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Nurses needed to help deliver H1N1 vaccine in Memphis

By Jason Miles - bio | email | Twitter | Facebook

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC-TV) - 1-year-old Thai'shen Sain sucked on a lollipop after getting his seasonal flu shot Thursday.
    
"He was a big boy. He didn't cry at all," said his mother, Chiquedria Sain. 
    
She plans a return trip to the health department as soon as the H1N1 vaccine arrives.

"He'll get one of them too, because I don't want him to catch the swine flu," she said.
    
Officials with the Memphis and Shelby County Health Department are confident there will be an adequate supply of vaccine available. But having enough people to administer it is another question.
    
"And our goal in the next several weeks is to identify a pool of nurses that can work with us to assure we have an adequate number of vaccinators available," said Yvonne Madlock, Director of the Memphs and Shelby County Health Department
    
She says they're preparing for a massive influx of people once the vaccine becomes available."We expect it may take us months to vaccinate all the Memphians and Shelby County residents who choose to be vaccinated."
    
Since the health department has other services to provide, the additional help is crucial.
    
"We expect most of the nurses who will respond to our call for temporary nurses will be nurses that have full-time jobs. Or, perhaps those who are out of the full-time workforce but interested in temporary work," Madlock said.
    
The health department will accept applications from licensed nurses next Tuesday and Thursday at the human resources office at 814 Jefferson Avenue. Qualified applicants can drop off an application anytime between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.

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