Health Care Centers Awaiting H1N1 Vaccines

The Centers for Disease Control is promising at least 40 million doses of H1N1 vaccine will be available by mid-October. Minnesota Department of Health is expecting about 28,000 by the end of the week.

On Monday, the first shipments of H1N1 vaccines began arriving at hospitals and clinics around the metro.

Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids received 500 doses, but the Minnesota Department of Health says the first batches of vaccines will be reserved front line workers, such as doctors and nurses with direct patient care.

At Children's Hospital in Minneapolis, staff wasted no time dispensing the highly anticipated vaccine shortly after it arrived. But even the 1,000 doses they received will not be enough to protect their entire staff of 4,000. Instead, they are administering the limited supply to high priority workers.

Unlike a traditional flu shot, the vaccine available now is a nasal flu mist. The live vaccine is only intended for healthy people from ages five to 50 and is not recommended for young children, the elderly and pregnant woman.

In the coming weeks, as more vaccine becomes available, hospitals will continue to protect their employees before the vaccine will be made available to the general public.