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by Luther Dorr
Mille Lacs County Public Health Nursing director Janelle Schroeder expects to have 500 doses of H1N1 vaccine by the end of the week.
The doses – 100 of them injectable and 400 of the nasal type – will then be distributed to children nine years old and younger.
The injectable doses will go to those with highest risk, such as children with asthma or chronic respiratory problems.
“I’ve asked school nurses to identify those with the highest risk and then families will be notified of dates and times,” she said.
The nasal doses will be given in clinics at schools but not before Nov. 16th, Schroeder said.
Schroeder plans to start at the northern end of the county and work down to the south, saying she expects Sherburne County will help with children in the Princeton School District because there are many from that county who attend school in Princeton.
The decisions on criteria for who gets the doses are made by the state, Schroeder said, because of a contract with the Minnesota Department of Health.
Schroeder would make no estimate of when more doses might become available, saying distribution has been “spotty.”
“The state is aware of those distribution problems and is working on that,” she said. “I just don’t dare say when we might get more.”
Reports of flu have tapered a bit in the county, she said, as they have across the state.
She recommends getting vaccinated, when vaccine becomes available, even if you have had the flu.
Antiviral medicine such as Tamiflu and Relenza, available by prescription only, is in stock in the area at the Coborn’s pharmacies in Princeton and Mora for those who have no insurance or not enough insurance. The medicine is also available at other pharmacies.
The flu line run by the Minnesota Department of Health, (866-259-4655) is up and running and worth calling, Schroeder said.
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