H1N1 screening has some hitches

Falgun Trivedi knew the Southern Nevada Health District would be more strict with its H1N1 vaccination screenings than before.

But he never thought the new approach would affect his 9-year-old son, Amit.

That's why he said he was baffled when his son was initially refused an H1N1 flu shot at a public clinic Saturday, despite being in one of the health district's priority groups.

It was only after he and his wife, Nita, argued their son's case for several minutes that the nurse administering the vaccine relented, and Amit received his shot, he said.

"We said, 'Our son has asthma,'" Trivedi said. "But for some reason, they didn't believe us. We have no idea why, but they weren't going to give him a shot."

The health district had two of its largest public clinics for high-risk groups for the swine flu on Saturday, vaccinating 3,611 each at its main location at 625 Shadow Lane and at its Henderson location at 520 E. Lake Mead Parkway. It was the district's largest turnout to date.

Those in the priority groups include pregnant women, caregivers of children younger than 6 months, medical personnel who deal directly with patients, and children and young adults between the ages of 6 months and 24 years, including the subgroup of people 18 and under with chronic medical conditions.

Pregnant women and those with chronic medical conditions can't receive FluMist, the inhaled vaccine that is safe only for healthy people ages 2 to 49.

The screening policy was put into place because many people had ignored the district's guidelines in previous clinics, officials said, and the number of injectable vaccine doses dwindled to about 6,000. The number of doses for FluMist remained about 20,000. Between Oct. 23 and Saturday, only the FluMist was offered by the district, and only FluMist will be offered in clinics this week.

The health district wanted to avoid a situation where certain high-risk groups would be unable to get vaccinated because of a shortage, said spokeswoman Jennifer Sizemore.

Many people who weren't in priority groups were turned away Saturday. Sizemore said that included a group of elderly people who were among the first in line at the Shadow Lane clinic.

"They weren't happy about it," Sizemore said. "It's a confusing issue, but we're going by the guidelines."

Not everyone who was ineligible was sent home, however.

Kent Robinson, 20, wanted the injectable vaccine because of his asthma, and knew he wasn't eligible for the FluMist, he said.

He wasn't aware the guidelines stated that the only people with medical conditions being vaccinated Saturday were those 18 and under. "I just wanted to get it out of the way," Robinson said. "My girlfriend is worried about it (H1N1) more than me."

No one at the district told him he wasn't eligible, he said.

He specified his medical condition on an administration form, got his shot, and was on his way, he said.

"It went pretty smoothly."

Sizemore said that anyone in Robinson's situation should not have been vaccinated.

She also wasn't sure why an employee raised an issue with Trivedi's son.

The health district doesn't ask people to prove their medical conditions, she said.

"That surprises me," she said. "It could have been an individual nurse or a screener. I can't really comment on that."

Trivedi said he was aware that Amit qualified for the injectable vaccine because he was between the age of 2 to 18 with a medical condition.

While in line, Trivedi was told by three different health district employees that his son qualified for the shot, he said.

They weren't trying to dupe the health district -- neither he nor his wife asked to receive a flu shot when informed they were ineligible, he said.

"It's not acceptable," said Trivedi, who waited in line for more than three hours. "We are honest people. I just hope it doesn't happen to anyone else."

Contact reporter Mike Blasky at mblasky @reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283.