Swine flu is not only rattling nerves before the winter season, it’s also making the vaccination process quite a chore.
San Franciscans should plan to receive not one but three flu vaccines this year — one for the regular flu and the double-dose swine flu vaccine, said Dr. Susan E. Fernyak of the San Francisco Department of Public Health.
The seasonal flu vaccines are available now, she said. Public Health Department officials kicked off the annual flu season at their headquarters Thursday by providing those shots to residents and several top officials, including Supervisor Bevan Dufty, Muni safety chief James Dougherty and fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White.
The two swine flu shots, which must be taken three weeks apart, won’t be available until late October, Fernyak said. Anyone at risk of contracting swine flu — which is also called H1N1 and has claimed several lives in the Bay Area — should receive the vaccinations.
The epidemic could cause “between 30,000 and 90,000 deaths in the U.S., concentrated among children and young adults,” according to a recent report from the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
The federal government is supplying the swine flu vaccines for free to localities, with San Francisco receiving 100,000 doses in late October, according to the Mayor’s Office. Each week after that first shipment, The City will receive 30,000 doses at a time.
Although the shots are free, those who receive them may have to pay small administrative fees, Fernyak said.
The good news is that there should be an adequate supply of both vaccinations for city residents, she said.
However, certain at-risk groups will receive swine flu vaccinations first. The initial supply will go to hospital workers and emergency responders, the Mayor’s Office said. Pregnant women and young people from 6 months to 24 years old are also among the first to receive the vaccine.
The next batch will go to anyone from 24 to 65 with chronic conditions, city officials say. And if there’s more to pass around, folks older than 65 who “have demonstrated some immunity” to the swine flu strain will also be able to receive the vaccine, officials said.
The priority list has raised some controversy, particularly since some elected officials are included on it. Fernyak joked that elected officials are those “who we like to count on being able to come to work.”
Dufty said he would be willing to give up his swine flu shot to someone who might need it more. Then again, he said he will leave that call up to health officials.
“I will rely on their guidance,” Dufty said.
Protecting those in need
There are several groups that officials recommend get H1N1, or swine flu, vaccines:
- Pregnant women
- Household contacts and caregivers for children younger than 6 months old
- Health care and emergency medical services personnel
- All people from 6 months to 24 years old
- Persons 25 to 64 years old who have health conditions associated with a higher risk of medical complications from influenza.
Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
