Kids get swine flu vaccine

By Craig Schneider

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

As the nurse drew the swine flu vaccine closer and closer to 4-year-old Khaleah Williams, the tears started to flow.

Not to mention a few screams.

But the little girl’s mother had brought her to the Fayetteville health department clinic Tuesday, the first day the vaccine was available, with a singular purpose.

Julie Williams had seen her dad get sick this summer, and Khaleah’s sister, so she wanted to provide her child with protection as soon as possible.

“So she doesn’t get sick,” said the mother.

Metro Atlanta is gearing up for its campaign against swine flu, the largest vaccination campaign in state history. The nasal vaccine arrived in many county health offices Monday and they are expected to roll it out over the next few days. The nasal spray vaccine is a weakened live virus. Georgia health officials expect the shot form -- an inactive virus -- to arrive next week. The initial inactive doses will be given to pregnant women and health care workers in direct contact with patients.

Meanwhile, some parents who’ve spent the past six months watching the new virus shut schools and summer camps, shot right to the Fayetteville clinic with kids in tow.

DeKalb County will begin dispensing its 4,000 doses of the nasal vaccine Wednesday at five county health clinics, said spokeswoman Vickie Elisa. The vaccine will be free to children ages 2 to 4, health clinic staff and public safety emergency medical personnel, she said.

Fulton County anticipates distributing its initial 5,300 doses to 2- to 4-year-olds, and their caregivers, on Thursday at the county’s eight health clinics.

State health officials say the vaccine will be free if obtained at a government clinic, though some private health providers can charge an administrative fee.

Gwinnett will start vaccinating high-risk groups by the end of the week.

Cobb health officials will start dispensing it in a few days, with a focus on children ages 2 to 4, officials said.

State health officials have made this age group the highest priority, since they are more susceptible to catching and spreading the virus.

That reasoning didn’t carry a lot of weight with Khaleah, however. In the waiting room, she stood nervously, holding onto her mother as though she were a shield.

In the examining room, nurse Eleanor Lindelof, who has been administering vaccines for 23 years, was trying all her tricks.

“Do you like to color? Do you like crayons?” she asked the girl.

No reply. Khaleah wouldn’t even meet her eyes. She clung to her mother.

The fact that the nasal mist dispenser looks like a hypodermic needle, minus the stinger, didn’t help matters. Several parents said they had high hopes for the nasal mist, since their children didn’t do well with needles.

But here was this thing coming right at Khaleah’s face, and she was holding her arm up to block it.

“It’s going to keep you from getting sick,” the nurse said.

Khaleah’s mother’s arms were the only thing keeping her in this room.

Julie Williams asked if there would be any side effects.

“Not many. There might be a slight fever,” the nurse said.

The Fayetteville health clinic received an initial shipment of only 400 doses of the nasal mist, but the place hardly saw a rush Tuesday. Spokeswoman Hayla Hall said about 30 children were vaccinated over the day.

Some parents, she said, just couldn’t wait to provide their children with protection against the new flu that has been sweeping through schools and day care centers.

Other parents want to see if there are any side effects, before getting it for their own children, she said.

In China, where the vaccination campaign is under way, health officials say they are seeing a few minor side effects. Four out of 39,000 people vaccinated against swine flu, also called H1N1, had side effects such as cramps and headache, according to the World Health Organization.

In the end, Khaleah accepted her fate, but it took her mother and the nurse holding her to get one spritz in each nostril.

The nurse had to tell them that children need a double dose of the vaccine, so Julie Williams will have to bring her daughter back in another month.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.