The swine flew on Halloween in Champaign. Credit: Laura Weisskopf Bleill
When my friends up in the Chicago area heard I only waited 30 minutes to get my kids the H1N1 vaccine, they were in utter shock. Up north, I’ve heard, the H1N1 vaccine is as rare as a decent bagel in Champaign. And if you can find it in Chicagoland, it is the result of epic patience. One horror story I heard was about a pregnant friend who waited with her 6-year-old and 3-year-old for eight — EIGHT!!! — hours to get their shots. So I wasn’t surprised to read that the Champaign-Urbana Public Health Department was hailed in the Chicago Tribune by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control as a national model:
The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District has been preparing for a pandemic such as swine flu for five years, perfecting the process with seasonal flu drive-through clinics. The program has been so successful that officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta held it up as a model.
The first H1N1 drive-through on Nov. 21 drew 450 people the first hour, compared with 300 the entire day at a typical seasonal flu clinic. By the end, nearly 2,000 people had been vaccinated, including more than two dozen from the Chicago area.
“Almost every time I pick up the phone, it’s someone from Chicago or the suburbs asking if they can get their children vaccinated,” said Julie Pryde, the health department administrator. “We don’t have any residency requirements, so we tell them to drive on down.”
It’s good to see that for once, our friends to the north are looking downstate to see excellence at work.
Did you take your kids through the drive-through flu clinic? What did you think?
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We also had a very smooth drive-thru. Something to be said for the small university towns:) -H
We physically went into the building to vaccinate our children. My husband took our son when they began the vaccines for preschool children. I returned the next day with my daughter for hers and they offered me one as well. Four weeks later, we returned for their second round and my husband was vaccinated.
I couldn’t have been happier with the C-U Public Health Department for the way that they prioritized children and high risk people. Information about the clinics was readily available on their website and staff was very pleasant when I called to ask questions.
Not to mention that they physically went to schools to vaccinate children whose parents wanted it for them. (Though we chose to take ours to the clinic to get it done sooner.)
Lobby entertainment was nice (the Germ Busters and children could brush a puppet’s teeth and then pick out a tooth brush to take home).
Our wait times were relatively short–in and out in under 40 minutes–at what I consider peak times: after school.
I would definitely return to them in the future for the ease of vaccinating my children.
Good job!
Not a CUPHD story, but a little over a month ago, my CU health care provider called ME to say that H1N1 shots were available, and would I like to set up a vaccination? Granted I’m preggo, so in a priority group, but still….. THAT’S stellar service! And kudos to Public Health for this wonderful holiday gift they’ve bestowed on us.
I was very impressed with the public health clinic. I went into the building on the first day the shots were offered and we did have to wait an hour and it was a bit chaotic. However, they were extremely organized and orderly. I am from the south and I would never have taken my kids to any sort of free health clinic there. I am continually impressed with the public services here.