The first daughters have gotten it along with other children, and more residents around the nation may soon be able to get the H1N1 flu vaccine as health officials say more is on its way.
According to a statement posted on the White House Web site by Catherine McCormick-Lelyveld, press secretary for first lady Michelle Obama, daughters Sasha and Malia received their H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines last week. The president’s daughters received the vaccine “after the vaccine became available to Washington, D.C., schoolchildren,” according to the statement.
Since Friday, about 6 million more doses of H1N1 flu shots and nasal spray have been released.
“We have 22.4 million doses available for shipment out directly to providers and we’re getting to the level where it will become significantly easier to find and receive vaccine.” Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday during a press conference.
Frieden told reporters, “We wish it had been available weeks or even months earlier but we’re beginning to get to a significant increase in the availability.”
The CDC had hoped that about 40 million doses of H1N1 — also know as swine flu — vaccine would be available by the end of October. On October 16, CDC officials announced that only 28 million to 30 million doses would be available this month, because of manufacturing delays.
