Managing Editor
In light of this week's announcement that North Dakota suffered its first death as a result of the H1N1 flu, area residents are sure to be disappointed that there are no H1N1 vaccine clinics this week in Williams, Divide, Mountrail or McKenzie counties.
"It is disappointing, but we'll be receiving some shipments," said Williston's Upper Missouri Health Unit public information officer Daphne Clark.
Clark said when the North Dakota Department of Health does its vaccine allotments, it takes about two weeks to get to the providers. State health officials said Monday about 21,000 doses of the H1N1 vaccine are to be allocated to the state late this week. The allocation is to include the nasal spray FluMist and the injectable flu shot.
Clark is hoping the larger allotment to the state this time means more vaccine for the health unit to use at its next round of clinics. "They base it on population and then they divide it between the facilities in the area that have ordered it," Clark said of how the state disperses allocated vaccine. "They also base it on the vaccine type that it is and who they are going to vaccinate."
The shipment of vaccine the health unit received for its first H1N1 clinics in the region this past week was targeted for children ages 6 months to 18 years. Clark said a total of 311 children received the vaccine this past Friday during its Williston clinic at the health unit offices.
Those 311 children were vaccinated after the health unit received about 289 adult doses of the vaccine.
Because young children receive only half an adult dose of the vaccine, a larger number of children could be vaccinated.
Area residents formed a long line outside of the health unit during Friday's clinic as parents and their children anxiously waited for the chance to get vaccinated. Clark said the health unit did get some complaints that they didn't get the vaccine.
"We want people to know it's not as easy as going down the line and saying we have this many doses so this many people can go," she said. "It's trickier than that."
Decisions are made regarding whether a person may receive the FluMist or the shot, which impacts the number of people who may receive vaccine.
Overall, Clark felt the first week of H1N1 vaccine clinics didn't go too badly while adding, "There is always room for improvement."
The last information Clark saw indicates larger shipments of the H1N1 vaccine should start to appear in November. The H1N1 virus is spreading rapidly across the country, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting 46 states as having widespread flu activity, including North Dakota.
This aggressive virus now has its first victim in North Dakota, a man who was older than 60 and had underlying medical conditions. The individual is identified as being from northwestern North Dakota.
"Our sympathies go out to that family, wherever they are at," Clark said.
The majority of the H1N1 deaths so far this year involve children, so the age of North Dakota's first flu victim is somewhat surprising. However, the fact the individual had underlying health conditions is what likely contributed to his death from the flu.
"If someone has those underlying health conditions, even seasonal influenza can impact them hard," Clark said. "Even seasonal influenza is not a minor disease; it can have huge impacts."
She said health officials really appreciate everyone's patience when it comes to distributing available vaccine.
"We're really going to keep trying to get the vaccine out as soon as we get it," she said. "It's not going to be perfect every time we do it."
Clark encourages regional residents to refer to the health unit Web page at www.umdhu.org to find out when the next vaccine clinics are to be held. There also are other links on the Web page about the H1N1 flu.
Comments