Those wanting the newly arrived swine flu vaccine might have to wait a little longer.
The Orange County Health Department received 700 doses of H1N1 nasal mist vaccine last week, but they will not distribute them until Friday.
The UNC campus has yet to receive its shipments.
Campus Health Services is expecting its first shipment to arrive within the next two weeks, said Mary Covington, assistant vice chancellor of Campus Health Services. It will include both shot and nasal mist forms.
Covington said her staff ordered more than 30,000 doses — one for each student, faculty member and staff member. She said weekly shipments will contain 1,500 to 2,000 doses.
“Everyone who wants a dose will be able to get it,” Covington said. “It’s just a question of who gets it first.”
The state received 52,000 doses last week and will distribute them to metropolitan areas, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
How the vaccine works
The nasal mist is meant for healthy, non-pregnant people between ages 2 and 49. Pregnant women and people with weak immune systems and heart problems cannot take the vaccine.
“It’s a live virus, and that’s why there are restrictions as to who can get it,” said Sue Rankin, the communicable disease coordinator for the Orange County Health Department. “It doesn’t give you the flu if you are perfectly healthy.”
Campus clinics to be created
Covington said Campus Health has received many questions about the vaccinations, indicating a high level of interest.
“It is a good sign because it is the best thing to prevent a third wave being so severe,” Covington said.
Health clinics will be set up around campus to administer the vaccine, but locations have not been determined.
With high demand for the vaccine, clinics will initially take only appointments and offer the vaccinations one day a week. Additional days could be added, Covington said.
At the appointments, patients seeking the nasal mist must confirm they are between 2 and 49 years old and have no health conditions, she said.
The nasal mist comes in a syringe with no needle, inserted partway into one nostril to squirt half of the dosage. The steps are repeated for the second nostril.
Covington said the procedure for health clinic appointments has not yet been finalized, but the vaccination process should take between 10 and 15 minutes.
Updates about the H1N1 vaccines will be sent out in e-mails and Alert Carolina messages, Covington said.
County vaccinations
Rankin said the county health department will first offer its doses to health care workers, EMS workers and first responders because they interact with sick people.
The vaccine will also go to some pediatric practices that have not received doses from the state.
“Seven hundred doses don’t go far,” Rankin said. “We should be getting more shipments throughout the next few weeks.”
GET VACCINATED
Time: Friday from 1 p.m. until the supply is exhausted
Location: Southern Human Services Center, 2501 Homestead Road
Info: www.co.nc.us/health
Hotline: 245-2479
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
