Health District running out of H1N1 shot vaccine; mist available

Published Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009 | 12:20 p.m.

Updated Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009 | 2:16 p.m.

Sun health coverage

The Southern Nevada Health District said today that injectable H1N1 influenza vaccine will not be available beginning Friday, and only the nasal spray form will be given.

In an effort to offer the FluMist -- a nasal spray that contains live strains of the H1N1 virus -- to the most vulnerable groups, the health district is launching a FluMist Express line in front of its main center, at 625 Shadow Lane.

From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday the FluMist spray will be given to healthcare workers and emergency medical technicians with patient contacts, parents and caregivers with no underlying medical conditions who provide care to infants 6 months or younger, and those between 2 years and 49 years old.

In addition, a clinic scheduled for Saturday has been postponed. The 2009 H1N1 flu vaccine is free of charge.

The health district said it expects more injectable vaccine to arrive in a week to 10 days. There is plenty of FluMist available for people in priority groups.

"We have found that many people who meet the guidelines for the inhaled vaccine have opted not to receive it. Because of this, we have used many more doses of the injectable vaccine that could have been given to pregnant women and children with underlying medical conditions who cannot use the inhaled mist," said Dr. Lawrence Sands, chief health officer.

There is an exception to the groups eligible for the FluMist spray vaccine, said Stephanie Bethel, a spokeswoman for the Southern Nevada Health District. Pregnant women cannot receive the FluMist because of its live virus component.

As of Saturday, the health district had received 49,000 doses of H1N1 influenza vaccine. By Monday the health district had administered 7,184 doses of the vaccine.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced this week that shipments of the vaccine had slowed and that more vaccine injections would be available toward the end of October.

So far, the H1N1 flu virus has been reported nationwide, with 836 deaths attributed to the disease, also known as swine flu, although the disease did not originate in hogs, health officials said. The H1N1 flu is striking younger people, especially those under 24 years of age. A total of 86 children have died from this particular flu.

The H1N1 flu is the predominant flu strain in the nation, since seasonal flu is not expected to appear until November.

Discussion: 6 comments so far…

By digger

10/21/09 at 1:04 p.m.

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The inhaled version is safe. I am not sure why there is an urban legend that it is not.
By mrjb

10/21/09 at 1:55 p.m.

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The inhaled placebo is the same as the injected placebo
By VegasSucks

10/21/09 at 2:45 p.m.

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The jury is still out as to whether the inhaled vaccine is safe. It is new, it has been created by scientists in a lab, and most importantly, it is a LIVE swine flu virus that you are sniffing. Who says it's safe--our government? Ha-no wonder so many people have opted for the DEAD virus injection option, if any.
Guess the government and the medical community underestimated the intelligence of us sheeple. They can't ALWAYS pull the wool over our eyes.
By CynicalObserver

10/21/09 at 4:50 p.m.

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Stories from the real world:

A friend from Los Angeles called today. Among her stories, a fracas at her doctor's office in Los Angeles.

Waiting room full of patients, including pregnant women and children. A loud, rude woman with the last name of Lee barges in, demanding to see the doctor, even though she doesn't have an appointment. She announces to the receptionist and those in the waiting room that she has Swine Flu. Rather than throwing her out, to protect the other patients, the receptionist has the woman sit in the waiting room for more than an hour, "sharing the air" with the other patients including pregnant women and children. Finally the woman is "treated" and leaves.

Apparently, Swine Flu is so virulent that sitting 10 feet across a waiting room from someone who has the disease is dangerous. Some of the pregnant women and children who were in that waiting room with the rude, presumptuous woman are now sick with Swine Flu.

My friend knows this story because she is her doctor's lawyer. Apparently the doctor is afraid he will be sued because the receptionist was too stupid to throw Mrs. Lee out on her behind.
By neiman1

10/21/09 at 4:51 p.m.

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If the government cannot get swine flu vaccine distributed and doesn't have enough of the proper masks for health care workers, WHY would we want them to take over all of health care.
By mywallet700

10/21/09 at 8:56 p.m.

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I think the first thing the media should do is panic! Oh... I see the Sun already has that covered.