Cape Coral Hospital will vaccinate pregnant women for H1N1 at no cost Saturday.
Lee Memorial Health System and the Lee County Health Department are offering the free vaccinations.
Since Oct. 29, the health department has been vaccinating Lee County residents inside of local high schools, but now Cape Coral Hospital will offer the service from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
“They are for pregnant women only,” said Karen Krieger, spokesperson for Lee Memorial Health System.
HealthPark Medical Center in Fort Myers will also offer vaccinations for pregnant women Saturday in the hospital atrium.
The clinic at Cape Coral Hospital will be in the Life Center, south of the hospital’s emergency department.
“We are really focusing on reaching the high priority populations right now,” said Jennifer James-Mesloh, spokesperson for the Lee County Health Department. “Obviously, Lee Memorial through their obstetrician practices have a very large access to the pregnant women in Lee County.”
The average wait time for one of the health department’s public clinics was 12 minutes, and officials at the hospitals are hoping to emulate that time. Patients do not have to arrive early.
James-Mesloh said public clinics have had a high turnout of pregnant women and families, and the additional vaccination clinic at Cape Coral Hospital is only to increase access.
“We just want to make sure we are making this process as easy as possible, giving people in those priority groups enough access to a clinic,” she said.
For more information on local H1N1 vaccines, visit the Lee County Health Department’s Web site at: www.leechd.com.