Oct. 24--Public health messages urging pregnant women to get the swine
flu vaccine have resonated with Melissa Weakley, a Boulder County woman who is
eight months along.
The dilemma: There's not enough vaccine to go around, and Boulder County
now has a backlog of people in high-risk categories seeking shots.
Because of swine flu vaccine production delays, the government has backed
off initial, optimistic estimates that as many as 120 million doses would be
available by mid-October. As of the middle of the week, only 11 million doses
had been shipped to health departments, doctors' offices and other providers
across the country, according to officials from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
Boulder County Public Health and the Boulder Community Hospital have a
very limited number of swine flu vaccines, and the doses have yet to arrive at
the University of Colorado's student-health center.
Weakley said she had been waiting to get vaccinated at her doctor's
office but received a call earlier this week from a pregnant friend who showed
up at a Public Health flu clinic, without an appointment, and received the
vaccination. When Weakley showed up later in the day, though, those running
the clinic had resorted to their appointment-only rule and turned her away.
"It is what it is," Weakley said. "It's not anybody's fault. There's a
nationwide shortage. Understandably, people want to protect their children."
Boulder County Public Health received 442 doses of the H1N1 vaccine, said
spokeswoman Chana Goussetis. The health department is no longer taking vaccine
appointments and is uncertain when more doses will arrive.
The shot, at this time, is limited to pregnant women; people who live
with or care for children younger than 6 months of age; children ages 6 months
through 4 years; and children ages 5 to 18 years who have chronic health
conditions.
Goussetis said she's asking that state and federal public health
officials scale back their messages pushing flu shots until there's a more
ample supply.
"People are listening to that message, but we don't have enough
vaccines," she said.
The flu virus has to be grown in chicken eggs, and the yield hasn't been
as high as was initially hoped, CDC officials said.
The health department also has a limited amount of the seasonal flu
vaccine.
At Boulder Community Hospital, swine flu cases are reaching a plateau,
said spokesman Rich Sheehan. The hospital is seeing about 140 cases a week.
The hospital has 100 H1N1 vaccines, and officials will be contacting
high-risk patients, giving them top priority for the shots.
Tenzing Dolkar, a CU senior studying economics, said he feels he's more
susceptible to catching the flu because he's on a college campus.
The Boulder campus canceled one of its seasonal flu clinics last week
because of a vaccine shortage. More than 375 doses of the seasonal flu vaccine
have been administered to students in a series of clinics. The next shipment
of that vaccine is scheduled to arrive in November, and a vaccination clinic
will be held at that time.
The Wardenburg Health Center also plans to offer the H1N1 vaccine when it
becomes available.
"I'm more concerned about getting it this year because we've been hearing
about a lot of deaths attributed to the swine flu," Dolkar said.
Swine flu is more widespread now than it's ever been and has resulted in
more than 1,000 U.S. deaths so far.
The Associated Press and Scott Franz, for the Camera, contributed to this
report.
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