State officials issued a come-and-get-it alert yesterday for anyone wanting to get the H1N1, or swine flu, vaccine.
That includes in Forsyth County, where the health department will conduct a flu clinic from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday and next Wednesday in the Education Building at the Dixie Classic fairgrounds.
The vaccines are available on a first-come, first-served basis to anyone except those under 6 months old or those who should not receive the dosage for medical reasons. The department also plans to provide other clinics in December depending on demand and available doses.
Forsyth and Wake Forest University Baptist medical centers said they will provide doses through their primary-care offices.
"Local health officials want the public to know that although occurrences of H1N1 influenza have been decreasing nationally and locally for a few weeks, there will probably be a third wave in the winter or early spring," the health-care groups said in a written statement.
"Vaccination is being urged as the best way to stop the spread of the virus."
Dr. Jeffrey Engel, the state's public-health director, said that the state has received more than 2 million doses of the vaccine.
"In many areas of the state, it appears demand for the vaccine by those in the groups initially targeted for vaccination has begun to drop off," Engel said.
The targeted groups had consisted of pregnant women; children and young adults from 6 to 24 months; caregivers of children younger than 6 months; health-care workers; and people age 25 to 64 who have such chronic health conditions as asthma, diabetes, anemia, other blood disorders, heart, lung, kidney or liver disease.
"We now feel comfortable broadening vaccination efforts," Engel said.
The Forsyth health department did not wait to offer its doses beyond the initial target groups. It did so at last Saturday's clinic because of limited demand from at-risk groups.
"As we enter this new phase, it is important for people to remember that we are still in the midst of an ongoing pandemic," Engel said. Since the outbreak began in April, North Carolina has reported 74 deaths associated with influenza-like illness.
A shortage of the vaccine in mid-November led some parents to worry about children under age 10 not getting a booster shot in a timely fashion. Although the booster should come within four weeks of the first dose, officials said there is no reason for concern if it is given several weeks later. Adults do not require a booster shot.
The vaccine will not provide protection against the seasonal flu, and health officials encourage people to get both kinds of vaccine.
rcraver@wsjournal.com
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