Howard County health officials expected to receive 50,000 doses of the H1N1 — or swine flu — vaccine from the federal government by the end of October.
 
As of Tuesday, they had received 2,000 doses.
 
“Clearly, there’s a backlog,” said Dr. Peter Beilenson, Howard County’s health officer. “We clearly have a shortage.”

And, evidently, a significant one.

The health officer said it would be “a long time from now” before residents in the non-priority groups would be eligible to receive the H1N1 virus vaccine.
 
“There is certainly a chance that we won’t have enough [vaccine] until well into next year,” he said. “By then, it will probably be too late. The epidemic will have peaked.”

David Paulson, spokesman for the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, said the state expects to get 1.6 million doses of the vaccine by the end of November and a total of about 4.5 million doses eventually. But he cautioned that the numbers are constantly changing because of the shortage.

"Every time they give us an estimate, it gets reduced," he said of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "There are problems in the production process. We have been told there is one company that's manufacturing the vaccine that has not yet put its product in the pipeline. They want to do a very thorough job and make sure that all of the vaccine is in perfect condition. The CDC wants to ensure that all of the vaccine is safe and effective."

Of the 200,000 or so doses the state has received, 60 percent has been distributed to private doctors and small clinics that serve the priority populations, such as pediatric doctors and women's health doctors; 25 percent has gone to local health departments; 10 percent has gone to hospitals to vaccinate their workers; and 5 percent has gone to colleges and universities, Paulson said.

Paulson said he was hopeful that the state will have vaccinated enough of the priority groups by late November that officials could provide the H1N1 vaccine to healthy adults.

"We expect that to take place eventually," he said. "We're urging the public to have some patience and allow the priority groups to get their vaccine first."

County clinics start

The county health department held its first H1N1 vaccine clinic, for pregnant women only, on Monday, and inoculated about 100, said Lisa de Hernandez, a spokeswoman for the agency.

Three additional clinics are planned for this Friday for school children at Bellows Spring Elementary, in Ellicott City, and Elkridge and Rockburn elementary schools, in Elkridge.
 
“After those clinics, we will have 21 doses of FluMist left and 16 doses of the shots left,” Beilenson said. “We are literally getting it all out the door as soon as we get it in.”

Howard County has planned 103 H1N1 clinics for pregnant women, people between the ages of 6 months and 24 years, those  between 25 and 64 who are at higher risk because of chronic health problems or weakened immune systems, and those who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age.

But, because of a lack of the vaccine, the clinics cannot proceed until more supplies come in.

“Do we have the clinics? Yes. Do we have the locations? Yes. Do we have the dates? No. All around the metro area, they’re going through the same situation,” de Hernandez said. “We do the three clinics on Friday, then we wait.”
 
Maryland initially expected to get 1 million doses of the vaccines by the end of October, but now expects slightly more than 500,000. So far, only about 200,000 doses have arrived in the state.
 
In the United States, 28 pregnant women and 86 children have died from complications related to the H1N1 virus. Of those 86 children, 60 had underlying neurological disorders, according to information from the Centers for Disease Control.
 
About 36,000 people die annually from the regular, seasonal flu, according to the CDC.
 
“Honestly, this is like the seasonal flu, except more mild,” Beilenson said. “However, it is clearly more significant for pregnant women.”

Beilenson said getting the “non-priority population” — healthy adults older than 25 — vaccinated is not a concern. Many adults older than 40 have built up an immunity to the virus because they were alive during earlier strains of the swine flu decades ago, he added.
 
“I’m much more concerned about the priority populations,” he said. “It would be nice to have more doses. That being said, this really is like the seasonal flu. The vast majority of everyone who gets this does absolutely fine after four or five days of feeling cruddy. There is no need for hysteria. The world is not ending.”

This article has been updated.

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user comments (5)

user milton says...

I still don’t understand why my tax dollars have to pay for non-county residents to come to Howard County and get a free flu shot, but this particular flu clinic can be limited to pregnant women. If Peter Beilenson is correct in his recent letter to the editor that federal and state rules do not allow him to offer free vaccine to some people but not others, how is he able to exclude everyone but pregnant women from this clinic?

Posted 1:00 PM, 10.21.09 | Permalink

user independent says...

Now another healthy young person has died from the virus in Maryland. This shortage was predicted by someone on this site posting that vaccines were being given to people who've already had the virus. At best there are things afoot that are not being made public, at worst egos are driving decisions instead of sensible evaluation of options like better testing.

Posted 7:03 AM, 10.22.09 | Permalink

user hocomudgeon says...

So with 8 months to prepare, "the government" can't get sufficient supplies of vaccine. And we're about to hand over to "them" our entire health care system?

Posted 8:57 AM, 10.22.09 | Permalink

user belovedcartoonmouse says...

I can't wait until the government screws up all of my healthcare as opposed to just some of it. Swine Flu. Yawn. Wake me up when the next virus overreaction occurs.

Posted 7:43 PM, 10.22.09 | Permalink

user melloyellow says...

I don't understand Beilenson's decision to hold clinics at elementary schools where kids are age 5 and up. These vaccines should go perhaps to daycare centers and/or pediatricians so that kids age 6 mos and up can receive them. He is excluding a vulnerable population with the limited supply of vaccine that he has age 6 months to 5 yrs. who are at higher risk of death by H1N1 than the kids at the elementary schools. My 2 yr old son was lucky to receive one in another county a few weeks ago, but the daycare he attends is getting slammed with almost half of the center, where kids as young as 6 weeks, are sick.

Posted 8:03 PM, 10.24.09 | Permalink