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Oct 23, 2009 5:51 pm US/Central
Reality Check: How Are H1N1 Vaccines Divided Up?
ST. PAUL (WCCO) ―
The Minnesota Health Department said supplies of the H1N1 vaccine are coming in slower than expected, and it will be some time before it is available to the general public.
BUT officials say our supply is roughly the same as vaccine deliveries to other states.
Many of you are asking: Is that true?
Here's what we found:
The Centers for Disease Control say production of the H1N1 vaccine is uneven and some states are getting it faster than others.
IN FACT, the
CDC calculates how much vaccine to allocate based on a state's population, and Minnesota's no different.
The state has been allocated 210,000 doses so far, and 170,000 have been delivered.
Wisconsin got 237,000 doses, Iowa got 135,000, North Dakota got 30,900 and South Dakota got 39,900.
"We're just having the vaccine come in little bitty dribs and drabs -- small shipments," said Buddy Ferguson, spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Health. "And for that reason there may be temporarily an imbalance between one part of the country and another."
Here's what you NEED TO KNOW.
The vaccine is shipped from four regional depots. It is delivered directly to local health care providers in Minnesota who applied for the vaccine. Some get it before others.
The locations are secret for security reasons.
"What we have learned more in the last couple of weeks is that not only is the virus unpredictable," said Dr. Thomas Frieden, Director of the Centers for Disease Control. "But vaccine production is much less predictable than we would wish."
That's NOT THE WHOLE STORY.
Minnesota will eventually get doses, but delivery is slower than expected.
As it comes, it goes first to people at the highest risk of getting H1N1 and it might not be available to the general public until late November.
Meanwhile, the federal government has ordered 195 million doses of H1N1 vaccine. In a normal year, only 100 million doses are required.
To check the resources for this Reality Check, click on the links below.
MDH: Flu Facts And Questions
MDH: Can I Get My H1N1 Flu Shot Yet?
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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