A Shot At Health
February 25, 2010
More than 50 people lined up for free H1N1 vaccinations Wednesday afternoon for one of the first swine flu clinics held by Los Angeles County in the Santa Clarita Valley in weeks.
The round of shots given out at Live Oak Elementary School was the first of two in the SCV this week. The Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center is holding its first H1N1 clinic today, said Diana Sevanian, the senior center health and wellness program director.
The Senior Center has had up to 400 people show up to other flu clinics in the past, she said.
H1N1 infections have steadily declined in Los Angeles County and throughout the state since October, said L.A. County’s Director of Emergency Preparedness Alonzo Plough.
“There is still a long flu season left and can go on until April,” Plough said. “The vaccine is widely available at pharmacies and community clinics.”
Children under 10 are still at risk and need to get two H1N1 shots to be protected from the virus, he said.
There has been less demand for H1N1 vaccine in recent weeks at the Valencia Health Center, said Debra Rosen, director of the public health division at Northeast Valley Health Corp., which manages the clinic.
The clinic still provides free flu vaccinations each Tuesday to up to 50 children and adults, Rosen said.
“The demand has decreased but Valencia is busy and usually fills up every week,” Rosen said.
There are 18 pharmacies in Santa Clarita that can give H1N1 vaccines listed on the public health department’s Web site.
In December, county officials stopped holding large H1N1 vaccination clinics in the Santa Clarita Valley and instead gave their limited supply to private physicians and small health clinics, according to previous reports.
The number of people getting sick from H1N1 has rapidly declined over the last several months.
In California, more than 1,000 people went to the hospital because of H1N1 in November — more than double the amount of people hospitalized in January and February combined.
There have been 527 H1N1 deaths reported in the state since May, but only one reported death in February, according to the California Department of Public Health.
