PHOENIX — Pregnant women and those who care for the youngest infants are going to get first crack at swine flu vaccine in Arizona, according to plans by the state health department.
And those 65 and older are at the back of the line.
The disclosure comes in a report to the governor released Tuesday detailing how state health officials hope to minimize the impact of the H1N1 virus. They are counting on the number of cases to start increasing this month, though the vaccine may not be available until mid-October.
Acting state Health Director Will Humble said, though, that there should eventually be enough supply from the federal government so that anyone who wants to be immunized should be able to get the shot.
He predicted Arizona will eventually get 5 million doses. And Humble said he doubts that every one of the about 6.5 million Arizonans will want to be inoculated.
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But the supply won't be available all at once. In fact, Humble said, the state is likely to get only 900,000 doses in October. The rest, he said, will arrive in the following months, possibly as late as January. And that, he said, means a need to prioritize.
Humble said the decision to put the elderly at the bottom of the list stems from federal guidelines.
"Seniors seem to be at particularly low risk for complications," he said.
Humble said it will be up to each private physician to decide exactly how to allocate the vaccine he or she receives.
"We're giving them guidance in terms of using that on their priority groups," he said. "But we also expect them to use clinical judgment."
That priority list does not bother Gov. Jan Brewer, who'll turn 65 next week.
"From everything we've heard, it doesn't really affect the elderly as bad as it does the younger children," the governor said.
"So with the vaccinations coming out in the manner in which they are, we feel that we ought to vaccinate those children," she continued. "I'm willing to wait."
After pregnant women and caregivers to infants, next on the priority list are health-care workers and emergency-services personnel. Then there are those ages 6 months through 24 years. Of those 25 through 64, the next available batch of vaccines will be provided to individuals with chronic medical conditions. Even then, he said, they probably won't be inoculated until at least November.
Humble said that even with the vaccine, up to 40 percent of Arizonans could become infected before the end of the year.
Priority list for vaccines
Group Estimated Arizona population
Pregnant women 113,756
Household contacts and caregivers of those under 6 months 86,000
Health-care and emergency-services personnel 214,000
People 6 months through 24 years 2.1 million
People 25 to 64 with chronic health conditions 720,000
Healthy people, 25 to 64 2.2 million*
People 65 and older 780,000**
* Plus 90,000 winter visitors and seasonal workers; ** Plus 300,000 winter visitors, seasonal workers
Source: Arizona Department of Health Services
