Hundreds brave cold for flu shots

Stephen Curran

Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2004 | 11:01 a.m.

Hundreds of people, mostly senior citizens, stood in the cold early this morning to make sure they received one of the Clark County Health District's newly available flu shots.

With flu vaccines in short supply, the crowd wrapped all the way around the Health District's Ravenholt Public Health Center at 625 Shadow Lane for the district's first open flu shot clinic. With temperatures in the low 30s, many people were bundled in large winter coats.

Clark County officials announced last week that they would start administering the 10,000 shots the Health District received from the Nevada State Health Division in clinics starting today.

The Health District, which reported the first two confirmed cases of influenza last Wednesday, limited the vaccine to people more at risk of the flu, including people 65 and over.

By 9 this morning, about 600 people had received their flu shots, Chandelle Frost, one of 16 Nevada State College nursing students helping to administer the shots, said.

Zona Hickstein, a registered nurse working for the Health District, estimated the crowd outside at about 1,000 people. She and other Health District employees circulated the line helping the older patients and providing wheelchairs and walkers for those in need.

Hickstein said the cold did not yet appear to be a problem, as temperature serves only to aggravate underlying illness.

The line did not appear to diminish as people continued to arrive, and at times became three to four people deep around the Health District.

The long wait did not surprise Jeanne Rush, 79, of Las Vegas, who arrived with her husband, Robert, 81, about 7:15 this morning. The clinic opened at 8.

Jeanne Rush said she and her husband received their flu shots and left within about two hours. Most of their time was spent in line as they said it only took a few minutes once they made it inside the Health District clinic.

"I think they are doing a great job," Jeanne Rush said. "I'm not surprised (the line is so long), but everyone has been pleasant and very nice."

Dolores Berlino, 69, of North Las Vegas, said she arrived about 6:15 this morning with her husband, Anthony, 74. They left about 8:30 this morning.

The couple, both wearing large winter coats, brought folding stools with them this morning.

Neither said they were surprised at the long wait.

"It was worth it," Delores Berlino said, "And as soon as you get inside, it's like 1, 2, 3. They (the nurses) all had big smiles on their faces."

Didi Mead, 81, of Las Vegas said she was surprised at the length of the line. Having arrived at 7:30, she was still waiting at 10 a.m.

"We are all waiting to get in there," Mead said. "I decided I would come early but did not think the line would be so long."

Mead, who wore only a light windbreaker, said she did not expect it to be so cold either, but she said it was worth it to get her annual flu shot.

"It is definitely worth it," Mead, a Dutch native who has lived in America for more than 40 years, said. "I'm surprised in a country like America that we would have to wait like this."

Dolores Alfonzo, a Las Vegas retiree, took a break from the line about 9:30 a.m. to sit in a sunnier area and let her husband hold her place. The couple arrived a little after 8 this morning and were prepared for the cold, she said.

"I wore a wool sweater and this," Alfonzo said, pointing to her winter coat. "But I just wanted to sit in the sun."

The flu shot clinics will be open everyday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. until the vaccine runs out, health district officials said.

The 10,000 available shots will still be reserved for individuals older than 65, or adults who have chronic medical conditions, pregnant women, residents of nursing home facilities, healthcare providers and childcare providers for children under six months.

The Centers for Disease, Control and Prevention asked healthcare providers nationwide to ration the shots after the shutdown of the British flu-shot producer Chiron left the United States 48 million doses short. Clark County had ordered all 30,000 shots of its shots from the company, one of only two companies providing the vaccine to the United States.

The shots are $20 for those not covered by Medicare Medicare, Medicaid, Secure Horizons or Senior Dimensions. Patients must provide proof that they fall into the high-risk status, but the name and phone number of the patient's doctor is sufficient.

For more information about the Health District's flu clinic, call (702) 385-4636.