In the year since the swine flu swept through the state, 1.1 million people — the majority of them children — got vaccinated against the potentially deadly virus, top health officials said today. Vaccine distributors shipped 2.6 million doses to local and county health departments, doctors’ offices, hospitals, clinics, colleges and pharmacies, ordered at the height of public concern about the flu and when manufacturers couldn’t produce the the serum fast enough, Deputy Health Commissioner Susan Walsh said. The public, flooding telephone lines and the few vaccination clinics in the fall was “frustrated and anxious,” Walsh said, and took their anger out on local health officials, she said regretfully. “We should have done a better job shouldering that burden.”
But the state has much to be proud of, state officials told the more than 300 public health professionals who attended the the H1N1 Flu Summit this morning at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
Children, one of groups at the highest risk of contracting the illness, received 65 percent of the vaccine, Walsh said. Each county received enough vaccine to serve roughly 20 to 30 percent of its population.
Senior Assistant Health Commissioner David Gruber said there is a perception the much-feared swine flu pandemic turned out to be mild, but people should not take it lightly.
“There was a killer virus out there,” Gruber said. If it appeared “mild” it was because of the “exceptional” community response that rendered it less threatening.
Tests have linked 42 people’s deaths to the virus in the state, with 18 dying in the first wave between April and August and 24 people dying since September, state health spokeswoman Dawn Thomas said.
Newly-confirmed Health and Senior Services Commissioner Poonam Alaigh opened the conference by thanking everyone for their hard work to help contain the swine flu, also known as H1N1 flu.
“A year ago this month, New Jersey’s public health system faced the challenge of responding to an outbreak of a novel flu strain,” Alaigh told the audience gathered at the Hyatt Regency hotel. “All of you in this room should be very proud of the role that you played in dealing with the challenges of vaccine production and distribution, educating the public about why those at greatest risk should be vaccinated first, setting up vaccination clinics, and dispelling fears and myths among worried parents when cases were reported in their child’s school.”
“Our message that began in the fall remains the same today: If you have not been vaccinated for H1N1, take the time to do so now. Vaccine is safe; it is effective; and there is plenty available,” the commissioner said.
National health officials say a third wave of H1N1 could arrive. Right now in New Jersey, there are only “sporadic” cases of swine flu in the state, “but our efforts cannot be diminished,” Alaigh said in a separate interview. “We still have to raise awareness.” Star Ledger