Marblehead ready for flu vaccination clinic

MARBLEHEAD – Town officials’ annual worries about the amount of flu vaccine they will have on hand – and its delivery date – may be over.Public Health Nurse Rochelle Bartlett-Ayer said Monday she has enough flu vaccine for the 200-300 residents she is expecting at the town’s first clinic at the Lynch-Van Otterloo YMCA on Leggs Hill Road Friday, Oct. 1 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.The clinic will also include the Swampscott Board of Health and coincides with a YMCA open house for persons 55 and older.Bartlett-Ayer recently told the Board of Health that the state Department of Public Health didn’t know when the vaccine would be delivered. She described the annual process in which vaccine is delivered to doctors and retail outlets first, then local communities, as “exciting.”Director of Public Health Wayne Attridge said he and Bartlett-Ayer were “very concerned about the fact that we have these clinics scheduled and we may not get vaccine.”But Bartlett-Ayer said Monday that Marblehead will receive more vaccines.”As time progresses, we will get a full allotment. I don’t think we will have a problem,” she said.Marblehead’s other flu clinics include Thursday, Oct. 14 from 9 a.m.-noon at the Marblehead Community Center for persons 18 and older; Sunday, Oct. 24 at the YMCA from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. for persons 18 and older; and Wednesday, Nov. 3 at the Community Center from noon-4 p.m. for persons 10 and older. Residents are asked to bring their health insurance cards to the clinics. Further information is available at 781-631-0212 or www.marblehead.org.