Oct 30, 2009 5:42 pm US/Eastern
Health Department: Not Enough H1N1 Vaccine Locally
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―
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In this photo illustration the H1N1 swine flu vaccination Pandemic, the intensifier and a syringe are seen at Virchow clinical center on Oct. 26, 2009 in Berlin, Germany.
Andreas Rentz/Getty Images
The uneven supplies of H1N1 flu vaccine across the country are being felt locally. Public health officials worry by the time vaccines get here, it could be too late.
Some areas of the country have lots. Our area doesn't have nearly enough. The CDC is distributing H1N1 flu vaccine to the states through a third party.
"There's been a lot of variability across the country who has and who does not," says Dr. Bruce Dixon of the Allegheny County Health Department. "It makes me very uncomfortable, and it somewhat makes me angry."
Dr. Dixon estimates to cover the at-risk people of Allegheny County, 400,000 doses would be needed, not just the 15,000 he says went to local hospitals, doctors' offices and other facilities.
The state Department of Health has announced southwestern Pennsylvania has had the most rapid rise in the number of cases.
"Hopefully it would mean a little bit more would come to southwestern Pennsylvania rather than the commonwealth as a whole, once vaccine starts to come into the supply chain," Dr. Dixon says.
But when vaccine production catches up, and supplies get distributed across the country, the peak of the illness may have long passed.
"What I fear is by the time large quantities of vaccine are available, the disease will have run its course and we probably won't need very much," says Dr. Dixon.
At that point, many people will have gotten vaccinated, in essence, by getting the H1N1 flu.
"You could make the argument that they're one of the lucky ones who didn't get infected, and they ought to get vaccinated just in case. But for most people if they've had the disease, getting vaccinated doesn't make any real benefit to them," Dr. Dixon says. "Realize this vaccine takes three or four weeks to give you a reasonable antibody response and protection."
The government is saying that H1N1 may come in waves. For instance, it could come back again later in the winter or in the spring, and for that reason, getting vaccinated makes sense.
Unfortunately, it's hard to predict what the pattern will be.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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