Swine flu vaccine delivery into Va. delayed

A manufacturer delay will slow the flow of swine flu vaccine into Virginia in coming weeks, but health care providers will continue to vaccinate high-risk people with what’s available.

“The key phrase here at the health department is 'flexibility and patience,'” said State Health Commissioner Karen Remley, who gave an update on vaccine distribution at a Friday news conference.

About 265,000 doses have been shipped to Virginia health care providers, including health departments, doctors and hospitals. The state started receiving H1N1 vaccine during the first week of October. Health care providers and emergency medical services workers were the first to be vaccinated.

People in priority groups began being vaccinated this week, and school-based clinics for children start next week in Hampton Roads.

Friday, however, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that delivery of some swine flu vaccines has been delayed because companies cannot make as much as they had hoped.

Forty million doses had been expected in the country by the end of October, but only about 28 million to 30 million doses will be available.

Remley emphasized that this may cause a delay but not a shortage.

Meanwhile, flu cases continue to rise. Remley said about 6 percent of visits to the state’s sentinel physicians are related to flu illnesses. The sentinel physicians track flu levels across the state.

“That’s the highest it’s been for the last two influenza seasons,” Remley said.

The majority of flu strains reported are H1N1.

She said the state usually peaks at 4.5 percent in a season. She said that hospitals have been able to handle the increase in cases and there have not been any so-called “hospital surges,” in which a facility could not handle the load.

Remley has previously said she had hoped everyone who wanted an H1N1 vaccine would have access to one by Thanksgiving. She said a more reasonable expectation due to the delay might be early December.