Vaccine may be rationed

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Plan on getting your swine-flu shot at work? Don’t count on it.

The new vaccine will be rationed initially to groups most at risk of contracting the virus or developing complications — children and young adults, pregnant women, health-care workers and the chronically ill. People caring for infants also will receive priority.

Businesses may have to wait months to offer the shot, if they get it at all.

The regular seasonal-flu vaccine is available a bit earlier than usual, and federal health officials recommend most people get that shot. Some employees already are lining up for it.

But the strain that’s already a national fixture is swine flu. And for healthy adults, the vaccine will not be readily available.

“I would prefer to have it done at work. Everything’s easier,” said Tom Barclay, a 24-year employee of drug and chemical maker Bayer Corp. in Pittsburgh. “It’s very convenient.”

The first swine-flu vaccine should be available in the U.S. sometime around the first week of October.

About 90,000 sites — mainly hospitals, clinics, doctors’ offices, county health departments and pharmacies — are expected to receive doses. The federal government is covering the cost of the vaccines and related supplies, said Tom Skinner of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A total of at least 195 million doses are expected through winter.

States will get a share based on their population. Their health departments must approve or reject requests from health providers and other groups wanting the vaccine.

From California to Florida, states say they plan to make sure the initial vaccine supply goes to the 159 million people in the priority groups. Their rules vary slightly, but businesses are generally at the back of the line.

New York, for example, will allow only businesses with on-site medical facilities to get the vaccine. Other states, such as New Jersey and Texas, say businesses can hire medical providers to administer shots, but only to staff in priority groups.

For many workers used to getting their seasonal flu shot free at the office every fall, that’s frustrating.

Barclay, 56, head of emergency response for Bayer’s Pittsburgh campus, said Monday he’s gotten a seasonal flu shot every fall for more than a decade, and did so again last Friday.

But for protection against swine flu, he’s planning to call his doctor — just as employers are telling their workers to do.

Most of Bayer’s 15,000 U.S. workers aren’t in high-risk groups, said spokesman Bryan Iams. So the company is providing information on swine-flu symptoms and advising workers to consult their doctor about vaccine availability, follow strict hygiene rules and stay home if they get sick and get the seasonal-flu vaccine as soon as possible.

Other major corporations, from oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. to software maker Microsoft Corp. and grocery chain Kroger Co., are taking similar steps. Whether companies will get any swine-flu vaccine for their workers is generally unclear.

Exxon Mobil, based in Irving, Texas, has requested the vaccine from health departments there and in other states where it has employees, but is still in the dark, said spokeswoman Cynthia Bergman.

Microsoft, of Redmond, Wash., finally got word Tuesday that it can offer swine-flu vaccine to employees there if it has a pre-approved, licensed health provider to administer vaccines.