Mike Hibbard of the Finger Lakes Times reports that if there was any question about how seriously people are taking a confirmed case of hepatitis A in a McDonald’s worker, it was answered by a drive to Mynderse Academy on Saturday afternoon.
Parking lots at the school were full and a long line snaked out of a school entrance as hundreds — if not thousands — of people flocked to the school for a vaccine clinic. That came after the Seneca County Public Health Department confirmed the case Thursday.
“If they have a concern, they will get immunized,” said Vickie Swinehart, the county’s director of public health. “Luckily, we’ve never had something like this happen in the 23 years I’ve been here.”
Officials from both the county and state Department of Health are stressing there is a low risk of contracting illness. However, people who have not been previously vaccinated for hepatitis A and who consumed food/drink from the McDonald’s on Mound Road on certain dates should consider treatment.
Those dates are Oct. 31, Nov. 2, 3, 5, 6 and 8. Saturday’s clinic ran from 1 to 8 p.m, and anyone who ate at the McDonald’s on Oct. 31 should have attended that clinic as the vaccine must be given within two weeks of possible infection.