Plenty of swine flu doses on hand

ALBANY — There is a lull in the demand for the H1N1 vaccines as peak flu season approaches.

County public health departments have kept the vaccination shot in stock anticipating a likely influx of patients especially with next week’s National Influenza Vaccination Week, though Albany County sent back about 1,000 doses of the flu mist because of decreased interest in that particular vaccination method, said Maribeth Miller, assistant commissioner of health in Albany County.

Although there has been a decrease in flu activity lately — H1N1 is still the only flu virus in the area since the seasonal flu has not yet come to the region — flu activity is still higher this year than it normally is at this point in the flu season, she added.

And while the county’s mist doses were returned to the state, they still have 8,600 vaccinations available.

“I still encourage those six months of age and older to get the vaccine,” she said.

In Rensselaer County, about 17,000 vaccinations have been distributed through clinics and doctors. There are still 9,000 doses on hand and they are not planning to give any back to the state, said county spokesman Chris Meyer.

There are weekly clinics Tuesdays from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and Thursdays 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the county building.

Many pharmacists, however, still do not have the vaccine or are just receiving them, said Craig Burridge, executive director of the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York.

“With the National Vaccination Week, now we can reach out to the last group who really need this,” he said.

The vaccinations are free but patients must pay the cost to administer it, added Burridge.

In Cohoes, Mayor John McDonald, who is also a pharmacist at Marra’s, said they held off on ordering the vaccinations because they did not want to hoard them when children and others really needed them. The pharmacy does not yet have the vaccine, but is planning to in the two or so weeks.

Meanwhile, Saratoga County vaccinated 700 people at a clinic on Friday. Officials say they have noticed a steady demand for the vaccine while the figure for people affected has decreased slightly, said Terry Stortz, director of preventative health services.

A walk-in clinic is scheduled for Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Milton Community Center, she said.

The state has allocated a total of 7 million doses, according to officials, and so far about 5 million vaccinations have been administered.

In the fall, many public officials were worried there would be a shortage of the vaccine with the H1N1 scare.

An additional 500,000 doses were ordered this week for health care providers in upstate New York, said Claire Pospisil, spokeswoman for the state’s Health Department.

“This is a fluid process,” she continued. “There are increases and decreases with any supply and demand situation. We are still filling orders and back orders. And some are getting rid of their supplies because they do not have adequate storage for it all since some of it needs to be refrigerated. There may not be a large demand this week, but that could and likely will change.”