LAYTON, Utah (ABC4 News) Utah health officials are warning those in the CDC priority groups to get their vaccinations as soon as possible. They say they are on the verge of opening up the clinics to everyone and, when they do, they expect another surge in demand for the swine flu vaccine.
Davis County held another clinic today and had 14,000 doses available, but could only give away 10,000 tickets. Lewis Garrett, the Davis County Health Department Director, told ABC4's Ross Becker, "this is the first week we were not successful in giving out all of the tickets for the vaccine that we had." He says "very soon" they will be opening up the clinics to everyone, not just the priority groups. He said, "best guess?..I would say a week or two. I am not certain this last week is a pattern, but if it continues we will open it up."
When that happens he and Utah State health leaders expect another surge in demand for the vaccine. Even though supplies are getting more plentiful, opening it up to everyone, they say, will mean more demand. The warning is that those in the priority groups who have not received the vaccine need to do it now, before the clinics get more crowded again. Those priority groups are young people between the ages of 6 months and 24 years, pregnant women, health care and emergency workers and anyone with chronic conditions such as diabetes or asthma.
The latest national and state swine flu numbers show fewer cases in the past 3 weeks, but health officials insist it is still a problem and that flu cases are extremely high nationwide for this time of year. For updated information about clinics, ticket events and any changes to the rules check the ABC4 Vaccine Tracker in the orange box on the home page.
