Oct 28, 2009 6:26 pm US/Central
High-Risk Kane Co. Residents Didn't Get Flu Shots
People Considered High Risk For H1N1 Said They Were Not Given Priority For Vaccine
ELGIN, Ill. (CBS) ―
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In this photo illustration the H1N1 swine flu vaccination Pandemic, the intensifier and a syringe are seen at Virchow clinical center on Oct. 26, 2009 in Berlin, Germany.
Andreas Rentz/Getty Images
Officials knew the H1N1 flu outbreak would hit schools hard, but even so, the numbers are staggering. The U.S. Department of Education said that by last Friday, 351 schools nationwide were closed because so many kids reported flu-like symptoms.
It's unclear how many students actually had the H1N1 flu virus, but with that many schools shut down, 125,000 kids could not go to class.
With numbers like that, many parents have been doing anything they can to get their children vaccinated. But two parents in Kane County said that despite promises of vaccinating at-risk residents first, workers at one clinic did just the opposite.
Did that mean those on the priority list were left out? CBS 2's Dana Kozlov reports that was the case for some people in Kane County, even after waiting for hours in the rain and telling workers at one clinic that they were supposed to be at the top of the list.
Debbie Panfil was supposed to get her H1N1 vaccine this week. The mother of three is five months pregnant and considered a high-risk vaccination priority. But after waiting in line with her kids for two hours at a Kane County clinic this week, she was turned away.
"I said I have a question. I said 'I'm pregnant, is there, like, a priority line for that?' He's like 'Ma'am, it's first come, first served. If you're in line and you're before 4,000, you'll get a shot, if not, I don't know what to tell you.'"
Shelly Nguyen got her vaccine, even though she tried to refuse it.
"When they handed me a braclet, I said, 'Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't get one, I'm not in a high-risk group,' and they said 'No, we're giving them to everyone.'"
The experience left them both frustrated and angry -- especially because the Kane County clinics were clearly advertised as being for priority groups only. They said the one at Larkin High School was anything but.
"And I had the pamphlet and I said 'But it says pregnant women, then it says kids, then it says daycare facility people, than it says anybody more (susceptible) to the flu.' He's like, 'Ma'am, it's a first come, first served basis, I can't move you to the front of the line just because you're pregnant.'"
People who waited at Larkin High School on Monday night said dozens if not hundreds of people were turned away. On Wednesday afternoon, the Kane County Health Department put out a notice stating all its future clinics have been cancelled.
"Everybody got one and now they're out and it shouldn't have been that way," Nguyen said.
Paul Kuehnert, Executive Director of the Kane County Health Department, said, "If it did happen, I'm very sorry that it did happen."
Kuehnert said his staff relies on the honor system when doling out the vaccines. He said clinic workers can't ask detailed health questions.
"So if someone presents themselves as high-risk, then we take their word for it," Kuehnert said.
So how are Kane County residents now supposed to get an H1N1 vaccine? Kuehnert said the county will eventually hold small, by-appointment-only clinics when they get more supply.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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