Community Corner

Health Offices Awaiting H1N1 Federal Funds

The departments are both currently on track to receive money for vaccinations.

The local health departments that serve Scotch Plains and Fanwood are both on track to receive federal money for H1N1 flu vaccinations this fall.

The Westfield Regional Health Department, which serves the borough of Fanwood, is supposed to receve $110,000 in federal funds to cover the costs of a H1N1 flu vaccination program this fall.

Health Officer Megan Avallone said the federal government has not released the funds yet and she is not sure when the monies will become available to her department. She explained that while she has been informed of the amount, it will not be confirmed until the check is in hand.

Find out what's happening in Scotch Plains-Fanwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The township of Scotch Plains is earmarked for about $22,000 in federal funds. Rahway Health Department Director Richard Proctor told Patch that the township's funds are a part of the department's larger award of $97,849.

Proctor said he's not yet sure when the department will receive the funds, or precisely what he's allowed to use them for.

Find out what's happening in Scotch Plains-Fanwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"We've only received the very vaguest of guidance so far," he said. "I expect guidance documents will come from the state in the next week or so."

How many clinics the health department will hold will depend on the amount of vaccines they get, Proctor added.

Avallone said the funds at the Westfield department will cover the entire program including the cost of the vaccine, advertising materials and paying for health workers to administer the vaccines at clinics. The H1N1 clinics will cover the entire eight town region the department services, including Westfield, Summit, Fanwood, Springfield, Mountainside, Garwood, New Providence and Roselle Park.

Avallone said her agency is in a holding pattern until the funds are released. Until the money is in hand, she cannot a schedule for H1N1 clinics because she will not know how many she can hold.

"It puts us in an awkward position since it comes from the federal government," she said.

She said the last reports said the money and vaccine should be in the hands of local health officials later this fall, but an exact date has not been communicated to local health agencies. To handle the holding pattern, Avallone has been putting plans into place for the H1N1 clinics, including obtaining venues to distribute the vaccine and having her vaccine team on stand-by for when she gets the official word from the federal government.

"Right now we are planning to round up the troops," Avallone said.


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