Is Kern getting its fair share of flu vaccine?
| Saturday, Oct 31 2009 08:20 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Oct 31 2009 08:20 PM
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Santa Clara County health officials were surprised last week when they received a surprise shipment of 26,000 doses of swine flu vaccine. The delivery arrived after The San Jose Mercury News reported that the vaccine was not being equitably distributed among Bay Area counties.
The newspaper reported that Santa Clara County, which has a much larger population than neighboring Contra Costa County, had received a much smaller shipment of swine flu vaccine from the state Health Department.
With an in-unison slap to their foreheads, state health officials then sent Santa Clara County 26,000 more doses and promised to "adjust the system" to make it more fair, according to the Mercury News.
Kern County residents have been queueing up in hours-long lines at county Health Department clinics hoping to get the vaccine. Many hundreds are being turned away. It is a story that is being repeated in most San Joaquin Valley counties.
What's going on? When they meet Tuesday, Kern County supervisors should ask county health officials to explain. Is Kern receiving its fair share? How has Kern's allocation been determined? What does "adjusting" mean? Will Kern now receive more or less vaccine? Will more populated counties that complain receive more "fairness"?
The Mercury News reported that the state's original plan was to distribute the vaccine on the basis of a county's population. However, when production of the vaccine fell short, they decided to first fill public health department orders and have county officials distribute it.
But some counties ordered a lot of vaccine and others little. It depended on a county's immunization strategy. Some county health departments rely more on private health care providers to vaccinate residents and only fill in the gaps with public clinics. That was the case in Santa Clara County, where the health department had ordered a relatively small amount of the vaccine.
Last week, San Diego County reported receiving an unexpected shipment of 78,000 doses of the vaccine. Meanwhile, private health care providers are scratching their heads over a decision by the California Conference of Health Officers to give Kaiser Permanente's network of hospitals and clinics a large chunk of the state's allocation, according to the Mercury News.
With the swine flu already having a pandemic level in Kern, residents are entitled to an explanation of how the vaccine is being distributed, and assurances that Kern is being treated fairly.
