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Georgia crafting swine flu vaccine plan
By Shelia M. Poole and Craig Schneider
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
3:00 p.m. Saturday, September 12, 2009
With only a month to go before the first swine flu vaccine is scheduled to arrive, Georgia health officials are still devising plans to get the new vaccine to hospitals, doctors, schools, clinics and - ultimately - to your arm.
State and local health officials say they will be ready to distribute vaccine when it arrives, but numerous questions remain on where exactly it will be available and what if any cost there will be.
In addition, health agencies are still recruiting volunteers to help with the effort, coordinating with other agencies, holding discussions with school officials, and nailing down distribution sites.
The vaccine may even be offered at a drive-through and, if public demand is high enough, Turner Field.
The first batch of swine flu vaccine should roll out next month, and Georgia officials expect to receive 2 million doses by the end of October, with more to come. It?s estimated that there are 4.7 million people in Georgia who fall into high-risk categories, such as children and pregnant women, who have been advised to get the vaccine.
?This is the largest mass vaccination campaign we?ve ever done in Georgia,? said Dr. Rhonda Medows, the commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Health.
About 1,400 doctors, stores, hospitals and other providers have signed up to distribute vaccine, officials said.
Several state and local officials say they are on track and have enough time to work out the remaining details. They say the process will be similar to distributing vaccines for seasonal flu, which they?ve been doing for years.
?The state is prepared for a mass vaccination program and has an implementation plan,? said Medows, adding that the state ?has gathered a large network of healthcare providers to administer the vaccine in conjunction with the local Public Health Districts.?
Local health districts echo that confidence.
?We will start administering immediately in our health centers, and we?ll be gearing up in a day or two (afterwards) at mass vaccination centers,? said Pam Blackwell, director of the center for emergency preparedness and response for Cobb and Douglas Public Health.
As the virus spreads through schools and colleges, health officials are seeing increasing interest by people to obtain the vaccine. Many people are already getting the seasonal flu shot, but it won?t prevent swine flu.
Federal health officials say they believe swine flu is ?widespread? in Georgia, meaning it has been found in a vast majority of regions of the state. They suspect the cause is the state?s early start of the school year, which brought children together into close proximity and created ideal conditions for the virus to spread.
The swine flu, also called H1N1, has caused the deaths of nine Georgians and hospitalized 238 others.
Much of the vaccine distribution locally will be handled through the state?s 18 public health districts, which in metro Atlanta often overlap with county health departments.
These health districts appear to be taking different strategies.
Fulton County health officials, for instance, are talking to schools in hopes of distributing vaccine in schools. If public demand is overwhelming, the county has plans to create mass vaccination centers at Turner Field, Philips Arena, Georgia International Convention Center and the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, said Dr. Kim Turner, the interim health director for Fulton County.
Cobb County health officials, however, say while no decision has been made, they don?t have the personnel to distribute vaccine through many schools and are reluctant to disrupt the school day.
So far, 126 providers in Cobb and Douglas counties ? businesses, hospitals, doctors, nursing homes, the jail ? have signed up to provide swine flu shots, officials said.
Officials plan to set up a mass vaccination sites in Cobb and Douglas to handle large numbers of people and even plan drive-through vaccinations for the elderly and people who might have trouble getting out of a car, said Blackwell of the Cobb and Douglas Public Health.
DeKalb health officials say they are talking with the schools to create mass vaccination sites at some schools.
Some questions on costs remain unresolved, officials said. The vaccine itself will be paid for by the federal government, but some places may attach an administrative fee for dispensing it.
Medows, the state health commissioner, said the vaccine will be completely free ? meaning no administrative fee ? at government clinics. But some private doctors, hospitals and drugstores may apply an administrative fee.
Turner, the Fulton health official, said, ?We want to make sure Fulton is vaccinated, and we don?t want people not to come because of a $14 administrative fee.?
State officials say they are working with Medicaid and Medicare officials, and private insurance companies, to have them cover the costs of the administrative fee that some providers may charge.
Tom Skinner, a spokesman for the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the government is on track to distribute about 50 million doses nationwide by mid-October, with about 20 million more doses coming every week until the agency reaches the goal of 195 million doses near the end of the year.
State and local health officials say they hope to get the initial doses to children, pregnant women, health care workers and other high-priority groups.
But several of these officials acknowledge that if someone shows up wanting the vaccine, they?ll get it even if they are not in a priority group.
In some good news in the world?s flu fight, U.S. researchers said last week that one dose of the new swine flu vaccine is strong enough to protect adults without need for a second shot. Children may still require two shots because they generally have less immunity, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Sri Edupuganti, an assistant professor of medicine at the Emory School of Medicine and an investigator for the vaccine clinical trials at that school, emphasized the importance of getting vaccine to the public as soon as possible.
?We?re in the middle of a pandemic,? she said. ?There?s no point in having it next spring.?
Fauci, the NIH official, said the vaccine is receiving a proper amount of testing. This is not a new vaccine, he said, but rather a ?strain change? in the vaccine used for seasonal flu. In many instances, such changes in seasonal flu strains do not even receive a clinical trial, he said.
?This is not being rushed at all,? he said
He noted that a total of 4,600 people will get the vaccine in the clinical trials, and thus far there have been no significant adverse effects. Side effects have included redness near the injection site, which he said is common.
Linda and Gordon Potter of DeKalb County are among the people who signed up to take part in the trials and were among the first humans to be vaccinated.
The couple said both were healthy going into the trials and so far they have not experienced any side effects.
?People want to know why I?m doing it and some of them think I?m crazy, but that?s OK,? Gordon Potter said. ?The risks of having some kind of adverse reaction is less than getting hit by lightning. People do get hit by lightning, but not very many.?
