From staff reports

CHAPEL HILL -- The Orange County Health Department has received a limited supply of the H1N1 nasal mist vaccine and will be giving it to healthy, non-pregnant people ages 2 to 49 on Friday.

Two walk-in clinics will be held at 1 p.m. -- one at 300 W. Tryon St. in Hillsborough and the other at 2501 Homestead Road in Chapel Hill. The vaccines will be given to eligible residents until the vaccine supply is exhausted.

The Centers for Disease Control has prioritized the following groups for this initial round of vaccines: Non-pregnant people between the ages of 2 and 24, persons between the ages of 25 and 49 who are healthy, non-pregnant and live with or care for a child less than six months of age.

"These are the first H1N1 clinics the Health Department will offer," said Rosemary Summers, Orange County's health director. "As more nasal mist and injectable vaccine becomes available, we will offer more clinics and additional eligibility groups will be identified."

County public health officials expect that local medical providers have started administering live H1N1 vaccine. Additional vaccine shipments to public health departments, medical providers and local pharmacies are expected within the next two weeks.

The Health Department is posting local flu updates to its Web site at www.co.orange.nc.us/health. Residents without Internet access can call the H1N1 Information Line at 245-2479 for a bilingual message regarding the department's H1N1 vaccine availability.

The nasal mist is a live, attenuated intranasal vaccine (or LAIV). It is licensed for healthy, non-pregnant people from 2 through 49 years of age. The live vaccine virus is attenuated (weakened) so it will not cause illness.

People should not get nasal mist if they have a severe (life-threatening) allergy to eggs or are in close contact to a severely immuno-compromised patient hospitalized in a protected environment.

While certain groups should not get live virus vaccines -- for example pregnant women, people with long-term health problems, and children from 6 months to 2 years of age -- it is important that they be vaccinated. They should get the inactivated form of H1N1 (vaccine that has killed virus in it) when it becomes available.

Health officials also encourage the public to get a seasonal flu shot. For more national flu information visit the CDC at www.cdc.gov and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services www.flu.gov.