Health officials struggle to cope with swine flu vaccine demand

Caught between rising public concern and meager supplies, county health officials are scrambling to meet demand for vaccines against the H1N1 flu virus.

Just two weeks after polls indicated some members of the public were indifferent or didn't want the vaccine, officials say they now are being bombarded with calls requesting the injection.

Concern has shot up in recent days, following the deaths of a 14-year-old Naperville girl and a teenager in Sandwich who both had H1N1 along with underlying medical conditions.

A 47-year-old Naperville man also died Sunday at Edward Hospital with H1N1 as a contributing factor. He also suffered from multiple pre-existing conditions.

Many of the calls are from parents who want to get their children vaccinated, some in the wake of East St. Charles High School shutting down due to widespread absences.

The first vaccine injections and nasal spray for the general public will be made available in DuPage County today after confusion over whether county health officials had any shots to give.

Wednesday afternoon, DuPage officials reported they had no shots, and would have to rely on the live virus in the FluMist nasal spray, which pregnant women and people with underlying medical conditions should not take.

"We would have expected, based on previous communications, the shots would have arrived by now," DuPage County Board President Linda Kurzawa said.

Regarding long waits to make vaccination appointments, she said, "We were overwhelmed. We added 35 more people to the call center and changed the message to say all we have is the mist."

But Wednesday evening, county Health Department spokesman David Hass said there would be a very limited supply of shots available. Healthy people will be encouraged to take the nasal spray, so that people who can't take the spray can get a shot.

If lines are busy at the 24-hour DuPage flu appointment line at (866) 311-1123, he suggested calling at off hours if convenient.

Though he said he did not know how many doses the county had, he said the county had only filled about half its appointments, and would have enough to last through the county's Nov. 8 schedule.

"We don't want to give the impression there's a shortage, because that causes anxiety," he said. "We have every reason to believe there'll be more than enough vaccine for everyone in the United States."

Vaccine availability has become an issue, because manufacturers have shipped only about 13 million of the 120 million doses promised nationwide by now. Officials who expected vaccines by mid-October have been awaiting arrivals in vain every day.

Kane was the first collar county to get shots in large quantity, with 17,500 doses, including 9,500 injections and 8,000 nasal sprays, which are scheduled for distribution at 11 free, walk-in clinics starting Monday, Oct. 26.

In Lake County, officials were still anxiously awaiting arrival of their vaccines after scheduling a series of clinics to start next week. The number of inquiries from the public has increased every day this week, from 110 Monday, to 123 Tuesday, and 161 Wednesday.

"People want to know when they can get the vaccine, and who's in the priority group," spokeswoman Tiffany Bronk said.

Suburban Cook County has held off scheduling clinics until it gets the vaccines and asks callers to try their own medical providers first, though many doctors are still awaiting supplies.

McHenry County will start distributing its 3,300 doses of nasal spray today, but to health care and emergency responders only.

McHenry got about 65 calls Wednesday alone, compared to a dozen or less a week ago, said Joe Gugle, manager of planning personnel and administration for the county health department.

Officials are distributing four posters asking, "Got soap?", "Got cough?", "Got fever?" and "Got vaccine?" with related information.

To calm concerned parents, Gugle tells them they have to wait for the vaccine, but should check the county Web site for updates. He also encourages them to follow the three C's of covering coughs, cleaning hands, and containing the virus by staying home when sick.

Some hospitals, including Advocate hospitals Lutheran General in Park Ridge, Good Shepherd in Barrington and Good Samaritan in Downers Grove - but not Condell in Libertyville - had vaccines, but emphasized they were only for their own inpatients and health care workers in the priority groups.

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