By Shelia M. Poole and Craig Schneider
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
3:00 p.m. Saturday, September 12, 2009
With only a month to go before the first swine flu vaccine is scheduled to arrive, Georgia health officials are still devising plans to get the new vaccine to hospitals, doctors, schools, clinics and - ultimately - to your arm.
State and local health officials say they will be ready to distribute vaccine when it arrives, but numerous questions remain on where exactly it will be available and what if any cost there will be.
In addition, health agencies are still recruiting volunteers to help with the effort, coordinating with other agencies, holding discussions with school officials, and nailing down distribution sites.
The vaccine may even be offered at a drive-through and, if public demand is high enough, Turner Field.
The first batch of swine flu vaccine should roll out next month, and Georgia officials expect to receive 2 million doses by the end of October, with more to come. It?s estimated that there are 4.7 million people in Georgia who fall into high-risk categories, such as children and pregnant women, who have been advised to get the vaccine.
?This is the largest mass vaccination campaign we?ve ever done in Georgia,? said Dr. Rhonda Medows, the commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Health.
About 1,400 doctors, stores, hospitals and other providers have signed up to distribute vaccine, officials said.
Several state and local officials say they are on track and have enough time to work out the remaining details. They say the process will be similar to distributing vaccines for seasonal flu, which they?ve been doing for years.
?The state is prepared for a mass vaccination program and has an implementation plan,? said Medows, adding that the state ?has gathered a large network of healthcare providers to administer the vaccine in conjunction with the local Public Health Districts.?
Local health districts echo that confidence.
?We will start administering immediately in our health centers, and we?ll be gearing up in a day or two (afterwards) at mass vaccination centers,? said Pam Blackwell, director of the center for emergency preparedness and response for Cobb and Douglas Public Health.
As the virus spreads through schools and colleges, health officials are seeing increasing interest by people to obtain the vaccine. Many people are already getting the seasonal flu shot, but it won?t prevent swine flu.
Federal health officials say they believe swine flu is ?widespread? in Georgia, meaning it has been found in a vast majority of regions of the state. They suspect the cause is the state?s early start of the school year, which brought children together into close proximity and created ideal conditions for the virus to spread.
The swine flu, also called H1N1, has caused the deaths of nine Georgians and hospitalized 238 others.
Much of the vaccine distribution locally will be handled through the state?s 18 public health districts, which in metro Atlanta often overlap with county health departments.
These health districts appear to be taking different strategies.
Fulton County health officials, for instance, are talking to schools in hopes of distributing vaccine in schools. If public demand is overwhelming, the county has plans to create mass vaccination centers at Turner Field, Philips Arena, Georgia International Convention Center and the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, said Dr. Kim Turner, the interim health director for Fulton County.
Cobb County health officials, however, say while no decision has been made, they don?t have the personnel to distribute vaccine through many schools and are reluctant to disrupt the school day.
So far, 126 providers in Cobb and Douglas counties ? businesses, hospitals, doctors, nursing homes, the jail ? have signed up to provide swine flu shots, officials said.
Officials plan to set up a mass vaccination sites in Cobb and Douglas to handle large numbers of people and even plan drive-through vaccinations for the elderly and people who might have trouble getting out of a car, said Blackwell of the Cobb and Douglas Public Health.
DeKalb health officials say they are talking with the schools to create mass vaccination sites at some schools.
Some questions on costs remain unresolved, officials said. The vaccine itself will be paid for by the federal government, but some places may attach an administrative fee for dispensing it.
Medows, the state health commissioner, said the vaccine will be completely free ? meaning no administrative fee ? at government clinics. But some private doctors, hospitals and drugstores may apply an administrative fee.
Turner, the Fulton health official, said, ?We want to make sure Fulton is vaccinated, and we don?t want people not to come because of a $14 administrative fee.?
State officials say they are working with Medicaid and Medicare officials, and private insurance companies, to have them cover the costs of the administrative fee that some providers may charge.
Tom Skinner, a spokesman for the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the government is on track to distribute about 50 million doses nationwide by mid-October, with about 20 million more doses coming every week until the agency reaches the goal of 195 million doses near the end of the year.
State and local health officials say they hope to get the initial doses to children, pregnant women, health care workers and other high-priority groups.
But several of these officials acknowledge that if someone shows up wanting the vaccine, they?ll get it even if they are not in a priority group.
In some good news in the world?s flu fight, U.S. researchers said last week that one dose of the new swine flu vaccine is strong enough to protect adults without need for a second shot. Children may still require two shots because they generally have less immunity, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Sri Edupuganti, an assistant professor of medicine at the Emory School of Medicine and an investigator for the vaccine clinical trials at that school, emphasized the importance of getting vaccine to the public as soon as possible.
?We?re in the middle of a pandemic,? she said. ?There?s no point in having it next spring.?
Fauci, the NIH official, said the vaccine is receiving a proper amount of testing. This is not a new vaccine, he said, but rather a ?strain change? in the vaccine used for seasonal flu. In many instances, such changes in seasonal flu strains do not even receive a clinical trial, he said.
?This is not being rushed at all,? he said
He noted that a total of 4,600 people will get the vaccine in the clinical trials, and thus far there have been no significant adverse effects. Side effects have included redness near the injection site, which he said is common.
Linda and Gordon Potter of DeKalb County are among the people who signed up to take part in the trials and were among the first humans to be vaccinated.
The couple said both were healthy going into the trials and so far they have not experienced any side effects.
?People want to know why I?m doing it and some of them think I?m crazy, but that?s OK,? Gordon Potter said. ?The risks of having some kind of adverse reaction is less than getting hit by lightning. People do get hit by lightning, but not very many.?