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Swine flu vaccine distributed in Gaston County
GASTONIA, N.C. -- Hundreds of people in Gaston County are finally getting the swine flu vaccine and school children will soon, too.
They all live in the same part of the county. That's because the county health department teamed up with Gaston Memorial Hospital to determine what they consider "hot spots" -- parts of the county where more people are getting sick.
With only a limited number of vaccines to give out, that's where the county's first doses are headed.
"We have experienced a lot of sickness within our school," said Glynis Brooks, the principal at Gaston County's Southwest Middle School.
That's why she is thrilled hundreds of her students will be among the first in the area to get the swine flu vaccine.
Robin Deal, who's seventh-grade son will get the vaccine on Monday, said, "They sent out a permission slip and we had to sign it and say it was OK to get the vaccine and send it back."
Gaston County's health department targeted Southwest Middle School and several others in the same area for a reason. They teamed up with the hospital to find so-called hot spots for the flu based on who's been coming to the ER.
"We took home addresses that shows where we we're seeing the most flu," said the county's health department spokeswoman Shannon Clubb.
But even though the county ordered 100,000 vaccines, there are only 2,000 to go around. So when only 1,500 school kids turned in permission slips, the rest of the vaccines were designated for high-risk residents in the same hot spots.
"I'd been wishing it would come, waiting, hoping it would be here pretty soon," said a grateful Janice Cathey after she got the call to come in and get her shot.
A reverse 911 call went out to get her and others in the area to the clinic.
"I had to listens to it twice because I heard 911. It really caught your attention," said Pam Bryson, a diabetic who was also anxious to get the vaccine.
Now that she's got it, she's relieved.
"I feel like I'll be better off," Bryson said.
Gaston County plans to hold a massive vaccination clinic at Gaston College but they don't expect to have enough vaccine to be able to do that until December.
