October 15, 2009

Ada County H1N1 Vaccination Clinics to Open October 24th

The Central District Health Department (CDHD) will open its two Ada County Point of Dispensing (POD) facilities Saturday October 24th to deliver H1N1 flu vaccine for Priority Groups. The PODs are large-scale vaccination clinics designed to serve those in Priority Groups first.

Priority Groups include:

• Pregnant women
• People who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age
• Healthcare and emergency medical services personnel with direct patient contact
• Children 6 months to 4 years
• Children 5 through 18 with chronic medical conditions.

“We realize there is great public interest in getting the H1N1 flu vaccine right now,” said Kimberly Link, Public Health Preparedness Program Manager at CDHD. “But we want to encourage everyone that doesn’t fall into one of these priority groups to let those more at risk get the vaccine first. Once the priority groups are well-covered, we will make the vaccine more broadly available for everyone that wants the vaccine.”

The two Ada County PODs will open at 10:00 a.m. and will remain open until 6:00 p.m., or until the current supply of vaccine is exhausted. The PODs are located at:

• The former K-Mart store - 1001 Park Center Blvd., Boise
• The former Comp USA store - 1195 N Milwaukee St., Boise

There will be no charge for the vaccine dispensed by CDHD at these facilities.

PODs in the other counties served by CDHD will open on the following days:

• Boise County on October 28th
• Valley County October 26th & 27th
• Elmore County October 30th

To speed the process of vaccination members of the Priority Groups interested in getting their flu vaccine should print and fill out the “Public Consent Form” available on the CDHD website: www.cdhd.idaho.gov. Form will also be available at the POD locations.

For more information about the vaccination process visit www.cdhd.idaho.gov or call the CDHD Flu Hotline 321-2222.