H1N1 doses arriving slowly

So far, area officials say they are having a tough time keeping the H1N1 vaccine in stock.

"Unfortunately, it’s a lot less of the vaccine coming in due to the short supply from the manufacturer," said Miguel Escobedo, public health preparedness manager for the Ector County Health Department.

The health department has only been able to serve some of the "priority groups" for contracting the influenza strain, Escobedo said. It will have a clinic Friday to provide a second dose to children between 2 to 9 years old who already received the first dose from the health department. It will also provide the first dose for some children 6 months to 4 years.

Escobedo said other priority groups would be able to get shots when they become available. These include children ages 6 months to 4 years, children between 5 and 18 with underlying medical conditions, caregivers of children under 6 months and pregnant women.

"As you know, the children are the ones that are most affected, and they have more of a probability of getting sick than the older people," he said.

Escobedo said several providers around town had vaccines, and that residents should call 2-1-1 Texas for information on whether their doctor has it, as well as to answer questions about the vaccine.

"It’s been coming little by little," he said. "Not all the providers have the vaccine yet."

Between Sept. 20 and Nov. 7, the Texas Department of State Health Services reports Ector County has 11 hospitalizations from H1N1 or swine flu, with two of those people being sent to intensive care. No one has died in the county from the virus since it first came to prominence in April.

There has been one death attributed to the disease in Andrews County.

Meanwhile, there is also a shortage of vaccine for the seasonal flu throughout the state, Escobedo said. While the county health department hasn’t seen very many cases so far, that is expected to change starting later this month into December and January.

"Up to right now, most of the cases we’ve seen of influenza are H1N1," Escobedo said.

Ector County Independent School District will hold two information sessions on flu for parents today, one each in English and Spanish.

Laura Mathew, ECISD health services director, said the sessions are being held to dispel "myths" about H1N1 and seasonal flu.

"The biggest myth that has come about is that the H1N1 vaccine is unsafe because the federal government has rushed it through the FDA," she said.

But Mathew said that more than 90 percent of people who get the vaccine have no problems with it.

"The benefit of getting the vaccine outweighs the risk of getting sick," she said. "You are more likely to have problems with influenza than you are with the flu shot."

Others don’t feel that they need the vaccine because they are in good health. But Mathew said that 30 to 40 percent of the people who have died from H1N1 were considered healthy before they contracted the virus.

Area county H1N1 hospitalizations-intensive care admissions-deaths (hospitalizations from Sept. 20 to Nov. 7, deaths from April 15 to Nov. 7).

>> Ector: 11-2-0.

>> Andrews: 2-0-1.

>> Gaines: 2-1-0.

>> Midland: 4-1-0.

>> Reeves: 1-0-0.

>> Ward: 2-1-0.

>> Winkler: 1-0-0.

Source: Texas Department of State Health Services.

ECISD Flu information session

>> When: 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. today (Spanish), 3:30-4:30 p.m. today (English).

>> Where: Family education Center, 301 E. Clements St.

>> Call: 334-7118.

Ector County Health Department H1N1 clinics

>> Who for: Healthy 2- to 9-year-olds who received the first H1N1 dose at the health department, along with children 6 months to 4 years old who are healthy or have underlying health conditions and are uninsured or underinsured and without a medical home or primary care provider.

>> When: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday.

>> Where: Ector County Health Department, 221 N. Texas Ave.

For information on whether your medical provider has the H1N1 vaccine, call 2-1-1.