Commonground
Senior Moderator
By ARIELLE LEVIN BECKER<!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_byline_preview" END --> <!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_titleline_preview" START -->The Hartford Courant<!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_titleline_preview" END --> <!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_display_time_preview" START -->October 29, 2009
Swine flu is spreading across Connecticut, but finding the vaccine against it can be a struggle. Calls to some pediatricians' offices produce little more than a busy signal. Other doctors have added recordings to their phone messages about high call volume because of flu.
Dr. Brad Wilkinson isn't so hard to get hold of, but you won't get the swine flu vaccine from him. Like many doctors, the Durham family physician's practice filled out the required state form to request the vaccine when it became available. But so far, he's still waiting, advising his patients to call back in two to three weeks, and, if they find a way to get it elsewhere first, to do so.
"It's been sort of an immunization black hole," he said.
Flu activity is increasing in the state, with some schools closed because of high absentee rates and, on Tuesday, the state's third death linked to the H1N1 virus since Aug. 30. The 64-year-old woman who died at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital in New London had underlying health problems, as did two other flu patients who have died since Aug. 30.
But the H1N1 vaccine supply continues to lag behind what state and federal officials had expected, leaving some patients and doctors scrambling to find ways to vaccinate those at highest risk for complications from the virus.
State officials had expected to have more than 500,000 doses of the vaccine in Connecticut by the middle of this month, but by Wednesday, health providers in the state had received only 178,800, according to the state Department of Public Health. State and federal health officials say that eventually there will be enough vaccine for everyone who wants it, but nationwide, vaccine production and delivery lag earlier predictions.
State officials have advised people to call their doctors to get the vaccine, but some doctors don't have it yet. In those cases, state health department spokesman William Gerrish said, people should call their local mass dispensing area ? a list of them is available at www.ct.gov/dph/mda ? to find out when there will be a public clinic or a clinic offered by another provider.
Patients at high risk of complications whose doctors are not carrying the vaccine can also ask for referrals to doctors who do have it, said Dr. Matthew Cartter, the state epidemiologist.
"In a pandemic situation, and I'm speaking as a physician, if a service is not provided by a doctor, I think a physician has an obligation to guide their patients to ... where they can reasonably get it," he said.
Who Gets What
Unlike the seasonal flu vaccine, which health providers can order directly from manufacturers, all the H1N1 vaccine is ordered through the state and delivered directly to providers.
So how is the limited supply divvied up?
It happens on a weekly basis, when state health officials learn from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention how much vaccine and which type the state will get.
State officials then ask providers who have registered for the vaccine to place orders. Because the vaccine is being administered only to high-risk groups for now, the state has been soliciting orders only from health providers who serve the target groups, such as pediatricians, obstetricians and gynecologists, acute care hospitals and community health centers, Cartter said.
Then, on Fridays, state health officials try to match the orders with the amount and type of vaccine that's coming. There are eight different formulations of the vaccine ? some injectable vaccine can be given to people aged 4 and older, for example, while another type can be given to people 6 months and older ? and part of the challenge is matching the providers' requests for a particular type of vaccine with what is being shipped to Connecticut.
Some providers may request only a certain type of vaccine, and if none is available, might not get any.
Another complicating factor: The vaccine only comes in increments of 100 or more. That meant that, initially, physicians who requested fewer than 100 doses would not get them.
Since last week, the state has been asking providers who have vaccine left over to redistribute it to other providers who need it. Because all the vaccine comes free from the federal government, it requires paperwork but no financial arrangements, Cartter said.
Although demand for the H1N1 vaccine has been high, many providers have had leftover doses of the nasal spray, which is approved only for healthy people between 2 and 49 and cannot be given to pregnant women. In some cases, Cartter said, health districts struggled to interest anyone in using the nasal spray, which is more frequently given to children and is unfamiliar to many adults. Because of the extra supply, the state raised the age limits for children to receive the nasal spray vaccine, and now all healthy children between 2 and 18 are eligible to receive it.
Some providers have already taken advantage of sharing supplies. In Old Saybrook, for example, 500 people are signed up for the Connecticut River Area Health District's H1N1 vaccine clinic today. But by Wednesday afternoon, it appeared the health district would be 100 doses short. So the health district got some from another district, director of health Mary Jane Engle said.
Inundated By Calls
Engle's health district, which covers Old Saybrook, Deep River and Clinton but also provides vaccine to Killingworth, Westbrook, Essex and Chester, had been getting inundated with calls about H1N1 and the vaccine.
So on Wednesday, Old Saybrook's police and emergency service departments opened a regional H1N1 hot line to handle calls from residents of the seven towns. People who call in can leave their names and, when vaccine becomes available, will be notified that they can get it, Police Chief Michael Spera said.
By the end of the first day, 536 people were signed up for the vaccine.
The hot line will be staffed from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and can be reached at 860-395-3045 or 860-395-3046.
