Regional Health Department Has Just 200 Seasonal Flu Shots Left

The scene Wednesday night at Garwood Borough Hall where people outnumbered available flu shots from a Westfield Regional Health Department clinic is not uncommon.

Health Officer Megan Avallone said this year the regional department, which serves a number of towns, including Fanwood, received less than needed doses of the vaccine for the seasonal flu. She said she had to base her order last February based on the amount usually needed in past years and did this before the outbreak of H1N1 flu. She said the department currently has 200 doses left to serve residents in the multiple communities the department works in.

"They are not producing the vaccine anymore," she said." All of the drug companies were forced by the federal government to stop with seasonal flu and produce H1N1 vaccine."

The regional health department serves Westfield, Fanwood, Summit, Garwood, Mountainside, Springfield and Roselle Park.

She said private doctors who have been running low on the vaccine are sending people to flu shot clinics being sponsored by public health agencies. She said most of the clinics she has been sponsored have seen a large number of people attending, usually more than there are vaccines.

Avallone said there were approximately 130 vaccines at the Garwood clinic and while she did not have an exact count of the number of people who showed up, one attendee approximated the attendance at around 300. The line stretched from the entrance of Borough Hall at the intersection of Center Street and South Avenue, around the building, and then down South Avenue headed towards the Westfield town line.

"We were short when we opened the doors," Avallone said of the scene Wednesday in Garwood. "This year there is more interest in getting the vaccine because of the attention flu has been getting."

The department's next flu shot clinic is being held Saturday, Nov. 14, from 9 to 11:30 a.m. in the cafeteria of Roselle Park High School, 185 West Webster Ave.

Scotch Plains' next flu clinic is this Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at the municipal building.

Scotch Plains is serviced by the Rahway Regional Health Department. The director there is Richard Proctor. Calls to him have been put in, but are not yet returned. Stay turned to Patch for more information as it becomes available.