Vaccine clinic held at fairgrounds today

Today, dozens of nurses, health administrators and emergency volunteers will be at the Flathead County Fairgrounds-Expo Building to administer vaccinations in a scene set to mirror relief efforts for a worst-case scenario.

“This gives people speedy access to their vaccinations,” Deputy Health Officer Hilary Hanson said. “But it’s also important training that tries to mimic an emergency where we would have to do mass vaccinations or dispensing of antibiotics.”

The Flathead City-County Health Department’s annual flu clinic will be at the fairgrounds from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. today. Pneumonia as well as the tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) immunizations will also be offered at the clinic.

Hanson said most insurance plans, Medicaid and Medicare will be accepted. Children will not be refused vaccines due to an inability to pay and there’s also state funding available for adults who need assistance paying for a vaccine.

For people physically unable to leave their vehicles, the clinic includes a drive-up vaccine service.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone 6 months or older get vaccinated against influenza, commonly referred to as the flu.

Hanson said roughly 50 health-care workers, emergency responders and volunteers will be at the fairgrounds to serve whoever attends the clinic, “meaning there’s typically no wait time.”

“It’s really staffed to make it smooth, fast and easy instead of waiting later in the season and taking hours out of your day,” she said.

Hanson said last year the clinic served about 800 people in 11 hours.

She said even if those numbers had doubled, the clinic would have still operated well.

“This is a scenario we’re preparing for that would offer help to basically every citizen of Flathead County — so tens of thousands of people,” she said.

Throughout the day, nurses, emergency responders, and county administrators will take on the roles they would be charged with in a mass health emergency. For example, the county community health coordinator will act as an incident commander.

“Aside from getting vaccinated, attending this event helps us test our capacity to change roles and react to any situation,” Hanson said. “It also gives people a chance to see what this would look like so that if an emergency did happen, they can walk into a more known situation.”

For more information, visit flatheadhealth.org or call 406-751-8110.

Reporter Katheryn Houghton may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at khoughton@dailyinterlake.com.