By: Health Insurance
Submitted: 2009-10-11 18:18:26 | Word Count: 491
The first doses of the swine flu vaccine will arrive in the region early next week.
Health officials in both West Virginia and Virginia are expected to immunize health care workers, emergency services staff that have direct contact with patients and children first. The Mercer County Health department will announce its vaccination schedule next week, public health nurse Judy Bolton said.
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“The vaccine will come in batches,” Bolton said. “It will continue to come in over several weeks. We’ve had a lot of questions from people who are wanting the vaccine, and not a lot of concerns. People need to know this vaccine is made exactly the same way the seasonal flu vaccine is. It’s just the H1N1 flu virus that is contained in the vaccine. It is processed the same way.”
The first doses will consist of the nasal-spray version of the H1N1 vaccine, Robert Parker, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Health, said.
Virginia will receive 43,500 doses of the nasal-mist vaccine next week. It wasn’t immediately known Thursday how many dosages the Cumberland Plateau and Mount Rogers health districts would receive.
Parker said pregnant women — who are believed to be more susceptible to swine flu — won’t be included in the first round of inoculations.
“The initial shipment is all nasal mist,” Parker said. “That is why it is not suitable to pregnant women and those with chronic health conditions. The first shipment will be distributed primarily to local health departments and hospitals, and particularly children hospitals. As we’ve said repeatedly we will have the vaccine available to the (general) public. We expect additional shipments each week.”
Health officials in Virginia are encouraging citizens to be immunized against the H1N1, or swine flu, virus.
“The vaccine is the best single way to protect yourself,” Parker said. “The risk of not receiving the vaccine and falling ill is always considered much greater than the risk of receiving the vaccine.”
Parker said no one will be required to receive the vaccine.
“This is a voluntary vaccine,” he said. “It is not mandated. To get it at the health department is completely free. To get it somewhere else you may pay an administrative fee. Many of the insurance providers are covering the administrative fee.”
Details regarding exact immunization schedules in both West Virginia and Virginia are expected to be announced next week.
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