WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- As South Florida's large-scale swine flu vaccinations begin today, the region's health officials have a message for those eager to get the first doses: Relax and wait.
The directors of health departments that divvy up swine flu vaccine in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties asked the public on Friday to sit back for now, so that the limited number of initial doses can go to those most at risk from the new H1N1 virus.
The counties have 92,000 doses -- 34,000 in Broward, 29,500 in Miami-Dade and 28,500 in Palm Beach -- to start vaccinating an estimated 2 million South Floridians in high-priority groups. The groups include young people ages 6 months to 24 years, pregnant women, caretakers of babies under 6 months, those with chronic illness and health care workers.
Officials expect to get new shipments every week, and said that they can serve everyone who wants the vaccine over the next 12 weeks.
"Flu does not peak until January or February. There will be the opportunity for everyone to get vaccinated in time for that," said Dr. Paula Thaqi, head of the Broward Health Department.
People over 65, who are at high risk for the regular seasonal flu, have not been hit as hard as young people by swine flu, and should resist the urge to demand swine flu vaccinations if they are healthy, officials said.
"We are going to ask our senior citizens to be patient," said Dr. Alina Alonso, director of the Palm Beach County Health Department.
Officials in all three counties have, for now, reserved H1N1 vaccine mainly for their own programs and hundreds of pediatricians, family doctors, obstetricians, clinics and hospitals that cater to high-priority groups. People should turn first to their private physicians for vaccinations, officials said. Doctors who got the doses have signed agreements to use it only for those high-risk groups.
Each county plans a public campaign.
Starting Monday, nurses from the Broward Health Department will set up in six schools to vaccinate all children who have consent from their parents.
In Palm Beach, staffers will vaccinate at seven department clinics, including in Delray Beach -- but not at schools during class hours -- and will visit neighborhoods where many people do not have their own doctors.
Nasal spray vaccine, which has the most doses available at first, can only be given to healthy people ages 2 to 49. But each county has flu shots that have been deemed safe for all, including pregnant women and the chronically ill. Even so, officials said high-risk people without access to a doctor who can administer the vaccine may have to wait.
As more vaccine trickles in each week, health officials said they would visit more schools and send doses to colleges, medical associations, jails, organizations that serve the developmentally disabled and day care centers. They plan to set up vaccination sessions in public places, such as after-school centers. Health officials said they will eventually release vaccine to supermarkets, drugstores and retail outlets.
"We think everyone in the public recognizes the need to vaccinate all the priority groups first," Thaqi said.
Swine flu vaccine is free, paid for by the federal government, but those giving it can charge recipients up to $25 that insurers will likely reimburse. Public agencies will not charge.
Officials said they know that some high-risk people are skeptical of the new vaccine and may refuse it, but said studies show the vaccine is as safe as normal flu shots.
Most cases of swine flu have been mild and clear up in a few days, but the virus has hospitalized 872 in Florida and killed 121 -- 16 in Broward and Palm Beach counties -- some of whom were young adults in prime health.
"There's no way for you to know, if you come down with this virus, if you will be one of those [seriously] affected," Alonso said.
