H1N1 Vaccine Demand High as Supplies Increase

On a cold, dreary November day, hundreds of people -- many pushing strollers or toting well-bundled toddlers and infants -- lined up here for free vaccine to protect themselves and their children against the novel influenza A (H1N1) virus.

As in many other communities across the nation, the new vaccine has been difficult to find.

"We've had a really hard time," said Angela Kruger, who braved wind chills in the 30s along with her four foster children -- all younger than 6 years of age -- while waiting in line during the Johnson County Health Department's H1N1 vaccine clinic on Nov. 24. "(The children) had a clinic at their school, but they ran out really fast. It's frustrating."

Kruger, a Stanley, Kan., resident, said one of her foster children had received one dose of H1N1 vaccine at her pediatrician's office, but supplies have been tight, and children ages 6 months to 9 years are recommended to receive two H1N1 doses 21 days apart.

As of Nov. 25, the CDC said 61.2 million doses of the vaccine had been made available to the states.

Anne Schuchat, M.D., director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said during a Nov. 20 media briefing that as of Nov. 18, 93 percent of available vaccine had been ordered by the states.

"We think states are very rapidly keeping up with the new doses, and the doses are getting ordered and shipped out where they are promptly being used by providers and venues around the country," she said.

But finding those providers or venues and meeting their eligibility requirements hasn't been easy for prospective vaccinees. The Nov. 24 clinic in Johnson County was open to people in all of the CDC's recommended groups, whereas an earlier clinic offered by the county was limited to pregnant women, young children, health care workers with direct patient contact and caregivers of infants.

"This is the first one I've seen that older children were eligible to go to," said Lenexa, Kan., resident Amanda Armstrong, a pregnant woman who attended the clinic with her children ages 7, 9 and 12. "We tried our family physician and haven't been able to get it there. I'm having twins, and we want them to have some sort of protection."

Armstrong, whose infants are due in April, said she had been looking for the vaccine for weeks.

"None of my doctors' offices have had it," she said. "There have been a lot of canceled clinics. It's hard to get."

Adding to the frustration here near the Kansas-Missouri border is the fact that the H1N1 vaccine has been available to Missouri residents in Kansas City, Mo.-area retail clinics, such as Walgreens, but Kansas residents are not eligible to receive the vaccine at those locations.

"I just want to say how sorry I am that people have been so frustrated, that people have had to wait in line and that people haven't always found vaccine at the end of the line," Schuchat said during the Nov. 20 media briefing.

Schuchat said 43 states were reporting widespread influenza activity Nov. 20, down from 46 a week earlier.

That doesn't necessarily mean, however, that the pandemic has peaked, she noted.

"I wish I knew if we had hit the peak," Schuchat said. "What I can say is that even when a peak has occurred, half of the people who are going to become ill haven't gotten ill yet. And that a peak of influenza-like activity in the outpatient setting doesn't mean the same thing as a peak in hospitalizations and deaths. We often see a lag in the latter two indicators."

Schuchat said it's possible there may be a spike in illness after the holidays.

"There's a long flu season ahead with frequent travel, lots of people coming together," she said. "We might see an increase in disease, and we want everybody to take (what) steps they can to try to prevent that."

Those steps, she said, include being vaccinated, staying home when ill, frequent hand-washing, and covering coughs and sneezes with tissues or sleeves.