By ANANDA BOARDMAN / The Dallas Morning News
aboardman@dallasnews.com
12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, July 18, 2010
Hundreds of families spent Saturday morning at Antioch Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in Red Bird getting back-to-school immunization shots for their children.
Antioch's senior pastor, Karry Wesley, offered to let Dallas County Health and Human Services use the church's facilities for the free clinic after noticing long lines outside vaccination clinics last year.
"It's a little unconventional," the Rev. Abe Cooper, another pastor at Antioch, said of the church's decision to host the clinic. "Most places do food and clothes, but health is important, too. We look at it as another way to serve the community."
Families arrived for the clinic as early as 7:30 a.m., said Blanca Cantú, a spokeswoman for Dallas County Department of Health and Human Services.
"We want parents to know that the time to get immunizations is now," Cantú said.
Cedar Hill resident Erica Reliford arrived at 8:30 a.m. with her 12-year-old daughter, Arlandrea, who will be entering seventh grade. Reliford, who heard about the clinic from her mother and a friend who attends Antioch, said she was pleasantly surprised that the crowd at the church Saturday wasn't overwhelming.
"I thought it would be more [people] than this," Reliford said.
The department offered the clinic as part of its efforts to prevent a repeat of problems last year, when students across the state were sent home the first day of classes because they lacked the required immunizations. New state requirements and a shortage of vaccine caught many parents off guard.
Parents last year were given a month's grace period to get the needed shots. But no such extension is planned this year because there are plenty of vaccines, and parents have many chances to get their children vaccinated.
"Don't wait until the last minute," said Dr. Zachary Thompson, director of the health department.
As many as 25,000 students in Dallas County don't have current shots, Thompson said.
"It's all ages, but the delinquency is higher with the middle schools," he said.
Though the lines Saturday stretched out the double doors and down the steps at times, most people had no problem with the wait.
"I appreciate the patience," Thompson said.
After parents filled out forms and their children's shot records were verified, families were led to another area to wait for the shots. Twenty nurses were working at 10 stations.
"That's going to make a big difference, having those nurses," Thompson said.
Each child who was vaccinated got a bag of goodies, including a water bottle and some basic school supplies.
Police and volunteers were on hand to help with parking, lines and crowd control.
"We got seen pretty quickly through the process at the front," said Gail Turner. She drove her 14-year-old daughter, Jasmine, from Mesquite to get the last shot needed to enter the ninth grade at Mesquite High School. Turner, who is unemployed, opted for the clinic as an alternative to a doctor's visit.
"I'd recommend it to someone in my position," she said.
Dallas resident April Cisneros brought her 4-year-old daughter, Mizarey, to get shots before she enters pre-kindergarten. Cisneros heard about the clinic on the news. While Mizarey wasn't thrilled about the prospect of being shot with a needle, she was excited to start school.
County officials had hoped for a turnout of at least 300 at Saturday's clinic. By 1 p.m., Cantú said, 317 people had come through the clinic and received a total of 787 vaccinations.
"That's what we were expecting, and that's who we wanted to get taken care of today," Cantú said. "We're pretty happy and satisfied with who we served today."
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