Swine flu clinics set for Upstate

ANDERSON — Clinics have been set in Anderson, Oconee and Pickens counties to get the vaccine to those most at risk for catching the swine flu.

The first clinic will be held Saturday at the Pickens County Public Health Department, said Jane Yates, the department’s nursing site manager.

As with all the H1N1 clinics, health workers will be giving the vaccines to those whom the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have determined are at the highest risk. Those at highest risk include:

— Pregnant women.

— Those who care for and are around babies younger than 6 months old.

— Health-care workers and emergency medical services personnel.

— All children between the ages of 6 months old and 17 years old.

— Adults between the ages of 18 and 24.

— People who are between the ages of 25 and 64 who have medical conditions that put them at a higher risk of complications from the flu.

At the clinics, people will be screened to see if they fit into one of those groups, health officials said. Those who not in one of those risk groups will not be able to receive their shots until more vaccine is available.

Residents will have to fill out a one-page questionnaire when they arrive at an H1N1 clinic, as they do for seasonal flu clinics. But there is no charge for the H1N1 vaccination, said Jim Beasley of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Beasley said people should call their physicians first to see if they can receive the vaccine at their doctors’ offices. For those who are going to get their vaccine from the health department, officials are asking residents to go to a clinic in the county where they live.

Vaccinations are allocated to each county health department according to the population in that county, Beasley said.

“We are pleading for people to be as patient as possible because the situation is the same everywhere,” Beasley said.

Since the H1N1 vaccine became available in October, 345,000 doses have been shipped to South Carolina, Beasley said. He said an additional 131,300 doses should be shipped to the state next week. Those doses are divided among about 700 providers across the state.

“Even if you don’t get this vaccine, you still benefit from the shots that others receive,” Beasley said. “We call it community immunity.”