched in amazement as the line outside the clinic built steadily throughout the morning.
"It's been out the door since 6 a.m. and the place didn't even open until 8," he said.
At 11 a.m., a pregnant woman asked Grant if she could borrow a chair from the store. She had been waiting more than an hour. As Grant carried a chair outside for her, a ragged cheer erupted from the crowd.
"Is anyone hungry?" Grant asked. He proceeded to take orders from eight people and hurried inside to fetch some bagels and coffee.
Elsewhere in the line, people who started the day as strangers had become friends. Some sat on folding chairs left behind by others ahead of them in line.
"I never did like to stand," said William Smith as he leaned back in a canvas chair with a book. "I don't even know whose chair this is. Their turn came and they left it here for someone else so I took it.
Carlos Reys said his pregnant wife, Donna, had called him at work to come stand in line.
"She can't be out here all day," he said as he sat sweating on the sidewalk. "I took time from work to come wait so she could stay in the car with the air conditioning."
He said the sense of urgency drove him into town.
"They told Donna that they might run out today, so I had to drop what I was doing and get down here," he said.
Like others, Reys had taken what steps he could - albeit not quite legal - to make his wait more comfortable.
"I found these on the side of the building," he said, gesturing to the milk crate he was sitting on. About 10 people sat on such crates, liberated from the back of Porricelli Food Mart at the other side of the White Plains Road shopping center.
The most common complaint among the crowd was the seemingly poor organization at the clinic.
"They knew there was a shortage," said Woodbridge resident Polly Roland, who works in the Trumbull school system. As a diabetic, Roland is in one of the highest risk groups.
"Why aren't there people out here taking names so we could at least go get something to eat and not have to be baking in the sun?" she asked.
Behind her in line, Carol Perregaux agreed.
"There should be a table set up out here," she said. "I've been here three hours and it'll probably be at least two more. There isn't even anyplace to go to the bathroom."
Flu can be deadly
As many as 36,000 people die of the flu in the U.S. each year, most of them elderly, very young, or living with compromised immune systems.
The most destructive outbreak of the flu was in 1918-19, when between 20 million and 40 million people worldwide died in an epidemic that infected nearly 30 percent of Americans. More than 670,000 Americans succumbed to the illness, including 43,000 servicemen called up to fight World War I. The flu killed as many U.S. soldiers as enemy fire did.
This year at least, Smith will be one of the lucky ones. As the clock ticked toward 1:30 p.m., Quarles called him into the office.
"Already?" he joked as he surrendered his seat to yet another person. He gestured a thumbs-up sign to a newfound friend. "Looks like you were my lucky charm," he said.
Judith Wrenn, Trumbull-Monroe Health District's Director of Health, said her department planned its own flu clinic for Oct. 20, but they had to cancel it due to a lack of the proper amount of flu vaccines.
With this year's shortage of flu shots, she said the state asked each local district to decrease their requested amount, if possible.
However, Wrenn said she could not do this. "People that show up at our door are the elderly and those in the high-risk population, so there is no way we can underestimate what we need," she said.
Copyright © 1995 - 2006 PowerOne Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
People flock to town for flu shots
Trumbull clinic is one of few around with flu vaccines available
October 15, 2004
By 1 p.m. Friday, tempers were growing short at the First Aid walk-in clinic on White Plains Road.
A woman helping her wheelchair-bound mother from her car received a tongue-lashing from an irate motorist. Horns blared in the parking lot as people jockeyed for the 12 spaces. People who had been waiting outside in the unseasonable warmth for three hours were growing visibly restless. And there was no end in sight.
"It is not fair to make people stand out here for hours like this," said Visiting Nurse Lelia Dorbat. "These people need to take their medication. Some of them are diabetic and they need to get home and eat."
Dorbat's patient sat next to her in a wheelchair with her eyes closed and a handkerchief over her head to ward off the afternoon sun. The two were among a group of about 40 people waiting outside the clinic.
People from as far away as Woodbridge, most of them senior citizens or those with chronic health problems, made the drive to Trumbull when word got out that the First Aid clinic was one of the few in the region that had flu vaccines available.
