Thousands in Los Angeles receive H1N1 vaccine

Patricia Nazario/KPCC
Hilda Yepiz is an office assistant at the Dental Office Tarzana. She took her whole family to get the H1N1 vaccine last Friday at L.A. County's free clinic at Encino's Balboa Sports Complex. She says there were no side effects.
Oct. 26, 2009 | Patricia Nazario | KPCC

Los Angeles County's H1N1 clinics are the county's biggest public health effort ever. Public health officials are scheduled to run 17 sites this week alone, including ones in Acton, Pomona, Downey and Compton.

Hundreds of people waited in line at the Industry Hills Expo Center in the City of Industry on Monday for their H1N1 inoculations. Los Angeles County Public Health officials hope to treat about 4,000 people every day.

Patricia Nazario/KPCC
Dr. Alan Howard took his whole staff to get the H1N1 inoculation at L.A. County's public clinic last Friday in Encino. He says he suffered a slight headache for a few hours after he received the shot.

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The Center for Disease Control warns the vaccine and nasal spray could cause some minor side effects: soreness, running nose, headaches, among others.

Hilda Yepiz is a dental office assistant at the Dental Office Tarzana. She took her whole family to the county’s free clinic last Friday at Encino’s Balboa Sports Center. "It was my mom, my sister, my daughter, my son, and my niece and nephew," said Yepiz.

"So, did you guys get the shot or the nasal spray?" asked Patricia Nazario.

"We got the shot," said Yepiz. "Both of my children have asthma, so they weren't eligible to get the nasal spray, so I went ahead with the shot."

"Show me on your arm, or where did they give you the shot?" said Nazario.

"Here, somewhere," said Yepiz.

"I don't even see a point," said Nazario.

"No," she said. "It was seamless."

"Have you heard about what some of the side effects would be of the shot?" asked Nazario.

"I did, but I wasn’t worried about them," said Yepiz.

"And what about your kids?" asked Nazario. "How old are they?"

"My daughter’s 17," she said. "My son’s 14. They were fine. I think they were just a little tender, but that was all."

"How old is your mom?" asked Nazario.

"My mom is 54," said Yepiz. "She was fine.”

Fifty-five-year-old Alan Howard is a dentist at the Dental Office Tarzana. He's Hilda Yepiz's boss. He also got the H1N1 vaccine last Friday. But he said he suffered some side effects.

“I had a headache on the same day," said Howard. "Just a little headache that you walk around with.”

“If you look at the literature, those side effects are possible, but not common," said Dr. Jonathan Fielding. He's L.A. County's chief public health officer. He said the most common side effect is some soreness near the area of the shot. Other potential problems include vomiting, fever, or runny noses.

The federal Centers for Disease Control cautions the H1N1 vaccination is not for everybody. People with severe allergies to chick eggs or who’ve had a severe reaction to a past influenza shot should see a doctor before going for this one.

Darrell.Lowery.Sr
3 weeks, 1 day ago

only problem with the vaccine in my family was alittle burning or aching at sight injection..son had a little stomach ache..i have had a headache for 2 days that is starting to subside..the benefits outway the risks..I have COPD and half of the left lung removed fro cancer which is gone...so the side affects are mild....take the regular flu shot and pnumonia shot if your not afraid of them i spaced the shots out about 3 weeks apart..everything has gone fine

steve hoffman
3 weeks ago

they are the best, the office is amazing, they care so much for their patients. I just saw this while on line, and Dr. Howard is my dentist...but it is normal for them.....they want to make sure that no one is sick or contagious in the office. They gave me the most amazing smile......7 years ago and I am still smiling...
thanks

steve

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