The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

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November 2, 2009

Readiness gets shot in arm

Pandemic panel treats at-risk groups

By Patrick Cooley

HERMITAGE — Nearly five hundred flu shots and pneumonia shots were given on Sunday at Hickory High School, as the Mercer County Pandemic Committee tested its emergency readiness.

Many said they came to get shots as a precautionary measure.

“This was the doctor’s orders,” said Ray Jones of Hermitage.

The pandemic committee had 800 flu shots and 200 pneumonia shots donated from the Mercer County Area Agency on Aging, and the Community Health Partnership of Mercer County. More than 400 flu shots and about 80 pneumonia shots were used.

Both of those groups secured grants equaling roughly $4,000 to pay for the cost of holding the flu clinic, with pandemic committee members volunteering their time on Sunday, and Hermitage School District donating the use of the high school.

The purpose of the clinic was to test the readiness of the pandemic committee in the case of a real emergency, such as the outbreak of whooping cough in West Middlesex last November.

It was conducted under the supervision of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Mercer County.

“We’re essentially tasked to do the planning for an event where we would have to do mass immunizations in a short period of time,” said Jeff Greenburg, public information officer for Mercer County.

The doors were supposed to open at 10 am. Al Boland, chair of the pandemic committee, said they took the time to immunize their staff ahead of time in order to get ready for the clinic, but several people showed up early, so they opened the doors at around 9:30 a.m.

The shots were given free of charge, and the clinic was open to everyone, but Boland said it was specifically marketed toward senior citizens.

“We are targeting at-risk groups,” he said.

Frank Jannetti, the director of public safety for Mercer County, said Hickory High School was the perfect place to hold a clinic such as this one.

“We look for facilities like this one, with a good entrance, a good exit and a good location in the middle (to give the shots),” he said. “If we had to open an H1N1 (commonly known as swine flu) clinic, we would ask if we could use a facility like this one.”

Boland and Greenburg said there have been confirmed cases of H1N1 in Mercer County, but the number of confirmed cases was not immediately available on Sunday.

They said the flu and pneumonia shots that were not used Sunday would be donated to the local branch of the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

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