Posted on Thu, Oct. 22, 2009

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County will lease mall space for H1N1 clinic

BY DEB GRUVER

The Wichita Eagle

Sedgwick County will begin offering a free mass H1N1 vaccination clinic at the Wichita Mall on Harry Street sometime next week.

Commissioners on Wednesday approved leasing temporary space in the mall to provide a place to vaccinate those who are at high risk for the flu, especially health care workers and pregnant women. As more vaccine becomes available, the health department will reach out to others who want to receive the vaccine.

Health director Claudia Blackburn said the health department doesn't have room to accommodate a mass-scale vaccination.

Commissioners approved leasing 7,211 square feet for at least four months. The cost will be $4,800 a month, including utilities but not janitorial services, which will cost $360 a month. The lease will continue month to month after the first four months if needed.

The money for the vaccination site will come from a grant from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Blackburn didn't know Wednesday what day next week the clinic would open.

The hours for the Wichita Mall clinic will be 2 to 7 p.m. weekdays and Saturday until the department runs out of vaccine. There will be no cost for vaccinations.

Private providers can only charge an administrative fee for providing a vaccination since the vaccine and supplies are free.

The county began receiving H1N1 vaccines Oct. 9. Those went straight to hospitals. The second shipment came Oct. 20 and went to health care providers.

The third shipment of vaccine should arrive Friday or next Monday, Blackburn said.

"We will continue to focus on health care workers and pregnant women in the clinic," she said. "We will begin vaccinating elementary school children at school-located clinics, if we have enough vaccine. We will also support school-located clinics at five schools that educate primarily special-needs children."

Blackburn said absenteeism at schools mostly serving special-needs children has been higher than that of other schools.

Children too young to be in school can be vaccinated through their health care provider or in the H1N1 clinic eventually, when there is enough vaccine, Blackburn said.

"We should receive vaccine in varying amounts on a weekly basis until our entire population who wants to be vaccinated has received it," she said.

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