SAN ANTONIO -- More than 12,000 H1N1 vaccines were shipped to our local health department this week. But health officials say it is still not enough.
The situation has forced Metro Health to come up with a new plan and that plan will affect your children.
Since the swine flu shot was approved, most of the vaccines in Texas have gone to local providers like doctor's offices. That has left San Antonio Metro Health in a tough spot since a lot of people in San Antonio cannot afford the fees at a doctor's office and do not have a way to get the vaccine.
Initially, Metro Health wanted to send batches of the vaccine to schools and supply their local clinics. They were even considering a mass vaccination that would have been free to the public. Because of the small amounts of H1N1 vaccine they have received, that hasn't happened yet.
"It's been very difficult," explained Dr. Bryan Alsip of the San Antonio Metro Helath. "Because we're accustomed to taking care of many of those people you mentioned."
The state is now promising to send more to local health departments.
"We've been told by the state that we should be getting 20% of the allocation on a per-capita basis," Dr. Alsip told News 4 WOAI. "For San Antonio that works out to about 12,000 doses."
That is only enough to start with the kids in school.
"We would like to, hopefully, see the elementary students," added Dr. Alsip. "Maybe not all of them, but a majority, get access to the vaccination by in December."
Metro Health will move on to middle and high school students next. It's a plan that will take them months to finish.
The 12,000 doses will be divded between all the school districts in San Antonio. Every district has a different plan in place regarding which children get them first.
As for the other groups, Metro Health wanted to get the vaccine to for free. They'll have to wait for now.
Nearly 700 take advantage of Texas MedClinic's H1N1 vaccine clinics
Nearly 700 people took advantage of the H1N1 vaccines being administered at two Texas MedClinic locations this week.
Texas MedClinic put together San Antonio's first mass vaccination clinic, and they still had some vaccines available Friday. They are still asking that the high-risk groups take priority. The groups include pregnant women, children, healthcare and childcare workers, and people with underlying health issues.
For more information on which clinics have the vaccine available,
CLICK HERE.
