FAST FACTS:
(Memphis 10/5/2009) With two quick squirts of a nasal spray, Holly Smith became the first person in the country to get the H1N1 vaccine.
The infant care nurse and mother of two small children was quick to volunteer to go first.
Smith says she did it for all the babies she takes care of every day, "The babies I realize they don't have an immune system for 6 months. It builds slowly."
Around 200 health care workers at Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center got the vaccine this morning.
They were administered in the very tent set up last month to handle the large number of children who came to the hospital with flu like systems.
Le Bonheur encouraged staff in the ICU and emergency room to get the vaccine first.
While some have raised concerns about the new vaccine, those getting it today, like Donna Freeman, never gave it second thought, "It's important to protect our families and our communities and this vaccine has been researched and we know it safe four our community."
Health experts say the vaccine was created the exact same way as the seasonal flu shot which is given to around 100 million people every year.
The CDC bought enough of the H1N1 vaccine for everyone who wants it.
Dr. Anne Schuchat is with the CDC, "That would be health care workers or children 6 months to 24. Pregnant women, parents of children under 6 months and people who care for children under 6 months."
About 200 doses of the vaccine were given at Le Bonheur today.
The CDC says 1.4 million doses of the nasal vaccine are being shipped across the country today.
The first shipment of nasal spray vaccine is Thimerosal-free; some believe the vaccine preservative is linked with disorders such as autism. The injected version of the vaccine will be available with and without Thimerosal.
So far, the virus is causing moderate disease, with a death rate similar to that seen in seasonal flu. Every year, seasonal influenza kills between 250,000 and 500,000 people globally and around 36,000 in the United States.
- Le Bonheur workers first to get H1N1 vaccine
- Vaccine being provided by government
- Last Thursday, a third child died at Le Bonheur from H1N1
(Memphis 10/5/2009) With two quick squirts of a nasal spray, Holly Smith became the first person in the country to get the H1N1 vaccine.
The infant care nurse and mother of two small children was quick to volunteer to go first.
Smith says she did it for all the babies she takes care of every day, "The babies I realize they don't have an immune system for 6 months. It builds slowly."
Around 200 health care workers at Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center got the vaccine this morning.
They were administered in the very tent set up last month to handle the large number of children who came to the hospital with flu like systems.
Le Bonheur encouraged staff in the ICU and emergency room to get the vaccine first.
While some have raised concerns about the new vaccine, those getting it today, like Donna Freeman, never gave it second thought, "It's important to protect our families and our communities and this vaccine has been researched and we know it safe four our community."
Health experts say the vaccine was created the exact same way as the seasonal flu shot which is given to around 100 million people every year.
The CDC bought enough of the H1N1 vaccine for everyone who wants it.
Dr. Anne Schuchat is with the CDC, "That would be health care workers or children 6 months to 24. Pregnant women, parents of children under 6 months and people who care for children under 6 months."
About 200 doses of the vaccine were given at Le Bonheur today.
The CDC says 1.4 million doses of the nasal vaccine are being shipped across the country today.
The first shipment of nasal spray vaccine is Thimerosal-free; some believe the vaccine preservative is linked with disorders such as autism. The injected version of the vaccine will be available with and without Thimerosal.
So far, the virus is causing moderate disease, with a death rate similar to that seen in seasonal flu. Every year, seasonal influenza kills between 250,000 and 500,000 people globally and around 36,000 in the United States.
