Injecting Themselves Into the Situation
County has given 21,000 H1N1 shots in last few days
By C. GARCIA
Updated 4:00 PM PST, Tue, Oct 27, 2009
Concerns have been raised that some people are jumping the line for their swine flu shot.
Public health officials said the first waves of the vaccine should go to those who fall in the top target groups, including pregnant women, caretakers of children younger than six months old and children, but there have been reports that people outside of those priority groups are getting vaccinated, too.
The county said its staff is doing an outstanding job getting the vaccine to those who need it most but admits there could be some healthy adults who have also received it.
"We've heard about the incidents, about the people who are healthy or who don't meet the priority groups," San Diego County Health Officer Wilma Wooten said. "It's possible that that is happening, but that's a small number compared to the larger number of people who are being vaccinated."
Wooten said county workers are using their best clinical judgment when it comes to giving the vaccine to the public and have turned some people away. But workers are not asking for proof that people are pregnant, for example, or have very small babies at home.
People continued to flock to San Diego health centers for the swine flu vaccine on Tuesday, with more than 21,000 shots given out in just the past few days.
"This is worth the wait -- something to protect my kids," Mivi Santos-Tran said.
Santos-Tran has two little girls who were vaccinated, part of a steady stream of people visiting the Public Health Center on Ruffin Road.
As of 3:30 p.m on Tuesday, county officials said that all of its public health centers still had a supply of the vaccine, although that could change as early as Tuesday evening.
First Published: Oct 27, 2009 3:50 PM PST
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