FORT WORTH — The first injectable doses of the H1N1 vaccine arrived in North Texas Monday as anxiety grows about the spread of the swine flu virus.
Tarrant County received 500 doses of the vaccine; Denton County has 200; Dallas County has 700 doses.
Collin County has not yet received its initial supply.
The county health departments aren't planning to hold large scale vaccination clinics because of the limited quanities.
In Tarrant County, the plan is to get the shot to high-priority people first. "We've already identified who the target groups are," explained Tarrant County spokesman Mark Flake. "It's just a matter of getting on the phone, sending out the e-mails, and contacting them directly to get the vaccine to them."
If you have a private doctor, you can call the office directly to find out if they have the injectable vaccines. Some physicians were told they could start placing orders Monday that will then arrive in about ten days.
Again, there's not much to go around, and health departments don't want people to just show up and ask for the vaccine.
Health officials in Dallas and Denton Counties say they are finalizing their plans on how to administer their doses.
Some limited quantities of the nasal spray vaccine that contains a live virus have been distributed in the area, primarily to health care providers and first-responders like police and firefighters.
E-mail dmiles@wfaa.com