Courant staff writer David Owens contributed to this story.<!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_body_preview" END --> <!-- sphereit end --> <script type="text/javascript">textSize()</script>
http://www.courant.com/health/hc-flu-vaccine-distribution1029.artoct29,0,442970.story
Swine flu is spreading across Connecticut, but finding the vaccine against it can be a struggle. Calls to some pediatricians' offices produce little more than a busy signal. Other doctors have added recordings to their phone messages about high call volume because of flu.
Dr. Brad Wilkinson isn't so hard to get hold of, but you won't get the swine flu vaccine from him. Like many doctors, the Durham family physician's practice filled out the required state form to request the vaccine when it became available. But so far, he's still waiting, advising his patients to call back in two to three weeks, and, if they find a way to get it elsewhere first, to do so.
"It's been sort of an immunization black hole," he said.
Flu activity is increasing in the state, with some schools closed because of high absentee rates and, on Tuesday, the state's third death linked to the H1N1 virus since Aug. 30. The 64-year-old woman who died at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital in New London had underlying health problems, as did two other flu patients who have died since Aug. 30.
But the H1N1 vaccine supply continues to lag behind what state and federal officials had expected, leaving some patients and doctors scrambling to find ways to vaccinate those at highest risk for complications from the virus.
State officials had expected to have more than 500,000 doses of the vaccine in Connecticut by the middle of this month, but by Wednesday, health providers in the state had received only 178,800, according to the state Department of Public Health. State and federal health officials say that eventually there will be enough vaccine for everyone who wants it, but nationwide, vaccine production and delivery lag earlier predictions.
State officials have advised people to call their doctors to get the vaccine, but some doctors don't have it yet. In those cases, state health department spokesman William Gerrish said, people should call their local mass dispensing area ? a list of them is available at www.ct.gov/dph/mda ? to find out when there will be a public clinic or a clinic offered by another provider.
Patients at high risk of complications whose doctors are not carrying the vaccine can also ask for referrals to doctors who do have it, said Dr. Matthew Cartter, the state epidemiologist.
"In a pandemic situation, and I'm speaking as a physician, if a service is not provided by a doctor, I think a physician has an obligation to guide their patients to ... where they can reasonably get it," he said.
Who Gets What
Unlike the seasonal flu vaccine, which health providers can order directly from manufacturers, all the H1N1 vaccine is ordered through the state and delivered directly to providers.
So how is the limited supply divvied up?
It happens on a weekly basis, when state health officials learn from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention how much vaccine and which type the state will get.
State officials then ask providers who have registered for the vaccine to place orders. Because the vaccine is being administered only to high-risk groups for now, the state has been soliciting orders only from health providers who serve the target groups, such as pediatricians, obstetricians and gynecologists, acute care hospitals and community health centers, Cartter said.
Then, on Fridays, state health officials try to match the orders with the amount and type of vaccine that's coming. There are eight different formulations of the vaccine ? some injectable vaccine can be given to people aged 4 and older, for example, while another type can be given to people 6 months and older ? and part of the challenge is matching the providers' requests for a particular type of vaccine with what is being shipped to Connecticut.
Some providers may request only a certain type of vaccine, and if none is available, might not get any.
Another complicating factor: The vaccine only comes in increments of 100 or more. That meant that, initially, physicians who requested fewer than 100 doses would not get them.
Since last week, the state has been asking providers who have vaccine left over to redistribute it to other providers who need it. Because all the vaccine comes free from the federal government, it requires paperwork but no financial arrangements, Cartter said.
Although demand for the H1N1 vaccine has been high, many providers have had leftover doses of the nasal spray, which is approved only for healthy people between 2 and 49 and cannot be given to pregnant women. In some cases, Cartter said, health districts struggled to interest anyone in using the nasal spray, which is more frequently given to children and is unfamiliar to many adults. Because of the extra supply, the state raised the age limits for children to receive the nasal spray vaccine, and now all healthy children between 2 and 18 are eligible to receive it.
Some providers have already taken advantage of sharing supplies. In Old Saybrook, for example, 500 people are signed up for the Connecticut River Area Health District's H1N1 vaccine clinic today. But by Wednesday afternoon, it appeared the health district would be 100 doses short. So the health district got some from another district, director of health Mary Jane Engle said.
Inundated By Calls
Engle's health district, which covers Old Saybrook, Deep River and Clinton but also provides vaccine to Killingworth, Westbrook, Essex and Chester, had been getting inundated with calls about H1N1 and the vaccine.
So on Wednesday, Old Saybrook's police and emergency service departments opened a regional H1N1 hot line to handle calls from residents of the seven towns. People who call in can leave their names and, when vaccine becomes available, will be notified that they can get it, Police Chief Michael Spera said.
By the end of the first day, 536 people were signed up for the vaccine.
The hot line will be staffed from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and can be reached at 860-395-3045 or 860-395-3046.
Courant staff writer David Owens contributed to this story.<!-- P2P_LIVE_EDIT "content_item_body_preview" END --> <!-- sphereit end --> <script type="text/javascript">textSize()</script>
http://www.courant.com/health/hc-flu-vaccine-distribution1029.artoct29,0,442970.story