NY to get first swine flu vaccines
By Valerie Bauman |
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York will get its first doses of swine flu vaccine this week, with many reserved for health care workers, including those opposed to the state’s requirement to get vaccinated.
Upstate New York will get about 100,000 doses and New York City will receive about 80,000, according to the state Department of Health. Health officials placed orders for the first round of vaccinations on Sept. 30.
“We’re going into a third flu season in one calendar year,” said Dr. Richard Daines, the state commissioner of health. “And there’s a lesson there. Every time flu rips through our system it creates harm.”
Priority will be given to those the Centers for Disease Control’s considers at high risk. That includes health care workers, pregnant women, children and young adults and people between ages 25 and 64 who have health conditions that could lead to medical complications from the flu. New York will be getting only the mist vaccine in its first order. That particular type is not recommended for pregnant women or people with underlying health conditions.
Later, the state will have vaccinations that are injected. New York state has about 10 million people who fit the priority groups, according to the state Health Department.
The first wave will be distributed to all 57 county health departments and to about 150 hospitals and health centers. Outside of New York City, 2,900 health care offices and hospitals have registered ahead to order the vaccine, which will be released in waves. It will also be made available on college campuses and pharmacies.
Each health facility will be able to decide how to distribute the doses, as long as it starts with people on the priority list.
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New York officials expect the state to receive 6.7 million doses for upstate and 5 million doses for the city. It is the first state to mandate flu vaccinations for health care workers.
Hospitals, home care agencies, and outpatient clinics will have to determine how to enforce the requirement. It’s unclear what that would involve, but some health workers opposed to inoculation are concerned they could lose their jobs if they refuse.
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