Local officials are upset the delivery of thousands of doses of
the H1N1 virus vaccine to Santa Clara County will be delayed
indefinitely.
Local officials are upset the delivery of thousands of doses of the H1N1 virus vaccine to Santa Clara County will be delayed indefinitely.
As of Tuesday, only 8,800 doses of injectable and nasal-spray H1N1 vaccine are scheduled to be delivered locally. That number is down from 211,000 doses promised by federal authorities earlier this year.
“We will be demanding that more of our allocation of H1N1 vaccine be shipped and made available immediately to reduce the number of people who might become infected with the virus,” President of the board of supervisors Liz Kniss said Tuesday. “We have been patient. Now it is time to be vocal and assertive with the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and the manufacturers of the injectable vaccine.”
The doses expected to arrive in Santa Clara County by the end of this week will not come close to serving the local population, county officials said. About 800,000 people in the county fall into the federal criteria of residents who are at the highest risk of illness or serious complications from the pandemic virus formerly known as swine flu.
“We merit much more vaccine given the size of our population in Santa Clara County,” Kniss said.
As of Oct. 21, there have been 329 hospitalizations and 10 deaths related to the H1N1 virus in Santa Clara County, according to Joy Alexiou of the Santa Clara County Public Health Department. The virus first appeared locally in May 2009.
The injectable and nasal-spray forms of the vaccine were not developed and made available to the public until earlier this month. While initial shipments of the vaccine will only include 8,800 doses, Alexiou said more are expected “in the next few weeks.”
The county’s public health department will have a free vaccination clinic at the county fairgrounds Nov. 7. The clinic will provide the vaccine only for people defined by federal health officials as being at the highest risk, including pregnant women; caregivers of infants younger than six months; children and young adults between the ages of six months and 24 years; adults age 25 to 64 who have risk-heightening medical conditions; and health care and emergency services workers.
About 50 medical providers in Santa Clara County, including the PHD, have received only about 14,000 of the state’s designated share of 400,000 H1N1 vaccine nasal spray doses. The injectable version of the vaccine has not been delivered to California providers participating in the federal vaccination program, except Kaiser.
The distribution plan appears to be characterized by “a lack of equity,” Kniss said.
Added County Executive Jeff Smith, “We’re not sure if the problem is a faulty distribution plan at the state or federal level, or a poorly executed one. Obviously, we’re concerned about the health of county residents.”
Santa Clara County Public Health Department H1N1 vaccination clinics
At the county fairgrounds Expo Hall, 334 Tully Road, San Jose, CA 95111
-Saturday, Nov. 7, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
-Sunday, Nov. 15, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
-Saturday, Nov. 21, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
