By Andrew W. Griffin

Oklahoma Watchdog

Posted: October 6, 2009

andrew@oklahomawatchdog.org

OKLAHOMA CITY – News reports are noting today that thousands of doses of H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine have arrived in Oklahoma and that these initial doses will be in the form of a nasal spray called FluMist, manufactured by MedImmune.

The first community to receive shipments of FluMist will be Newcastle, in McClain County. Schools there will be targeted with a mass nasal spray vaccination program there, before it is shipped to other parts of the Sooner State.

H.R. Holman, public information officer for the Oklahoma City-County Health Department, told Oklahoma Watchdog that they received 4,100 doses of H1N1 FluMist vaccine and that they will be distributed to schools and pediatricians in Oklahoma City and County later this week.

Shari Kinney, with the Cleveland/McClain Counties Health Department told NewsOn6.com that Newcastle is being targeted because of the “increasing rates of absenteeism” there.

Kinney notes that “This is a voluntary program” and that while she hopes parents will allow their children to take the vaccine, it “is certainly not required.”

The city of Sand Springs will also be receiving doses of the vaccine as well, and that will be distributed by the Tulsa Health Department.

Now, the key to the distribution of FluMist is an important fact that is not being emphasized – that FluMist is made of a live but weakened form of the swine flu virus, so it is only for healthy people between the ages of 2 and 49. This is different from the swine flu vaccine that is injected. Those vaccines contain antibodies, not live virus.

Nevertheless, people should be warned that those who receive FluMist can still shed the virus and infect people with compromised immune systems. Paul Joseph Watson, at PrisonPlanet.com, reports that “the live virus contained in the nasal spray is weakened but it can be transmitted from person to person for up to three weeks.”

This means people who get the FluMist vaccine will need to avoid being near pregnant women, the elderly and the sick.

Reports also say that 3.5 million doses of this nasal spray vaccine will be available over the next week-and-a-half.

And Dr. Shari Tenpenny notes in a blog that many stores like Walmart, as well as pharmacy chains, will be administering FluMist to the public. Asks Tenpenny: “Will this makes stores … risky places to shop for large segments of the population? What measures will be taken in these stores to ensure that the virus will not become comingled with food? What hand washing policy is going to be enforced in the stores for all Walmart employees and customers who have received FluMist?”

And Oklahoma Watchdog, along with Oklahoma City-based RedDirtReport.com, have been reporting on the swine flu and the vaccine. Talking to everyone from doctors to soldiers, there is a lot of apprehension about taking the swine flu vaccine. One doctor told Oklahoma Watchdog that if he didn’t work in the clinic where he works daily, he would not take the vaccine.

And talking to Jeff Knight, a communications official with Integris Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City, said “We are encouraging a mandatory (H1N1 and seasonal) vaccination for all our employees.”

When asked if that is everyone from cafeteria workers to clerks, Knight said yes, all should receive it or sign a sheet explaining why they should not take it. He added that in the corporate communications office he received it last Wednesday.

Knight added that an email circulating, saying that “doctors at Baptist are advising their staff and patients NOT get this vaccination” is “bogus” and not from Integris Baptist.

In the meantime,we here at Oklahoma Watchdog are a bit leery of this whole swine flu business and we will continue to monitor all issues related to the H1N1 flu as the vaccines are distributed in the coming weeks.

Copyright 2009 Oklahoma Watchdog