Posted at: 10/05/2009 7:02 PM
By: David Springer

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Questions About H1N1 Vaccine

(ABC 6 NEWS) -- A 6-year-old boy from Corcoran, Minnesota has died from the H1N1 flu virus.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office says Nathan Schilling died on September 24th.

He had no underlying health issues that may have contributed to his death.

So far, three of Minnesota’s seven H1N1 deaths were children under the age of nine.

The death comes at the same time the first doses of the H1N1 vaccine have reportedly arrived in Minnesota, but it could be days before the majority of it is here.

And for the moment, many health care organizations are unsure of just how much they're getting and when they'll get it.

According to the Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota is getting 28-thousand doses of the H1N1 vaccine. What we don't know is how many of those doses are being split up between counties like Olmsted, Mower and Freeborn. And it appears as if, for the moment, no one else does either.

The Jay Clinic in Rochester is giving out plenty of "seasonal" flu shots to patients, but as for the H1N1 vaccine there are still more questions than answers.

“They want to know when we're going to have it. You know and,” says Deb Fotland, from the Jay Clinic.

State officials say the initial 28-thousand doses of H1N1 vaccine will be in the form of nasal spray and that they'll be administered to health care and emergency medical workers.

Olmsted County Public Health officials say they assume some of the vaccine will come to them and some will go to Mayo Clinic.

Mayo Clinic says when it does arrive, its healthy non-pregnant health care workers up to age 49, who work with the highest risk patients, will be the first ones to get it.      

But what about other health care providers like those at the Jay Clinic. 

“I am signed up to receive the H1N1 vaccine, the problem is they're just not sure if they'll get any of the "initial" shipment,” says Jay Fotland.

“My goal obviously is to help our patients get better or stay well,” says Deb Fotland.

The Minnesota Department of Health says the H1N1 vaccine is being shipped directly to the organizations who ordered it and that some has arrived in state. But it says the vaccine is coming in in bits and pieces and says it could be the end of the week before most of the vaccine is here.  

The Centers for Disease Control estimates more than 150 million doses of the H1N1 vaccine will ultimately be available throughout the U.S.

But, it could still be a few weeks before the first public shipments arrive.