Chicago to set up free clinics for H1N1 vaccinations
Wed. October 14, 2009 12:00 AM by Chicago Breaking News
Chicago, IL -
The Chicago Health Department will set up free clinics to administer vaccines for H1N1 swine flu at six City Colleges of Chicago campuses, the city's health commissioner told a City Council committee today.
As more vaccines arrive from federal government providers, city officials will encourage residents to get inoculated at doctors' offices and pharmacies, Health Commissioner Terry Mason told the Health Committee. But he said the campus clinics will contribute to a public "safety net" for Chicagoans who can't buy the vaccines.
Chicago ultimately will get about 2 million doses of H1N1 vaccine in shipments of 50,000 to 150,000 per week, Mason said.
A first shipment of 16,000 nasal-spray vaccines was delivered to the city last week; the next shipment of around 54,000 doses -- both nasal spray and arm injections -- should arrive "any day now," Mason said.
Officials have required that those doses go primarily to groups most at-risk for contracting swine flu. The first vaccines for the general public should be available "certainly within three weeks, possibly quicker," said Tim Hadac, the department's spokesman.
"We're putting most of this vaccine out in the private sector so people can go to their regular doctors and get this vaccine just like they would any other vaccine," Mason told the panel.
Those businesses will be able to assess an "administration fee," Mason said. Area pharmacies typically set that fee between $20 and $30, Hadac said.
The city plans to set up the six clinics within the next few weeks at all City College campuses except for Harold Washington College. The vaccine will be free at the clinics and other public medical facilities, including "fast track immunization clinics" in the Englewood and Uptown areas, Mason said.
Written by: John Byrne
As more vaccines arrive from federal government providers, city officials will encourage residents to get inoculated at doctors' offices and pharmacies, Health Commissioner Terry Mason told the Health Committee. But he said the campus clinics will contribute to a public "safety net" for Chicagoans who can't buy the vaccines.
Chicago ultimately will get about 2 million doses of H1N1 vaccine in shipments of 50,000 to 150,000 per week, Mason said.
A first shipment of 16,000 nasal-spray vaccines was delivered to the city last week; the next shipment of around 54,000 doses -- both nasal spray and arm injections -- should arrive "any day now," Mason said.
Officials have required that those doses go primarily to groups most at-risk for contracting swine flu. The first vaccines for the general public should be available "certainly within three weeks, possibly quicker," said Tim Hadac, the department's spokesman.
"We're putting most of this vaccine out in the private sector so people can go to their regular doctors and get this vaccine just like they would any other vaccine," Mason told the panel.
Those businesses will be able to assess an "administration fee," Mason said. Area pharmacies typically set that fee between $20 and $30, Hadac said.
The city plans to set up the six clinics within the next few weeks at all City College campuses except for Harold Washington College. The vaccine will be free at the clinics and other public medical facilities, including "fast track immunization clinics" in the Englewood and Uptown areas, Mason said.
Written by: John Byrne
Article provided in partnership with ChicagoBreakingNews.com.