1st hand account of Burlington Flu Clinic, 11/14/2009
Took my 14 month old son to the clinic held at Burlington, MA’s high school today. I got there a half hour before it opened, after sitting in a half hour of traffic on Rt 3A to get there. Police blocked the driveway, sending people to park at Simmons Park, about a half mile up the street.
I parked there and took my son in his stroller back through the pouring rain. When I got about half way up the school driveway, the woman whom I parked next to was coming back towards me with her infant. She said there wasn’t enough vaccine of either seasonal or H1N1 for the number of people in line. She said 3800 people were already there, pushing and shoving. (I had heard that there were 500 H1N1, and 1500 season vaccinations planned for the clinic.)
The woman said there was little organization to the line. Another woman walking away was told she could stay but it would be like playing the lottery.
All in all: a mess. Why hadn’t they told the cops at the top of the driveway that the clinic was full? I told a few people on my way out that the clinic was full. A man coming the other way with two children told me “My wife’s been in line since 7am.”
(Please note none of my info was obtained from any official, but through people leaving the clinic.) [Also, please forgive any iPhone-induced typos.]
3 weeks ago