39 days ago
There's high demand for the H1N1 flu vaccine and with supplies low, tensions are rising.
Suburban Pediatrics in Williamsville had to cancel two swine flu vaccine clinics, the first was scheduled for Saturday, because parents have begun to threaten the nurses. They also heard some parents were going to camp out in line seven hours before the clinic started, just to get a good spot.
"We were worried for both our patients and our staff that this could become quite unruly," said Dr. Robert Laudico, managing partner of Suburban Pediatrics.
One parent told a nurse that he would hunt her down if something happened to his child, according to staff members at Suburban Pediatrics. Another parent threatened to sue a nurse and the office if anything happened to his child.
The vaccine shortage had left doctors in a horrible positions, forced to decide who among those recommended for the vaccine should get it. Without any guidelines from the federal government, doctors must prioritize among the at-risk patients.
Erie County's Health Commission said physicians must make the final call.
"We have not officially said to physicians and clinicians that they should subcategorize within the five priority groups, but I guess we would be very supportive if first of all they subcategorized to children and program women and to caregivers of children under age six months," said Dr. Anthony Billittier, Erie County Health Commissioner.
Suburban Pediatrics is working on a system to distribute the vaccine products they have available.
- Click here to read the letter sent to patients.
