H1N1 vaccine trickling in to South Texas

EDINBURG — The first doses of the H1N1 vaccine were in South Texas on Monday but it may be several weeks before they’re available in large numbers.

A 19-county area serviced by the Department of State Health Services’ Region 11 office received a few hundred doses of the vaccine in FluMist form, said Dr. Brian Smith, the regional medical director. Weekly allotments should expand beginning in mid-October.

Some 1.7 million doses are estimated for Texas in the next few weeks, half of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s initial projections.

This week’s shipment and ones in following weeks will be targeted for pregnant women, children and other high-risk groups, Smith said. It may be January before all the state’s residents get their shot at the vaccine.

"We appreciate people’s patience," he said. "It’s going to allow us to hit the highest of the high risk groups."

The state expects to receive 237,000 doses of the FluMist this week that will be given to healthy children between 2 and 3 years of age.

Private providers will receive their own shipment of the vaccine beginning next week, Smith said. But the first shipment may not be enough for private providers — or public health departments — to host clinics for high priority groups.

Hidalgo County health director Eddie Olivarez said his department will receive the vaccine this week, but he won’t have large enough numbers to do anything with it until at least next week.

Once the H1N1 vaccine is available in large doses, health directors face a challenge in convincing people to take it.

A poll released last week by Consumer Reports found 34 percent of adults would get the vaccine and 35 percent would have their children vaccinated.

Many Americans are concerned about the safety of the vaccine or aren’t overly worried about the dangers of the virus.

Olivarez said he expects a greater percentage of Rio Grande Valley residents to get the vaccine when it is available because of how hard the area was hit by H1N1 in the spring.