H1N1 Vaccine Update

The AMCNO has participated in several conference calls with the Department of Health and Human Services as well as local health department meetings regarding the H1N1 vaccine. HHS has indicated that the first doses of the vaccine should be available on or about October 15th.

The federal government is purchasing the vaccine and making it available to healthcare providers free of charge along with all of the necessary supplies to administer the vaccine. Since the vaccine will be paid for by the federal government physicians can charge an administrative fee only for administering the vaccine to their patients. Currently the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is recommending the following PRIORITY population to receive the H1N1 vaccination first until the vaccine is available for all recommended groups: pregnant women, people who live or care for children younger than 6 months of age, health care personnel with DIRECT patient contact, children 6 months through 4 years of age, and children 5 through 18 years of age who have chronic medical conditions. 

Once the recommended PRIORITY population is vaccinated or additional vaccine supplies are available, the following groups will be targeted: persons between the ages of 5 through 24 years of age, people from ages 25 through 64 years who are at higher risk because of chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems. Any provider who is interested in participating in providing H1N1 vaccine to patients is encouraged to go to contact the Ohio Department of Health for more information. In addition, the CDC is working on getting information from all 50 states and plans to provide a compilation of the state resources on their web site.

Additional Resources: www.flu.gov  – all information is posted there not only on H1N1 but on seasonal flu as well. You can also access toolkits at this website. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) continues to track the outbreak of human cases of the H1N1 virus and prepare for the upcoming flu season. The CDC has produced a number of documents to help physicians, including an H1N1 flu vaccination planning guide and a list of clinical and public health guidance on the virus. For the entire collection of CDC information on swine flu, go to http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/  The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) H1N1 (swine flu) information line remains open. Please call 866-800-1404 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information from the ODH on the virus, go http://www.odh.ohio.gov/landing/phs_emergency/guidclin.aspx