College Students Come Home To Get H1N1 Vaccination

By Jeffrey Smith, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- Hundreds of people showed up Saturday to an east Tulsa clinic to get the H1N1 vaccine.

Many of those people say they are in shock over the news that seven more Oklahomans died last week from H1N1. College students are coming home for the chance to stay protected against the virus.

“I have a daughter who has had lifelong chronic asthma, who is also a student at OSU. We've tried to locate it over there, and have been unsuccessful, but she's at home this weekend,” said Rita Snellgrove.

“I'm like a shot pro and that was mild, that was not bad at all,” said Olivia Snellgrove, an OSU sophomore who received an H1N1 vaccination.

Olivia Snellgrove says it’s a tale of two cities between Stillwater and Tulsa.

“It’s weird, there's a lot of people with swine flu, there's a lot of people with regular flu, and people with just bacterial infections and stuff. It just seems like everybody's sick,” said Olivia. “So yeah, there's a lot of sick people, and just not a lot of vaccines. It’s unfortunate.

Hundreds of people went to PicMed of Oklahoma to get vaccinated and many are college students, who say they felt coming home is the best bet.

“Certainly Tulsa and Oklahoma City are our two most populated areas, so we're really, I think, they're focusing the vaccine in those areas. But yeah, we've heard of quite a few families coming home for the weekend from college to get their vaccines,” said Candace Jones, PicMed of Oklahoma.

The Tulsa Health Department will offer free walk-in clinics on Tuesday, November 17th and Wednesday, November 18th at the Expo Exchange Center (gate 12) in Tulsa from 2:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. The walk-in clinic will be available to the following groups:

• Children, adolescents and young adults ages 6 months - 24 years

• Pregnant women

• All healthcare and emergency medical services personnel

• Any person who lives with, or provides care for, infants less than 6 months of age

• Persons 25-64 years of age with chronic medical conditions that put them at higher risk for influenza-related complications

For more information you can call the flu hotline at 918-595-4500 or call the Tulsa Health Department at 918-582-9355 Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

11/12/2009  Related Story: Twenty-Seven Oklahomans Have Died From The H1N1 Virus