Public Health Practices

Planning and staffing just-in-time vaccination clinics during an emergency presents considerable logistical challenges. In Michigan, the Oakland County Health Division adapted a common online document management tool to deploy well-informed staff to points of greatest need – and keep expenses down – during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic.

Oklahoma partnered with numerous agencies to provide medical care and other services after the 2010 tornadoes.

As part of Maine's efforts to evaluate H1N1 response, the University of Southern Maine (USM) Muskie School of Public Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collaborated to conduct a evaluation of school-based vaccination clinics in Maine. USM focused on qualitative evaluation. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC), the state public health agency, chose school-based vaccination as its primary mode for distributing H1N1 vaccine.

Savvy planning and resource use helped Pennsylvania State University (PSU) make the best of the challenge of holding mass vaccination clinics. A key part of PSU's success was including upper-level nursing students as vaccinators.

During the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, Purdue University developed and tested specific floor plans for designated Points of Dispensing (POD) sites on campus. According to Ron Wright, director of Campus Emergency Preparedness and Planning, "The draft plans were used as a guideline as they were a 'work in progress' at the time of the H1N1 pandemic. The plans were adjusted as needed and will be finalized with the next revision of our Integrated Emergency Operations Plan."

After several walk-in clinics took place at the University of Minnesota, planners identified a need to regulate client flow and reduce wait times. Planners responded by quickly shifting to an online block scheduling system. The system allowed clients to register for a 15-minute block of time to receive a vaccination; within each time block, clients were vaccinated on a first-come, first-served basis. The system worked well.

When H1N1 vaccine began to trickle in to the University of Iowa (UI) campus in fall 2009, the Student Health Service relied on a familiar resource to help vaccinate students. UI health sciences students, administering vaccine under staff supervision, formed a strong clinical and logistical foundation of the H1N1 vaccination campaign.

Although homeless people were not explicitly listed as an a priority or target group during H1N1, three states that opted to prioritize them partnered with faith-based organizations to offer vaccine and other services.