Video Transcript:

PENNER (Host): San Diego County public health officials say the best way to prevent being infected with the H1N1 influenza virus is to get vaccinated. County officials made that announcement on Wednesday, following the news that a 5 year old girl from Otay Mesa died from swine flu last week. KPBS investigative health reporter, Tom Fudge, is here to update us on the latest news related to the H1N1 virus. So what is the latest news?

TOM FUDGE (KPBS News): The latest news, Gloria, I think is that we're waiting for the vaccine to arrive. Now, one thing that is happening in San Diego County that is unusual this year compared to other years is that schools are actually going to be providing vaccines to kids. About 25 school districts in San Diego County are going to be working with the county health department to actually give kids shots and nasal mist at school. But that's not going to happen until next month. Not before the second week in November. The county has ordered about 37,000 doses of the vaccine for school inoculations, but we're still close to a month away from that.

PENNER: So the vaccines that are going to be available locally, I mean for everybody, will be swine flu vaccine plus the seasonal flu vaccine?
 
FUDGE: That's right. And typically, the seasonal flu vaccine comes in right at the beginning of the flu season. That's the expectation and that's what has happened this year. The swine flu is going to be coming in in dribs and drabs over the course of the next few months. And so that's why health officials and health providers are triaging the current supplies of swine flu. They just want to give it to the people who are really at high risk of being seriously hurt by the swine flu. So a middle aged healthy person like myself is going to have to wait in line. I might not be able to get my swine flu shot for another month or two.

PENNER: Ok. Well we have a graphic with recommendations from the CDC about who should get vaccinated. They recommend that pregnant women, caregivers of children younger than six months, healthcare and emergency medical services personnel, anyone between the ages of six months and 24 years, anyone 25 to 64 years old with chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems. So, Tom, we have doctors recommending that pregnant women get the vaccine, but not get the nasal spray version of the vaccine.

FUDGE: Yes. And the reason for that is the flu mist is what they call a 'live virus.' It's a live virus and therefore it is a little bit riskier than a vaccine that is not a live virus. And so what they are saying is that it is too risky for pregnant women to use it, they also don't want kids with diabetes, asthma, or chronic illnesses to use the live virus nasal mist, and nor do they want kids under two to use it. They're going to have to wait for the shots.

PENNER: Ok. so lets get back to those shots. People are going to start getting eager to get them. Some will want them, some won't want them. Where can they go? I mean, where do you go to get the shot?

FUGDE: Well that's a good question and it's a very difficult question to answer. I think I said before that several hundred thousand doses of the swine flu vaccine have arrived in California. The tricky thing about knowing where they are is that the providers who have ordered them get them directly from the distributer. And the providers are not required to tell the state oh hey, I've gotten my swine flu vaccine. And so state authorities, county authorities really are not sure where the swine flu vaccine is. And so I think that means that every patient, everybody who wants to get a swine flu vaccine -  and doctors are recommending that everybody get it. Not everybody is in a high risk group, but everybody should get a vaccination - are just going to have to call  their healthcare providers and ask them if they have it.

PENNER: Short story: I went for my seasonal flu vaccine and was told to come in and see my doctor. When I got there, my doctor had run out of the flu vaccine. So I didn't get it that day but I got it now.

FUGDE: The seasonal flu vaccine?

PENNER: Yeah. The seasonal flu vaccine, which I think is kind of interesting. Do we know how effective the vaccine is? Are there any reports about the efficacy?

FUGDE: Well, so far we don't know that much because just not that many people have had the swine flu vaccine and have been in high danger of getting swine flu. We think that it's going to be very effective, and the reason we think that is the the swine flu - which first appeared in San Diego and in this country in March, several months ago, many months ago - has not mutated. This is what we hear from companies that are tracking the vaccine. It is still the same influenza bug that we knew in March, and if that remains the case then the vaccine that they've created for it should work. It should work well.

PENNER: Ok, well that's good news. We'll keep our fingers crossed. Thank you very much, Tom Fudge.

FUDGE: Thank you.