By By GREG KATSKI
Community Editor
Starting Monday, the Beaufort County Health Department will be welcoming walk-ins interested in a seasonal flu or H1N1 vaccine dose.
Flu shots and H1N1 nasal “mist” sprays will be administered to qualified individuals from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. The department is located at 1436 Highland Drive, Washington.
Any individual over 6 months old who is not allergic to eggs is eligible for the H1N1 flu shot, according to Kelli Russell, preparedness coordinator with the department.
The injections will be reserved for pregnant women, individuals with a health condition such as asthma and anyone under 2 years old or over 50 years old. Preference is being given to anyone who falls into at least one of those categories because they are not eligible for the H1N1 nasal spray.
Individuals who qualify for the spray include those between the ages of 2 and 49 without pre-existing medical conditions like asthma or pregnancy.
“They have to be healthy,” Russell said.
She said there has been some confusion concerning whom the H1N1 flu shot will be administered to at the department’s free flu clinics, which have been conducted since mid-October.
Anyone over 6 months old who is not allergic to eggs may receive an injection, but preference was initially given to pregnant women, people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age, health-care and emergency-medical-services personnel with direct patient contact, children 6 months through 4 years of age and children who have high-risk medical conditions. This came at the recommendation of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Honestly, the way they worded it was so those target populations would get the vaccine first,” Russell said.
When the department started receiving the H1N1 vaccine, it was getting such limited quantities that preferential treatment was needed, Russell said.
The committee recognized the need to assess supply and demand issues at the local level. The committee further recommended that once the demand for vaccine for these target groups had been met at the local level, programs and providers could begin vaccinating everyone from ages 25 through 64, according to the CDC.
The needs of this target population have been met in Beaufort County, according to Russell, which means anyone over 6 months old is eligible, including those 64 years old or older.
“People interested in the vaccine, as long as they are medically qualified, they are eligible,” Russell said. “If you want it, you can get it.”
The CDC said the precautions were taken because current studies indicate the risk for H1N1 infection among persons age 65 and older are less than the risk for younger age groups.
Russell said confusion also came as individuals were being turned away from flu clinics when the department only had the spray to administer.
Since the spray is only for those between the ages of 2 and 49, the department had to turn down anyone 50 or older, according to Russell.
“It’s not that we wanted to turn them away. We didn’t have approved vaccines,” she said.
“We want to protect the community as a whole,” Russell added.
For more information about flu-vaccine requirements, contact the Beaufort County Health Department at 946-1902.