Despite an initial rush of calls, there are still appointments available for this Saturday’s H1N1 vaccination clinic hosted by the Kent County Health Department. Many had trouble getting through to schedule an appointment but those problems have been solved.

Kent County’s health department has about 4,000 vaccinations to dole out each of the next three Saturdays. Those in priority groups are asked to dial 2-1-1 to make an appointment. Bill Anstey is the department’s Deputy Administrative Health Officer. He says pregnant women, caregivers of children younger than 6 months, people between the ages of 6 months and 24 and anyone with chronic health problems are included in the priority group.

“Some of the science is suggesting that 65 and older group has seen a virus somewhere in their lifetime that’s somewhat similar to the H1N1 strain that’s currently circulating and because of that they have some sort of built up limited immunity and they’re not the ones from the epidata that are getting sick.”

At this point the virus has spread widely among school aged children. Nearly 5% of Michigan’s population has reported flu-like illness since the beginning of September – that’s more than what is normally reported in an entire year. Anstey says even those who think they have already gotten the flu should get vaccinated.

“People think they might have H1N1 but they don’t really know for sure it’s being confused with maybe rhino virus a cold or something along those lines – so it’s important for people, even if they think they have had it but it’s not been laboratory confirmed that they still receive the H1N1 vaccination.”

He expects by the end of the month the supply of the vaccine should catch up to demand. The shot is available in Ottawa and Muskegon Counties as well – officials ask people to first call their doctor to check availability. Hear Anstey’s full interview this afternoon on Midday West Michigan.

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