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Washington PostPandemic H1N1 influenza vaccine will be distributed on a three-day turnaround time from four regional warehouses around the country next month. The vaccine deliveries, expected to equal 20 million doses a week by the end of October, will be distributed among 90,000 immunization "providers," including health departments, hospitals, clinics, doctors' offices and pharmacies.
Those were among the details unveiled Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of the federal government's increasingly complex response to the pandemic of H1N1 influenza, also known as "swine flu." "This is a huge logistical process. There's not
a sudden appearance of vaccine in 90,000 refrigerators around the country," said Jay Butler, an epidemiologist heads CDC's task force on the pandemic vaccine.
About 3.4 million doses of nasal-spray flu vaccine -- which can be used only by people age 2 to 49 -- are expected to be available the first week of October. The injectable vaccine, which will form the vast bulk of the 195 million doses the government has ordered, won't be available until later that month when many experts believe the flu outbreak will be in full-swing.
All the pandemic vaccine will be bought by the federal government. It will be divided among states and territories on the basis of population. Providers, including private companies such as pharmacies, will get it for free. They won't be permitted to charge consumers or health insurers for it, but they can charge an "administration fee" for giving the shots or sprays. In some settings, such as public health clinics, people will get the shots for free.
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