H1N1, or swine-flu, vaccine arrives in Virginia

A limited quantity of swine-flu vaccine has arrived at some local health departments and hospitals in Virginia.

"We have received some at John Randolph Medical Center and will start staff immunizations there tomorrow," said Karen Nelson, a spokeswoman for HCA Virginia Health System. John Randolph Medical Center in Hopewell is owned by HCA.

A total of 83,700 doses of the vaccine have been made available to the state as of yesterday, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

That includes 43,500 doses the state was told Thursday were coming, 5,400 more doses made available Friday and an additional 34,800 that became available Monday. Not all of that is actually in the hands of providers but is on the way.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is rolling out the doses gradually as vaccine becomes available from manufacturers. It is being shipped from manufacturers to four central distribution sites, and from there directly to providers. As of yesterday, 2.4 million doses had been made available.

Virginia has compiled a list of more than 2,900 providers or provider sites requesting H1N1 vaccine.

These early doses of the vaccine have been prioritized for health-care workers, including doctors, nurses, emergency medical services workers and others with direct patient contact.

The vaccine available now is the nasal-spray version that is made with a live weakened virus and recommended only for healthy people ages 2 to 49.

Injected vaccine should be available in about a week. Groups prioritized to get H1N1 vaccine are pregnant women, people with underlying health conditions, people caring for infants under 6 months who are too young to get vaccinated, and children and young adults up to age 24.

"We are supposed to get our vaccine today or tomorrow," said Chip Decker, chief executive officer of the Richmond Ambulance Authority.

"We should have enough for all of our people. We are going to offer it to them," said Decker. He said they have nurses on staff who can administer the nasal-spray vaccine.

A state health department spokeswoman said some local health districts have confirmed receipt of their first orders of the H1N1 vaccine. Other providers are also receiving the vaccine, she said, but they were not asked to report receipt to the state.

Contact Tammie Smith at (804) 649-6572 or .