Looking for the swine flu vaccine?

If you're eligible to get the swine flu vaccine, you should first call your doctor, according to the Boulder County Public Health department. If your doctor doesn't have the vaccine, or if you don't have a doctor, you can call 303-441-1450 to schedule an appointment with the county.

You can also search for a flu clinic online at immunizecolorado.com by clicking on "find a flu clinic," where you can search by city.

For the latest news about vaccine supplies in Boulder County, visit the health department's Web site at bouldercounty.org/health.

You can sign up for e-mail updates about the swine flu from the county by clicking on the "sign up" link.
After distributing more than 56,000 doses of swine-flu vaccine to people in Boulder County at highest risk of having complications with the illness, the Public Health department has given the go-ahead for doctors to vaccinate a wider group of patients.

Healthy people from 5 to 24 years old and people with chronic health conditions from 25 to 64 years old are now able to get the vaccine, said Chana Goussetis, spokeswoman for Boulder County Public Health.

Supplies of the vaccine are delivered weekly to Boulder County, which then distributes 95 percent of the doses it receives to private health-care providers. This week, the county is expecting an unusually large shipment of 11,400 doses.

“Thanks to health-care providers in the community, those at greatest risk for the illness have been able to receive the vaccine,” said Nisha Alden, the county's communicable disease division manager, in a news release. “Vaccine is still extremely limited, but now more people will be eligible to receive it.”

Previously, only pregnant women, children 6 months to 4 years old, caregivers for infants younger than 6 months old, children 5 to 18 years old with underlying health conditions and healthcare workers with direct patient contact were eligible to get the vaccine.

Flu cases in the Denver metro area, including Boulder, peaked around the middle of October, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and hospitalizations for flu-like symptoms have been decreasing ever since.

Physicians at Boulder Community Hospital have noticed the decrease, said spokeswoman Patti Sedano, but the hospital is still banning children younger than 18 from visiting patients to prevent the spread of flu to vulnerable people.

“As far as what we're doing here in the hospital, there are no changes here,” Sedano said. “We're still following the protocol as of Oct. 16.”