About 60 parents waited in the gloomy weather outside the Fairfax County Health Department’s Falls Church District Office on Wednesday morning to have their restless infants and toddlers vaccinated against the H1N1 virus.
They were lined up for 250 doses of vaccine, all of which were spoken for 45 minutes after the clinic opened at 8 a.m.
Many parents said they felt they had to protect their children despite their concerns about the new vaccine as more children become infected with the virus, which has killed nearly two dozen residents in the Washington area.
“We’ve been thinking about it, and yesterday I called our pediatrician,” said Jonathan Kling, 38, of Arlington, who brought his 3-year-old and 15-month-old to get the vaccine. “A number of kids at the preschool had gotten [H1N1], so we felt this is something we had to do.”
Several other parents, many of whom were not able to get the vaccine at other clinics because of high demand, said the circumstances call for a proactive approach.
Across the country, schools are closing by the dozen as officials say they’re being hit so hard by swine flu that they feel shutting down for a few days is the only feasible option, the Associated Press reported.
The U.S. Education Department said at least 351 schools were closed last week — affecting 126,000 students in 19 states. This school year, about 600 schools have temporarily closed. The number of closures this year appears on target to surpass the roughly 700 schools closed in the spring when the swine flu outbreak first hit. Flu season hasn’t peaked yet, and each day more schools are closing.
Local school officials said there has been more absences this school year though it is unclear whether the absences were related to H1N1 or the flu season.
Montgomery County Public Schools spokesman Dana Tofig said 29 schools have reported an increase in absences and the system’s average absentee rate is at 8 percent — about 3 percent higher than normal.
“What we’ll see is elevated absences for two to three days, then we’ll see the numbers go back down to a more normal level,” Mr. Tofig said. “It’s one of those things that we just keep an eye on.”
Arlington schools officials said absentee rates are at 8 percent — about 5 percent higher than usual.
Officials at Children’s National Medical Center in Northwest Washington say they have seen a 30 percent to 40 percent increase in emergency care visits that officials say includes to a rise in flu activity.
Some hospitals are instituting new policies to guard against potential carriers of the virus.
Children’s hospital has restricted visitation to parents only, and hospital personnel are screening people at the door for flulike symptoms.
Inova Health Systems in Virginia has also restricted visitors, requiring them to wear masks or protective clothing in some cases.
Health officials across the region said the ongoing efforts to vaccinate persons in the five federally designated high-risk groups has gone relatively smoothly despite high demand and varying availability of the vaccine.
Prince George’s County Health Officer Donald Shell said the county’s three vaccination clinics have run well and that the health department has adapted well to unusual circumstances.
“Mass vaccination efforts change the parameters of the way we do business,” Dr. Shell said. “The mechanism is there, and once there is enough of the vaccine for everyone who requests it, there won’t be any problem.”
About 1,200 adults and children have been vaccinated in Prince George’s County, about 3,500 have received the vaccine in Montgomery County and 4,300 have been vaccinated in Fairfax County.
More than 8,000 vaccines have been given in the District.
H1N1 has killed 23 people in the Washington area — 11 in Virginia and 12 in Maryland. No D.C. residents have died from the virus, which has killed an estimated 1,000 people and hospitalized 20,000 nationwide.
A full complement of the government’s orders of H1N1 vaccine is not expected to be available until well into next year, according to model scenarios, even beyond the time when the virus is expected to peak again in the spring.
“Eventually, there will be enough vaccine for all who want to get vaccinated to get vaccinated,” is the only assurance, said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during a Tuesday news conference in Atlanta.
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