Twitter
Facebook
The first shipment of the H1N1 vaccine has arrived and the 86th Medical Group began administering the vaccines to Tier I Ramstein servicemembers and dependents.
The vaccine, which arrived at Ramstein last week, is being administered to health-care workers, deploying servicemembers, the active-duty population and high-risk individuals.
First sergeants will be distributing specific dates and time for active-duty members. The next mass drives will be 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and Monday.
Setting up a deployment-line-like processing system in the southside gym annex, 86th MDG personnel are administering the vaccine to as many Ramstein members as possible using the Food and Drug Administration’s tier system.
“The deployment-line-style pro-cessing system we set up here is the result of planning to create a central processing center where we can handle giving immunizations for both the seasonal and H1N1 flu virus. We have already seen more than 600 Tier I patients,” said Staff Sgt. Amanda Will, 86th MDG technician. “We are hoping to administer the vaccine to more than 8,000 Tier I members this week.”
Who is defined as high risk?
Anyone who is pregnant or suffers from blood disorders, chronic pulmonary conditions such as asthma, cardiovascular conditions (except for hypertension or renal, cognitive, hepatic, neurologic and neuromuscular conditions), metabolic disorders and immune-compromising conditions like cancer or HIV.
All others who do not fit into the Tier I category are asked to remain watchful for the dates, times and locations that the vaccine will be available.
“Our goal is to get the H1N1 vaccine out to everyone as soon as possible,” said Lt. Col. Elizabeth Decker, 86th MDG chief nurse. “As soon as the immunization becomes available for Tier II members, we will be advertising it to the base populace for distribution.”
Until Tier II personnel receive their H1N1 vaccination, they should remember the best way to avoid contracting the virus is covering their nose and mouth when sneezing and coughing to limit the spread of germs. Avoiding contact with individuals who are sick and practicing good personal hygiene, like frequent hand washing, are also recommended.
If people have cold and influenza-like symptoms, they should communicate with their work supervisor and stay home to avoid contact with others. This may include coordinating friends and family to drop off food and supplies to limit public exposure.
If people are caring for or housing individuals who are sick, they should wear disposable gloves when handling trash or dirty linens, frequently empty the trash, keep windows open to ensure good ventilation, wipe down surfaces frequently with a household disinfectant, use disposable items such as paper towels and cleaning wipes whenever possible, clean utensils and personal items separately with antibacterial soap and water, and avoid “hugging” laundry and other used items to prevent contamination.
If close contact (within 6 feet) is unavoidable, they should consider wearing a face mask. Face masks can be purchased at hardware, home supply and pharmacy stores.
Monitoring individuals for influenza complications by comm-unicating with them often is also recommended. From a prevention standpoint, a phone call is safer than a visit. Those at high risk for influenza-associated complications should not be the designated caretaker, if possible.
If you think you may have been exposed to someone with H1N1, call your health-care provider at 479-2273. If you have flu-like symptoms or are positive with H1N1 and have persisting symptoms, call your health-care provider for further advice. As with any respiratory infection, symptomatic people are expected to wear a face mask in medical facilities to prevent spreading the infection to others.
Face masks are available in all KMC clinics for use during clinic visits.
For more information about disease prevention or for updates, visit the CDC Web site at www.cdc.gov.
