H1N1 Vaccine Purgatory

Unless you have been living under a rock lately, you know that the flow of vaccine to combat H1N1 Influenza has been slow. Extremely slow. Woefully slow. We need the vaccine; not now, but yesterday.

So what happened? Early predictions from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) were 45 million doses of vaccine by mid-October with 20 million doses a week after that. It is nearly the first of November and vaccine manufactures have delivered less than 20 million doses. The CDC and vaccine manufacturers offered multiple reasons for the shortfall. Most of these relate to problems at the point of production. However, vaccine manufacturers that are based in foreign countries face domestic pressures that can delay the fulfillment of orders from the United States. We will probably never know the true impact of those pressures.

The most likely explanation for the mismatch, though, was the wildly optimistic projection by the CDC. The US is lucky if we get between 90 and 120 million doses of influenza vaccine in a regular flu season. Production of seasonal flu vaccine was already well under way when manufacturers had to slow the assembly line and begin making H1N1 vaccine. I'm not sure how the CDC thought we might get upwards of 100 million doses of each type of vaccine. Now we are faced with a supply of H1N1 vaccine that was certainly less than hoped for, as well as shortages of seasonal flu vaccine in many areas of the county.

Looking for someone to blame for the shortage or just wishing our doctor or public health department had more H1N1 vaccine won't help to protect a single person from H1N1 influenza. Instead, we need to focus on what we can do right now to protect the ourselves and everyone else from H1N1. Here are a few suggestions.

1) Keep doing those things that prevent the spread of H1N1, including:

- Wash your hands frequently
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth
- Wash high-tough surfaces frequently
- Don't share with others items you put in your mouth
- Cover your cough or sneezes with your sleeve rather than your hands
- Stay home if you are sick with symptoms of the flu

2) Make sure folks that are on the target list for H1N1 vaccination have access to vaccine first. This includes:

- Pregnant women
- Parents and caregivers of children under 6 months old
- Everyone age 6 months to age 24
- Persons age 25 to 64 chronic health conditions
- Health care and emergency service workers

3) Call your health care provider to inquire about vaccine availability. The Public Health Department will place announcements on the radio, newspaper and on-line when vaccine is in stock.

4) Be patient. Eventually, there will be enough vaccine for everyone who wants it.