H1N1 vaccine clinic at GHHS on Wednesday

Mon, Nov 30, 2009    to del.icio.us

The Ottawa County Health Department is accepting reservations for free H1N1 vaccine clinics scheduled for the next two weeks.

A clinic will take place at Grand Haven High School, 17001 Ferris St. in Grand Haven Township, from 4-8 p.m. Wednesday.

Other clinics are scheduled to take place at West Ottawa High School's south campus, 3600 152nd Ave., from 4-8 p.m. Thursday; Hudsonville High School, 5037 32nd Ave., from 4-8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 9; and Coopersville Middle School, 198 East St., from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12.

Reservations are required and can be made online at www.miottawa.org/flu

Those unable to access the Web site can make a reservation by calling 211 or 1-877-211-5253. No walk-ins will be accepted. Reservations will be taken on a first-come first-served basis.

Due to the limited supply of the H1N1 vaccine, only those who qualify for it under an H1N1 priority group are eligible.

Priority groups include pregnant women, people age 6 months to 24 years, people age 25-64 who are at higher risk for novel H1N1 because of chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems, people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age, and health care and emergency medical services personnel with direct patient care.

State health officials stressed last week that residents should not become complacent when it comes to the H1N1 flu. While flu-like disease reports have declined statewide recently, the numbers may very likely spike again during the holiday season, Ottawa County officials say.

In Ottawa County, a total of 1,603 cases of flu-like illness were recorded the week of Nov. 15-21 — up slightly from the 1,377 recorded during the previous week, Nov. 8-14.