Miami-Dade County Health Department

Miami-Dade County Health Department2009 Annual Report 6Kids and adults arehaving fun as theyare taught by PublicHealth Officals the newcoughing etiquette.Confronting the First Pandemic ofthe 21st Century – 2009 H1N1Immunizing the CommunityThe MDCHD started in October 2009 amass vaccination campaign against the2009 H1N1 Influenza. Partnering withlocal health care providers, schools,community clinics, and federally qualifiedhealth centers, the Department offeredthe vaccine to high-priority groups, suchas children and pregnant women.The vaccine was given free of chargeto the community, and in local schoolsimmunizations were administeredthrough the School Health Connect, a program funded by public and privatepartnerships that include The Children’s Trust, Miami-Dade County PublicSchools and our Health Department.The MDCHD habilitated four vaccination sites: Downtown Clinic, Little HaitiHealth Center, West Perrine Health Center, and the Juanita Mann clinic,extending regular hours into the evening and weekends. Medical andnonmedical personnel were recruited to help with this communitywide effortto address The President’s declaration of a national emergency to deal with the“rapid increase in illness” from the H1N1 influenza virus.Federally Qualified Health Centers opened their doors as well to the massvaccination campaign. They were: Borinquen Health Care Center, Citrus HealthNetwork, Community Health of South Florida, Helen B. Bentley Health Center,and Jessie Trice Community Health Center.Our sincere gratitude goes out to each individual who assisted with asuccessful campaign. Next year we will share with you the final outcome ofsuch unique endeavor.