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Why are the DC clinics empty?
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Anonymous
| I had DD vaccinated a couple of weeks ago and we were in and out in 10 minutes. I went for myself today and no lines at all. Why aren't people coming to the DC clinics? Are people nervous about the neighborhoods? Are people from lower income levels less likely to vaccinate? Just curious. |
Anonymous
| We waited almost 2 hours at Cardozo today, so wouldn't call that empty. That said, it was efficient and well-run. Kudos to DC! |
Anonymous
| I think that SE and NE are not showing great urgency about getting vaccinated as a whole. This is my informal observation based on my experience at one of the clinics in NE. Most of the people I talked to were from other parts of the city or from MD and VA. I think the city should look at more outreach and promotion if this turns out to be statistically true. |
Anonymous
| Is D.C only vaccinating high risk groups? |
Anonymous
| Gosh, if they end up opening them up to all it is going to be quite difficult to get our kids dose 2, isn't it? Yikes. |
Anonymous
They should prioritize kids who need a 2nd shot. |
Anonymous
It's as if the clinics in lower income neighborhoods are the most available to us because there's no immediately local demand. I'm shocked. These are free and right there in front of them. Maybe there's some suspicion of government-sponsored injections- I could see that. Maybe information travels more slowly in communities with less intensive internet use. Maybe we're just more on the ball. From a public health perspective, the painfully limited lower income demand for these vaccinations is troubling. |
Anonymous
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I went to Eliot Hines this morning. I wouldn't say that the clinic was empty, just that there was no line. They had at least 20 nurses stations set up to vaccinate people. At 10 AM, when I looked, most of the nurses were busy with someone, maybe one or two was free, and there was no line.
The nurses I and my kdis had had a nametag that made me think she wasn't a DC employee but someone hired specifically for this clinic. I had previously tried to get a vaccination at a Prince George's county clinic and the line was unbelievable, on a Thursday morning. My husband had gone earlier and said he saw just four nurses statios set up. I'm wondering if places like PG County just tried to vaccinate with staff they had on hand, but DC went ahead and hired extra nurses to handle to workload? I'd say that the clinic I went to overhired a little bit for demand, but only just a bit -- ideally everyone should be able to go to one of these clinics and be in and out with 15 minutes wait of less. |
Anonymous
| Totally jealous of those with no wait - I waited 3.5 HOURS with my infant son at night (way past his bedtime) because I thought that was just the way it was! DS' care provider lives near some of these clinics, and she didn't see the urgency or need to get the shot immediately. Maybe those of us from other neighborhoods are just a little more neurotic! |
Anonymous
| We might be more conected to other parents via internet -- I know if I hadn't read online that there were clinics going on, I probably woulnd't have known... would just have waited until my doctor's office said they had somen, or until the kids' schools finally got around do doing them. |
Anonymous
| The reason I am not there is b/c I am sick with h1n1! Same with DD. A lot of us unfortunatly couldn't get the vaccine in time.... |
Anonymous
Yes, I've been wondering about how the word is getting out in low-incom neighborhoods. I've learned everything I know from the Washington Post, DCUM, and Moms on the Hill listserve. |
Anonymous
I believe DH, DD, and I had the flu (I'm assumming H1N1) and the ped told us that he's certain that our DS has it now. I asked about the need to get the vaccine now and he stated that it's not hurry and not to wait in a long line for it since we probably all had it and will have immunity. I then said, well great - I don't have to get us the vax then and he said no urgency, but it won't do harm to get it! I'm a little confused. I asked if he could test DS to confirm it was H1N1 and he said no b/c the test is not very accurate - only picks up 6 out of 10 cases so the test will miss 4 out of 10. Since there is no way to tell 100% if we had or he has H1N1 then we should still get the shot. In the next breath I said I had heard that any flu going around now is most certainly H1N1 b/c the seasonal flu strains haven't hit yet. If you thought your whole family already had the H1N1 would you still try to get vax'd? They have the vax available at my work next week so I have to make a decision on me very soon and my kids eventually. |
Anonymous
| I think they would have doubled the attendance if they had considered something like those flashing traffic signs out on main streets near the place, like East Capitol Street with a big arrow. They had those in our county and I suspect a number of people saw the sign and just turned in for the vaccination. At the clinic I saw in DC today there wasn't a single sign outside the building telling folks where to go--in fact the nurses told me they got lost trying to find the door (which was around back). |
Anonymous
In general, it is the higher income levels that have the worse vaccine compliance, due to rich people who think vaccines are either dangerous or unnecessary. However, in this case I think that it's different because families must go out of their way to seek out the vaccine, whereas most childhood immunizations are done during regular physicals and require no extra effort or time off work. |