Area health department to distribute flu vaccine
In a clear sign that vaccine supplies are becoming more bountiful, Boston-area health departments will distribute thousands of shots and nasal sprays against swine flu during major public immunization drives in coming days.
Boston health workers are prepared to vaccinate 5,000 children and adults Saturday and 5,000 more Sunday. In Brookline, there will be 1,000 vaccinations aimed at the H1N1 virus and 1,000 more at seasonal flu, all delivered within three hours Sunday. And public health nurses in Somerville possess more than 1,000 doses of H1N1 vaccine to stick in arms and spray up noses this week.
It marks the first time since swine flu vaccine began trickling into the state in October that most health departments have had enough doses to establish big public forums to provide inoculations, although the vaccine is still being limited to those at greatest risk of complications of the viral illness. “It certainly is a relief to be able to say yes to people, we have vaccine,’’ said Paulette Renault-Caragianes, director of Somerville’s Health Department, which will offer vaccine from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Edgerly School, 8 Bonair St.
“But we still have people who are interested in it who aren’t in the priority groups, and we’re still in the position of saying to them, ‘Not you, not yet, but soon.’ ’’
The state’s public health commissioner, John Auerbach, said that by early January, enough vaccine may have landed in Massachusetts to allow even broader distribution, about a month behind original projections because of production delays.
So far, 1.4 million doses have arrived or have been ordered, with 150,000 to 200,000 doses shipped each week. The state ultimately expects to receive 3.5 million doses.
In Boston, vaccine will be offered from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Hyde Park High School, 665 Metropolitan Ave.; and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the William Ohrenberger School, 175 West Boundary Road, West Roxbury.
Cities and towns have latitude in defining who should be vaccinated in the first round of public immunization forums.
In Brookline, for example, when 45 medical workers give H1N1 vaccinations from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at Brookline High School, 115 Greenough St., they will target pregnant women, children 18 and younger, people who have contact with infants younger than 6 months, and women in the third trimester of pregnancy.
Boston will cast a wider net, also offering vaccine to individuals up to age 24 and to adults 25 through 64 with asthma, heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic conditions. Somerville has a similar eligibility roster.
Information about vaccine distribution is available at http://flu.masspro.org/clinic/.
Stephen Smith can be reached at stsmith@globe.com. 
