Swine flu vaccine to arrive next week in Maine

[Commonground]

September 30, 2009

AUGUSTA, Maine?The Maine Center for Disease Control says the state hopes to receive its first shipments of swine flu vaccine next week.


The Maine CDC says it's placing orders starting Wednesday. It says the first inoculations will be in the form of a nasal spray, which is only recommended for healthy people between 2 and 49 who are not pregnant. Injectable H1N1 vaccines are expected to follow in staggered shipments.

Officially, Maine has identified more than 380 cases of swine flu, with one death and 19 hospitalizations. The actual number is believed to be far higher.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/ma...ek_in_maine/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Latest+news

 

[Commonground]

Re: Swine flu vaccine to arrive next week in Maine

The Maine CDC says it's placing orders starting Wednesday. It says the first inoculations will be in the form of a nasal spray, which is only recommended for healthy people between 2 and 49 who are not pregnant. Injectable H1N1 vaccines are expected to follow in staggered shipments.

Maine CDC...you may want to read this. From CDC.

September 29, 2009, 11:30 AM ET
excerpt:
Who will be recommended to receive the 2009 H1N1 vaccine?

CDC?s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has recommended that certain groups of the population receive the 2009 H1N1 vaccine when it first becomes available. These target groups include pregnant women, people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age, healthcare and emergency medical services personnel, persons between the ages of 6 months and 24 years old, and people ages of 25 through 64 years of age who are at higher risk for 2009 H1N1 because of chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems.

We do not expect that there will be a shortage of 2009 H1N1 vaccine, but availability and demand can be unpredictable. There is some possibility that initially the vaccine will be available in limited quantities. In this setting, the committee recommended that the following groups receive the vaccine before others: pregnant women, people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age, health care and emergency medical services personnel with direct patient contact, children 6 months through 4 years of age, and children 5 through 18 years of age who have chronic medical conditions.



http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/public/vaccination_qa_pub.htm