Va. prepares to distribute H1N1 vaccine

Virginia health officials are making a last push to vaccinate young adults for the H1N1 flu, along with people up to age 65 with chronic health problems, before making it available to the general population by Christmas.

State Health Commissioner Karen Remley said she hoped vaccines for the swine flu - which now number 2 million doses in the state - would be available to everyone by the holiday.

Children have been vaccinated at the highest rates, partially because of school-based clinics. But the rates fall off for people 19 to 24, who are also in priority groups, and for adults with chronic illnesses.

Remley said health officials will be sending nasal-spray vaccine to pharmacies next week in hopes of reaching more young adults and people with chronic illnesses. Hospital-based providers also have been asked to offer vaccines to hospitalized patients upon discharge and to people who come to hospitals for testing and other procedures. Doctors also are being asked to vaccinate their patients.

During a weekly H1N1 update Thursday, Remley reminded caregivers of children 9 and under who have received a first dose that they need a second dose a month later to have full protection from the pande-mic virus. Some, but not all, schools are providing second doses, and children can also receive them at their pediatrician's office or their local health department.

The rate of people with flu symptoms going to emergency rooms and urgent-care centers remained at 3 to 4 percent of all visits for the third week in a row. That's a drop from late-October rates but still higher than normal for this time of year. Thirty-five Virginians have died from swine-flu-related illnesses, three of them children.

Elizabeth Simpson, (757) 446-2635, elizabeth.simpson@pilotonline.com