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Who gets the flu vaccine first?

Posted at 4:14 PM on August 20, 2009 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)
Filed under: Health, Science

Some scientists are questioning whether the first people to get inoculated against the H1N1 flu should be the ones that are scheduled to.

The current formula calls for the people most likely to die to get the vaccine first. An article in Science Magazine, by way of Time.com, says it should, perhaps, be the people most likely to spread the illness.

"If you can stop transmission, you can protect the people who are vulnerable," says Jan Medlock, a mathematician at Clemson University and one of the authors of the Science paper.

That would be kids and the age group of their parents -- basically 20- and 30-somethings. Those are the people who, not coincidentally, have been the hardest-hit Minnesotans by the H1N1 outbreak so far.

The Minnesota plan for inoculation follows the federal guidelines: Health care workers, pregnant women, young children and people who care for infants under 6 months of age go first.

Comments (4)

You missed "people ages of 25 through 64 years of age who are at higher risk for novel H1N1 because of chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems." A flu can be a serious worry for people who can't hydrate themselves efficiently, for instance.

Why 64? 65+ likely have some form of immunity already from a flu years ago. In theory we'd see more 65+ patients getting this flu, but they've already had something similar enough.

http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/public/vaccination_qa_pub.htm

Posted by Scott | August 20, 2009 5:07 PM

Has the vaccine arrived in MN?

Posted by Minn Whaler | August 20, 2009 5:39 PM

The vaccine isn't expected until the fall. I think they just started clinical trials on kids last week.

Posted by Bob Collins | August 20, 2009 6:08 PM

The American Lung Association in Minnesota will be conducting a public information campaign on both varieties of flu later this fall.

Posted by Bob Moffitt | August 21, 2009 8:19 AM