Swine flu vaccine arrives in Alaska

The first shipment of H1N1 vaccine arrived in Alaska and is on its way to be distributed throughout the state. 4,200 doses of swine flu vaccine are currently being divvied up and sent across Alaska. The vaccine is in the form of a nasal spray to be given out to healthy children ages 2 to 4. The Mat-Su Public Health Center is scheduled to receive five-hundred-and-twenty units.

Mat-Su public health nurse manager Jane Conard said that the Public Health Center needs the Section of Epidemiology’s permission to release the vaccine to other health care providers. Once the permission is given, a courier will deliver the vaccine to the Sunshine Community Health Center.

The nasal spray vaccine is not licensed for use in children younger than two years old or for adults with underlying medical conditions and pregnant women. It also cannot be administered at the same time as the seasonal flu vaccine. 

Sharon Montanigno, Executive Director of the Sunshine Clinic, says her understanding is no vaccine will make it to the upper valley until November.  There are five different manufacturers making five different vaccines, each with their own specialty.  One manufacturer is working on a vaccine for pregnant women and adults with health issues, another is working on a vaccine for small children etc.  What vaccine comes next depends on which manufacturer is able to distribute.

Public Health spokesman Greg Wilkinson said that at this time Alaska’s Public Health has not placed any more orders of the vaccine. However, subsequent shipments of vaccine will include both the nasal spray and the injectable forms recommended for all age groups.