Local News
Injectable swine flu vaccine going fast
The Whitfield County health department had given out around 700 injectable H1N1 (swine) flu vaccines by mid-afternoon Tuesday in what manager Cheryl Wheeler called one of its busiest days for vaccines so far this year.
The department received its first shipment of the injectable H1N1 vaccine on Monday, about 900 doses, and Wheeler said she believed it would be exhausted by the end of the day Tuesday.
“If we don’t run out, we’ll be giving it out (Wednesday),” she said.
There’s no charge to patients for the vaccine, but an administrative fee may be charged through Medicare, Medicaid and third-party insurance, including state health benefit plans for United Healthcare and CIGNA. People should bring their insurance cards, health district officials said.
The injectable H1N1 vaccine was given to those in high risk categories such as people who live with or care for infants younger than six months, children up to 24 months and others who have medical conditions that put them at high risk. Those are guidelines set out by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, not the health department, said Wheeler.
“We’ve had a lot of older people come in who don’t meet the criteria, so they can’t get it. We are telling them that if they are over 65, they have probably been exposed at some point to swine flu. This virus has been around for a while. They are probably not as likely to get the flu as younger folks who have never been exposed,” Wheeler said. “But down the road, they are saying there will be plenty of vaccine and it will be opened up to those folks.”
The health department has given out some 1,800 doses of swine flu vaccine this year, including a previous shipment of a nasal vaccine, and about 5,800 doses of the seasonal flu vaccine.
Wheeler said residents should keep an eye on the newspaper to see when new shipments of the vaccines will be in and when the department will be giving them out.
“As soon as we know when it is coming, we’ll let you know so you can let them know,” she said.
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