Health Department asks for patience with H1N1 vaccine

Danielle Switalski

Although frustrations at the limited amount of H1N1 vaccinations available in Sanders County are mounting, the county Health Department is urging everyone to be patient as priority groups remain narrow and allocations small.

Vaccine allocations are given out based on population, with Sanders County receiving approximately 100 doses per week.  Although other counties are receiving higher amounts, it is in direct correlation with population and the majority of surrounding counties have also been forced to stick with the vaccine priority groups created by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.  So far, said Health Officer for Sanders County Cindy Morgan, the only county she knows of that has started to give the vaccine to adults, including high risk patients, is Flat Head County.

“In every county, the CDC has said what the target groups are and then from that counties would still need to prioritize vaccines based on vaccine allocations, so every county has started out with a smaller target group based on supply,” said Morgan.

The initial target groups for Sanders County now include pregnant women, children ages six months through 24 months, people living with children younger than six months and health care providers.  Morgan said as vaccine supply begins to stabilize they will expand their priority groups to include vaccinating adults with medical conditions, however, supply has not yet stabilized in Sanders County. 

“I understand people’s frustrations, but we also are frustrated because we don’t have it to give, it is beyond our control, they continue to tell us that they should improve over the next couple weeks, but situations can change,” said Morgan.

Morgan is confident, however, that vaccine supply should start to improve over the next few weeks.  Morgan said when it comes to the priority groups they are following the science-based vaccine recommendations from the CDC while looking at trends of who is getting sick from the illness and the high risk groups. 

“We also need to ensure equitable access to the vaccine, and I understand on the individual level it doesn’t seem equitable, but the Health Department needs to make sure that they (the vaccines) are equitable across the entire county,” said Morgan.

One concern for the Health Department at the moment deals with children in preschool.  Parents of preschool children are allowed to bring their children to the vaccine clinics held at the schools, however, the difficulty is the fact that children under nine need to be vaccinated twice and there are still many children who have yet to have their first vaccination.  There will be future dates scheduled for school-based clinics.

“I have a team of people where we meet and make decisions when we have large scale events like this, and we had to narrow it down based on supply,” said Morgan. 

Flat Head County.

“In every county, the CDC has said what the target groups are and then from that counties would still need to prioritize vaccines based on vaccine allocations, so every county has started out with a smaller target group based on supply,” said Morgan.

The initial target groups for Sanders County now include pregnant women, children ages six months through 24 months, people living with children younger than six months and health care providers.  Morgan said as vaccine supply begins to stabilize they will expand their priority groups to include vaccinating adults with medical conditions, however, supply has not yet stabilized in Sanders County. 

“I understand people’s frustrations, but we also are frustrated because we don’t have it to give, it is beyond our control, they continue to tell us that they should improve over the next couple weeks, but situations can change,” said Morgan.continue to tell us that they should improve over the next couple weeks, but situations can change,” said Morgan.

Morgan is confident, however, that vaccine supply should start to improve over the next few weeks.  Morgan said when it comes to the priority groups they are following the science-based vaccine recommendations from the CDC while looking at trends of who is getting sick from the illness and the high risk groups. 

“We also need to ensure equitable access to the vaccine, and I understand on the individual level it doesn’t seem equitable, but the Health Department needs to make sure that they (the vaccines) are equitable across the entire county,” said Morgan.

One concern for the Health Department at the moment deals with children in preschool.  Parents of preschool children are allowed to bring their children to the vaccine clinics held at the schools, however, the difficulty is the fact that children under nine need to be vaccinated twice and there are still many children who have yet to have their first vaccination.  There will be future dates scheduled for school-based clinics.

“I have a team of people where we meet and make decisions when we have large scale events like this, and we had to narrow it down based on supply,” said Morgan.

Reporter Danielle Switalski can be reached at Reporter@vp-mi.com.