Nov 11, 2009 4 min read

The long-awaited arrival of H1N1 flu shots to Fort Myers Beach will have to wait longer. After 1,000 doses of the vaccine supply was delivered to the Beach on Wednesday, Nov. 4, the Lee County Health Department apparently requested them back.

The Lee Health Department Flu Line stated that the vaccine is slowly arriving in Lee County and clinics will be set up in ‘priority groups’ as soon as possible. After speaking with Lee County Health Department Director Dr. Judith Hartner, department Public Information Officer Jennifer James-Mesloh said the reason for the give-and-take scenario was that the Beach had requested only multi-dose vials.

“If you only have one presentation of the vaccine, then you can’t service all of the people that come, and it would limit the women and the children to get that vaccine,” she said. “Because we knew what the type of doses the Beach received wasn’t far-reaching enough for all the priority groups, we decided a better use of the vaccine at the moment was to redistribute it to private providers in the community that are specifically focusing on priority groups. The Beach will wind up with doses, but it will be at a later date.”

James-Mesloh said the quantity, the time frame of doses and all planning assumptions have significantly changed from when the process started. Only two-thirds of what was originally expected has been received.

The Fort Myers Beach Fire Department in conjunction with the Community Emergency Response Team, a voluntary affiliate of FMB Fire, was preparing to set up a H1N1 vaccination clinic under a veranda at Chapel by the Sea Presbyterian Church at 100 Chapel St. on Monday, Nov. 16, and Tuesday, Nov. 17. The clinic would have been open from 1-7 p.m. with 500 doses of the vaccine available on each day.

CERT Team Leader Al Agathen was excited about running the program, but dispirited after hearing the news. He was told by Dr. Hartner Wednesday evening that nothing was guaranteed until after the Thanksgiving holiday.

“It’s very unfortunate because I was so elated that all the pieces were coming together,” said Agathen. “I told her we were going to have to put the clinic on hold because we’re not sure if we were going to do it after Thanksgiving. It’s very disheartening for me because I put over 40 hours into this process.”

According to Agathen, 1,000 doses of the vaccine supply was delivered to his office by UPS. Hours later, the supply was picked up.

Agathen is no stranger to vaccination clinics. He volunteered at Fort Myers High School on Monday, Nov. 2, before lending his services at Estero High on Tuesday, Nov. 3 and East Lehigh the following day.

“There was a lot of people who showed up early at the clinics,” he said. “We had lines of 200-300 people. After we processed them, which took some time, it was a trickling effect.”

Agathen’s experience will help the set-up of a clinic on the Beach if and when it happens. He had plans to have people fill out forms while waiting in line and four tables (one for form checkers, a second for medical screeners, a third for the inoculators and a fourth for vaccine refilling) beyond that.

Plans were also in place to have Lee County Sheriff’s Department provide the clinic with on-scene deputies; the Beach Fire Department to supply paramedic squads and off-duty fire fighters to assist at the clinic. On-duty fire fighters/paramedics would have also assisted subject to call.

The H1N1 clinics opened on Thursday, Oct. 26, at two local high schools.

Before being suspended, FMB Fire Chief Mike Becker was organizing the Beach clinic with Agathen.

“We are going to be able to administer and inoculate the majority of our high risk groups down on Fort Myers Beach,” Becker said at the time. “It looks like it will happen through our paramedics and our volunteer group CERT.

There should be enough for everyone who wants to be inoculated.”