"The line started forming before 6 a.m.," said First Aid office manager Barbara Quarles. "We've been going non-stop all day."
As Quarles spoke, she directed patients to sign in and take a seat in the office waiting room. All 20 seats in the small area were full, and the heat in the crowded room was stifling.
"We've given more than 100 immunizations today," Quarles added. "We'll run out sometime today and there won't be any more. I haven't even gotten a shot myself."
This year has seen an unprecedented shortage of flu vaccines due to the closing of an English company that was one of only two in the world licensed to supply the vaccine to the U.S.
Due to the shortage, most places that normally would provide flu shots at this time of year have nothing to offer. Throughout the area, clinics, nursing services and doctors' offices are turning away people seeking the vaccine.
On Wednesday, Trumbull's Director of Nursing, Judith Locke, said the town has no vaccine and therefore will not conduct a flu clinic this year.
Doctors are recommending that only people in the highest risk categories, such as those over 65, pregnant women and diabetics, get flu shots in order to preserve the supply as much as possible.
Time on the line
Steve Grant, who manages the Bruegger's Bagel store adjacent to First Aid, watched in amazement as the line outside the clinic built steadily throughout the morning.
"It's been out the door since 6 a.m. and the place didn't even open until 8," he said.
At 11 a.m., a pregnant woman asked Grant if she could borrow a chair from the store. She had been waiting more than an hour. As Grant carried a chair outside for her, a ragged cheer erupted from the crowd.
"Is anyone hungry?" Grant asked. He proceeded to take orders from eight people and hurried inside to fetch some bagels and coffee.
Elsewhere in the line, people who started the day as strangers had become friends. Some sat on folding chairs left behind by others ahead of them in line.
"I never did like to stand," said William Smith as he leaned back in a canvas chair with a book. "I don't even know whose chair this is. Their turn came and they left it here for someone else so I took it.
Carlos Reys said his pregnant wife, Donna, had called him at work to come stand in line.
"She can't be out here all day," he said as he sat sweating on the sidewalk. "I took time from work to come wait so she could stay in the car with the air conditioning."
He said the sense of urgency drove him into town.
"They told Donna that they might run out today, so I had to drop what I was doing and get down here," he said.
Like others, Reys had taken what steps he could - albeit not quite legal - to make his wait more comfortable.
"I found these on the side of the building," he said, gesturing to the milk crate he was sitting on. About 10 people sat on such crates, liberated from the back of Porricelli Food Mart at the other side of the White Plains Road shopping center.
The most common complaint among the crowd was the seemingly poor organization at the clinic.
"They knew there was a shortage," said Woodbridge resident Polly Roland, who works in the Trumbull school system. As a diabetic, Roland is in one of the highest risk groups.
"Why aren't there people out here taking names so we could at least go get something to eat and not have to be baking in the sun?" she asked.
Behind her in line, Carol Perregaux agreed.
"There should be a table set up out here," she said. "I've been here three hours and it'll probably be at least two more. There isn't even anyplace to go to the bathroom."
Flu can be deadly
As many as 36,000 people die of the flu in the U.S. each year, most of them elderly, very young, or living with compromised immune systems.
The most destructive outbreak of the flu was in 1918-19, when between 20 million and 40 million people worldwide died in an epidemic that infected nearly 30 percent of Americans. More than 670,000 Americans succumbed to the illness, including 43,000 servicemen called up to fight World War I. The flu killed as many U.S. soldiers as enemy fire did.
This year at least, Smith will be one of the lucky ones. As the clock ticked toward 1:30 p.m., Quarles called him into the office.
"Already?" he joked as he surrendered his seat to yet another person. He gestured a thumbs-up sign to a newfound friend. "Looks like you were my lucky charm," he said.
Judith Wrenn, Trumbull-Monroe Health District's Director of Health, said her department planned its own flu clinic for Oct. 20, but they had to cancel it due to a lack of the proper amount of flu vaccines.
With this year's shortage of flu shots, she said the state asked each local district to decrease their requested amount, if possible.
However, Wrenn said she could not do this. "People that show up at our door are the elderly and those in the high-risk population, so there is no way we can underestimate what we need," she said.
Copyright © 1995 - 2006 PowerOne Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.