Font Resize"I didn't even feel it," he said after the injection.
Sam, the son of York Mayor John Brenner, would have eventually received the vaccination through his school, his father said. But Sam and two health bureau officials took the injection at a news conference in an attempt to assure the public of the vaccine's safety.
"We do feel there's a lot of inaccurate information out there," said Dr. David Hawk, medical director of the health bureau.
The vaccine is slowly beginning to be made available in York County. Students at the city's Ferguson Elementary were the first to receive it on Thursday.
The York Adams Metropolitan Medical Response System will deliver the vaccine to eligible students at some schools in the Dallastown Area and Northern school districts in the next few weeks.
Dallastown Supt. Stewart Weinberg said about 60 percent of the students eligible there submitted consent forms to receive it, and the district isn't accepting any more. Northern Supt. Linda Lemmon said a little more than half of the students have returned forms there.
Nancy Levens, one of the owners of Small Steps Day Care School in York Township, said parents seem evenly split on whether to get the vaccine.
Some are "gung-ho," she said. Others have said they don't think the vaccine has been around long enough for them to know its real side effects.
"It's
That's what Denise Sekeres, director of U-GRO in Spring Garden Township, is hearing, too. Parents of children who are too young for school are asking where they can get it, she said.
Tina Sigafoose, of Sigafoose Chiropractic Life Center in Thomasville, is urging people to gather information on the vaccine. She believes there could be serious side effects from the vaccine, which she called "fast-tracked" and not properly tested.
"Where did this vaccine come from so fast?" she said.
Her 2-year-old son has never had any vaccines, and he won't be getting this one, she said.
"This flu is far less than the seasonal flu," she said.
Dr. Janet Strausbaugh, pediatrician with Pediatric Care of York, said her office is getting phone calls from parents who want to know what to do, and she's recommending they get the vaccine for their children.
"The vaccine is very safe," she said. "People should not be at all concerned about it."
There can be side effects, such as pain at the injection site or mild fever, she said, but the risks associated with the vaccine are "very mild" compared with the risks of actually getting the H1N1 virus.
Strausbaugh said the vaccine was tested on adults, children and pregnant women before it was released.
"They tested it on thousands of other people ... before they thought about giving it to pregnant women," she said, noting they are the group with the highest risk.
Hawk echoed the sentiments.
The H1N1 vaccine was produced in the same manner the seasonal flu vaccine is, he said. All vaccines go through safety trials, he said, and there's a system -- the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System -- to track any reactions that occur, "like an early warning system."
"No corners are being cut," he said.
Lisa Ream, president of the Parent Teacher Organization at Leaders Heights Elementary, said she hasn't heard from many parents concerned about the safety of the vaccine, but a few have wondered if their children should get the vaccine if they've already had some form of the flu.
Hawk said that unless someone was diagnosed with a confirmed case of H1N1 -- there have been 127 confirmed in York County, according to the state health department -- they should still get the vaccine. Even if someone had the H1N1 virus and gets the vaccine, it won't hurt, he said.
About half of the students eligible at York's Ferguson Elementary received the vaccine.
Hawk said half is actually pretty good considering that only about 15 to 20 percent of people recommended to get the seasonal flu shot get it.
Some might not have gotten the H1N1 vaccine out of concern, he said, but some parents might have never seen the consent form or prefer to wait until they can get the vaccine at their physician's office.
The city health bureau has been able to offer the vaccine to pregnant women, Hawk said, and he hopes to soon be able to get the vaccine to others in high risk groups.
"As quickly as we get the vaccine, we want to get it out in people's arms," he said.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
York City Bureau of Health
849-2299
York Adams Metropolitan Medical Response System
