Carter County Health Department Administrative Director Mendy Spohn said the H1N1 vaccine offers the best means of protection against the widely circulating influenza virus.
Those initially targeted to receive the vaccine are children 6 months to 18 years of age, pregnant women, and health care workers who care for acutely ill patients. Spohn said that school-aged children remain a priority group for receipt of the H1N1 vaccine and additional school-based clinics have been scheduled.
“We have plans in place to provide H1N1 (nasal spray) vaccine in all of the schools in Carter, Love, Johnston and Jefferson Counties by Thanksgiving, assuming the vaccine supply remains steady,” she said.
H1N1 vaccine is available through county health departments for children aged six months to 18 years with underlying medical conditions and pregnant women.
Once larger quantities of vaccine arrive in the state, private health care providers will begin to receive vaccine and distribute it in the same manner as seasonal flu vaccine.
To ask questions about the H1N1 flu or vaccine, call the Carter County health department at (580) 223-9705 or call the state health department’s toll-free H1N1 hotline at (866) 278-7134.
