Commonground
Senior Moderator
POSTED: 5:08 pm EDT October 21, 2009
CONCORD, N.H. -- State health officials are warning that supplies of the H1N1 vaccine are arriving more slowly than expected.Since Oct. 7, New Hampshire has received 40,000, the number officials had hoped to get each week. Health officials said that it could now take another seven weeks to get one month's worth of doses.Health officials said those in high-risk groups and those around them should take precautions against becoming infected or spreading disease until vaccine supplies arrive. Those precautions include washing hands, covering sneezes or coughs and staying away from work or school when sick.The general public could be waiting for the vaccine until December or January. Officials said a manufacturing slowdown has delayed the arrival of the 700,000 doses New Hampshire expects to receive."That's why we have been quite clear," said Dr. Jose Montero, director of public health services. "We are not going to be doing mass vaccination events. We are clearly targeting this vaccine for those groups who have high risk of complications and health care workers."Another 10,000 doses could come by Thursday, but it will still be two to three weeks before the bulk of the supply arrives."We are asking doctors to set up a system by which they can call back their high-risk patients and offer them the vaccine as soon as they get it," Montero said.Montero said doctors offices that have already received the H1N1 vaccine are giving it out immediately. The first people getting it are medical personnel who have direct contact with patients and those in the high-risk category, including pregnant women, people 24 and younger who have medical conditions, those who have contact with children 6 months old or younger and then anyone 24 years old or younger.Montero said the good news so far is that H1N1 flu activity in New Hampshire isn't as severe as in southern states such as Florida and Alabama."I cannot predict how this is going to play," Montero said. "We are going to continue seeing an increase, but when is it going to peak, I don't know. So people should get the vaccine whenever it becomes available."The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the good news is that the virus has not mutated into a more dangerous form, which means the vaccine should work well.
http://www.wmur.com/health/21364063/detail.html
CONCORD, N.H. -- State health officials are warning that supplies of the H1N1 vaccine are arriving more slowly than expected.Since Oct. 7, New Hampshire has received 40,000, the number officials had hoped to get each week. Health officials said that it could now take another seven weeks to get one month's worth of doses.Health officials said those in high-risk groups and those around them should take precautions against becoming infected or spreading disease until vaccine supplies arrive. Those precautions include washing hands, covering sneezes or coughs and staying away from work or school when sick.The general public could be waiting for the vaccine until December or January. Officials said a manufacturing slowdown has delayed the arrival of the 700,000 doses New Hampshire expects to receive."That's why we have been quite clear," said Dr. Jose Montero, director of public health services. "We are not going to be doing mass vaccination events. We are clearly targeting this vaccine for those groups who have high risk of complications and health care workers."Another 10,000 doses could come by Thursday, but it will still be two to three weeks before the bulk of the supply arrives."We are asking doctors to set up a system by which they can call back their high-risk patients and offer them the vaccine as soon as they get it," Montero said.Montero said doctors offices that have already received the H1N1 vaccine are giving it out immediately. The first people getting it are medical personnel who have direct contact with patients and those in the high-risk category, including pregnant women, people 24 and younger who have medical conditions, those who have contact with children 6 months old or younger and then anyone 24 years old or younger.Montero said the good news so far is that H1N1 flu activity in New Hampshire isn't as severe as in southern states such as Florida and Alabama."I cannot predict how this is going to play," Montero said. "We are going to continue seeing an increase, but when is it going to peak, I don't know. So people should get the vaccine whenever it becomes available."The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the good news is that the virus has not mutated into a more dangerous form, which means the vaccine should work well.
http://www.wmur.com/health/21364063/detail.html