Kaiser Permanente Claims World Record for Flu Shots in 8-Hour Span

Updated at 2:15 p.m. Sunday: Kaiser Permanente clinics in Southern California administered 47,422 flu vaccinations in an 8-hour period Saturday—setting a world record, according to a media release. San Diego County clinics administered 12,085 flu vaccinations.

Original story:

Kaiser Permanente wants its record back.

In October 2011, Vanderbilt University staged Flulapalooza—giving 12,850 flu shots in 8 hours in Nashville and doubling the previous record of 6,215 vaccinations set by Kaiser Permanente in San Diego in October 2010.

Today Kaiser Permanente in San Diego is aiming to reclaim the Guinness World Record for the most flu vaccinations in an eight-hour period.

The Super Saturday Flu Clinic will take place at 40 Kaiser locations around the Southern California, including four in San Diego County— La Mesa, Otay Mesa, Grantville and San Marcos.

About 30,000 Kaiser members were invited to get flu shots Saturday, according to a Kaiser spokeswoman.  The current record at Vanderbilt University and Medical Center was set Oct. 12, 2011.

A representative of Guinness World Records is set to be at a Kaiser medical building in Grantville to certify the record.

“The flu shot is the first and most important step to protect ourselves against the flu,” said Dr. Paul Bernstein, area medical director for Kaiser Permanente San Diego. “We know prevention saves lives so getting our members vaccinated is a great investment in the total health of ourselves, our members and all San Diegans.”

While medical professionals recommend the flu shot for anyone over 6 months, it is strongly suggested for certain groups at higher risk.

Those include children under 5 years old, adults ages 65 and older, pregnant women, and those with long-term medical conditions like asthma, diabetes, blood disorders and lung disease, according to Kaiser.

According to Channel 5 News in Nashville, Vanderbilt had 44 vaccinators and 300 volunteers helping out with the event last year.

Michelle Gibson, medical office administrator for the La Mesa clinic, said 1,300 people had been vaccinated by 11:30 a.m. and the goal was 3,000 by the close.

Besides looking to take back the record, Gibson said Kaiser “leadership in general was looking for  ‘How can we best serve opur members,” in launching the flu clinic. “By having something like this to rally around,” she said, “we really get a lot of momentum.”

More that 100 nurses, clinic staff and others were involved in the La Mesa flu clinic, she said. La Mesa offices were chosen because it’s one of the larger clinics in East County and could “serve more people more rapidly.”

By the end of the day, Kaiser officials were hoping to vaccinate 30,000 people at all clinics involved.

The La Mesa clinic also offered Pap smears, mammograms and retinal screenings Saturday, “a lot of preventive services,” said Gibson, dressed in bike tights and a bicycle-style uniform top.

Those who missed the Saturday clinic in La Mesa can come in later—first for a two-week lobby clinic starting Tuesday and going daily from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and later to the nurses station or doctor’s offices.

—City News Service contributed to this report.