HHS: Priority Groups Won't Be Fully Immunized Against H1N1 Until Thanksgiving
CNN reports that HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says it will be well into November before even the priority groups are fully immunized against H1N1 swine flu. This is because it is a two shot, five-week process. It's also because the shots won't even be available until mid-October. Kathleen Sebelius also encouarged familes to have a "back-up child care plan" in case a parent gets sick.
Sebelius told CNN Chief National Correspondent John King that the administration was "optimistic" it would have a vaccine available by around mid-October.
"But the regimen will take about five weeks," Sebelius said, "A first shot, three weeks delay, second shot, and then about two weeks for full immunity. So we're really need to work between now and Thanksgiving with lots of social mitigation - keeping kids home from school if they're sick. I would urge every family have a back-up child care plan."
"If a parent gets sick, was is the plan?," Sebelius also said Sunday, "because we know the disease spreads quickly and we will not have fully immunized even priority populations until about Thanksgiving."
The priority groups including children and pregnant women won't even be fully immunized until Thanksgiving? That's really not good enough. With kids in school and plenty of cold weather around the H1N1 flu could be spreading rapidly around the country well before then. There will also be a lot of confusion because the regular seasonal flu will also be making people sick.
CNN 
