Limited availability set aside for target group of ages 2-24

Flu clinics

The Durham County Health Department is planning two vaccine clinics for elementary school-age children next week.

They will be held Oct. 19 and 21, from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m., at the Staff Development Center for Durham Public Schools, 2107 Hillandale Road.

And while supplies last, the H1N1 vaccine also will be offered at the Durham County Health Department's Immunization Clinic.

The vaccinations will be free of charge.

Information about the H1N1 vaccines, mass vaccination clinics and school clinics to be hosted by the Health Department can be found at the department's Web site, www.co.durham.nc.us/departments/phth/. The department also has an H1N1 vaccine information line, 560-7882.

By Neil Offen

noffen@heraldsun.com; 419-6646

DURHAM -- With a limited supply of the H1N1 flu vaccine available, local health officials are trying to make sure those who need it the most get it first.

"The initial limited availability of the vaccine brings about the need to prioritize vaccinations to the key groups identified by the Centers for Disease Control," said Cameron Wolfe, an infectious disease physician at Duke University Health System, at a news conference called by health officials Monday.

Those groups are healthy children and young adults -- particularly school-age children -- between the ages of 2 and 24.

"Vaccines are the most powerful public health tool for controlling influenza, and it is critical that as many persons in the target groups for the vaccine receive the doses that are available as soon as possible," said Gayle Harris, public health director for Durham County.

Durham received two small shipments -- totaling around 1,400 doses -- of the H1N1 flu nasal spray vaccine. The county already has distributed already around half of those doses to health care providers in Durham who did not receive their vaccines directly from the state. The county is also planning two vaccine clinics for elementary school-age children next week.

Officials expect to receive additional doses -- this time of the injectable version of the vaccine -- sometime next week. The Health Department is coordinating its vaccine administration strategies with the Duke Health System "to make sure that all persons at risk for flu complications have access to the vaccines in a timely and efficient manner," Harris said.

Both Wolfe and Harris emphasized the safety of the H1N1 vaccine, while acknowledging that there has been some concern by parents over whether their children should be vaccinated. According to a recent nationwide Associated Press poll, more than a third of parents don't want their kids vaccinated.

"We understand that concern," Wolfe said. "But parents really need to weigh the risk of the vaccine against the risk of getting the flu. We believe the risk of getting the flu is much worse."

Since last May, Durham has identified at least a few dozen cases of H1N1 flu, officials said. While no one has died from the infection, "several of the cases have been quite serious, and they continue to occur," Wolfe said.

Ultimately, all residents should get vaccinated, Harris added. "Our intentions are to eventually offer vaccines to every individual in our community who wants it," she said.