Article from The MetroWest Daily News by Michael Morton/Daily News staff

FRAMINGHAM —

Framingham plans to kick off its fall influenza vaccinations with a free drive-through clinic for seasonal strains, adding swine flu doses at later inoculation sessions when supplies become available.

The drive-through clinic is scheduled for Oct. 3 at the Department of Public Works garage on Western Avenue , Public Health Nurse Kitty Mahoney announced during a planning session with town officials yesterday in the Memorial Building . The meeting drew a handful of health staff from neighboring communities.

The season's debut clinic will allow residents to remain in their cars as they pull into the garage's bays to receive their vaccination. It will be followed by clinics tentatively scheduled for five additional Saturdays at several of the town's public schools.

Mahoney said the town decided not to give vaccine during school hours because of the need for parental permission slips to be signed and returned.

"Just never happens," she said. Should they choose to participate, parents must accompany children to Saturday clinics.

Mahoney said Framingham received its seasonal flu doses yesterday, but is waiting for the swine flu, or H1N1, vaccine to be tested and distributed, with a mid-October delivery date expected.

While H1N1 has so far proven no more virulent than seasonal strains, a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that children appear 14 times more likely to become infected than adults 60 and older, the group that normally faces the highest influenza risk.

Given the shift and the phased delivery of H1N1 vaccine, the CDC has recommended groups for prioritization: pregnant women, people caring for infants, children and young adults ages 6 months to 24 years, adults ages 25 to 64 with chronic medical conditions and health and emergency workers.

Although an H1N1 vaccination is not required, agencies at all levels of government are recommending them for high-risk groups, with local school and health officials working to make sure students and others have access.

While an adequate supply of H1N1 vaccine is eventually expected, police officers at the meeting asked what documents would be required for the early rounds and whether security was needed for any residents growing angry when turned away.

Florence Goliger, a member of the Framingham Medical Reserve Corps' executive committee, acknowledged the scenario was possible and contrasted it with past seasonal flu clinics.

"We've never had that experience at flu clinics before," she said.

Health officials are anticipating that both the seasonal and H1N1 vaccines will be available as a shot or spray, with similar application guidelines. Existing rules for the seasonal spray state that it can only be given to those ages 2 to 49 who do not have allergies or respiratory problems.

H1N1 doses will likely be administered in two doses several weeks apart, much like giving children between 6 months and 9 years old the first seasonal flu vaccination of their lives.

While a seasonal dose and an H1N1 dose can be given during the same visit, residents can only get the spray version once at a clinic. That means getting a shot in each arm, or getting one shot and one sprayed dose if seasonal and H1N1 coverage is desired.

Mahoney warned those at the meeting that information on H1N1 was constantly evolving, and cautioned that health officials don't have a sense of the demand for the vaccine or how parents will respond.

While multiple studies have shown no link between autism and the mercury-containing compound Thermisol sometimes used as a vaccine preservative, worries persist. Thermisol is not found in flu vaccine sprays of single-dose vials, only in trace amounts in multi-dose vials, Mahoney said.

While a fraction of patients who received an earlier version of the H1N1 vaccine in the 1960s developed a neurological disorder known as Guillain-Barre syndrome, Mahoney said the condition does not appear to be a side effect of the newer formula being tested.

"All of the studies so far have been very promising," she said after the meeting.

(Michael Morton can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 508-626-4338.)