CDC puts 5 groups at the top of list for swine flu vaccine

Expert advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier today identified five groups of people who should be the first to get immunized against swine (H1N1) flu when the vaccine becomes available, probably sometime this fall:

• Health care workers and emergency medical responders, because their jobs are critical.
• Pregnant women, children age 6 months to 24 years, and adults age 24 to 64 with chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes, or heart disease, because they face a higher risk of complications.
• People caring for infants under 6 months old, because infants can't be vaccinated themselves and also face higher risks.

Notably absent from that list: People age 65 and over. Anne Schuchat, M.D., director of the National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases, said that older people were not included because the evidence now suggests that they are not as vulnerable to the swine flu as they are to regular seasonal flu, or as younger people are to the swine flu.

The CDC estimates that there may be up to 159 million Americans who fit into those five categories. That's potentially more than the number of vaccine doses that will be available, at least during the first few months. Schuchat said that shortages are unlikely, however, since experience with the seasonal flu vaccine shows that less than half of people who should get vaccinated actually do.

Nevertheless, in case shortages do arise, the advisory committee said vaccination should focus on these groups of people:

1. Pregnant women.
2. People caring for infants.
3. Children ages 6 months through 4 years.
4. Children with chronic medical conditions.
5. Health care workers who have direct contact with patients.

That would reduce the number of people needing to be vaccinated to about 40 million.

The vaccine is still being tested in clinical trials, though Schuchat said it might be made available before the trials are completed, if the medical situation warrants it. When it does become available, it can probably be given at the same time as the regular, seasonal flu vaccine. But Schuchat urged people not to wait to get both at once since the timing and availability is uncertain, and there's no reason for people to put off getting protection against the seasonal flu.

—Joel Keehn, senior editor

To view the transcript of Wednesday's meeting, visit the CDC's Web site.

—Aaron Bailey