By Derek Spellman

dspellman@joplinglobe.com

Health departments operated by Joplin and Jasper County governments, along with Access Family Care, will team up to offer their first H1N1 flu vaccine clinic next week, officials said Tuesday.

The clinic will be offered from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Access Family Care, 530 Maiden Lane, in Joplin.

The vaccine will be available to those who fit in the “priority groups” recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

Healthy people between the ages of 2 and 49.

Healthy people living with or caring for infants younger than 6 months of age.

Health care or emergency medical personnel.

Tony Moehr, administrator of the Jasper County Health Department, said the departments have a limited number of nasal spray doses available. He estimated that between 400 and 500 doses would be available at the clinic.

Appointments will be required.

People can be vaccinated against H1N1 flu by either a nasal spray or a flu shot. Only the former will be available at next week’s clinic.

“Frankly, that is what we have available,” Moehr said of the spray, which is more readily available now than the injection form. He said the nasal spray is effective for the priority groups.

Depending on the supply, more local H1N1 vaccine clinics could be offered in the future, he said.

Next week’s clinic is the first public H1N1 clinic offered through the health agencies in Joplin and Jasper County. Moehr said similar clinics have been offered in neighboring Newton County, and in Oklahoma and Kansas.

Don McBride, chief executive officer of Access Family Care, said, “Part of our mission is to work closely with all the (local) health departments.”