New York City is getting its first doses of swine flu vaccine next week, officials said Tuesday.
Some 80,000 doses are due to arrive in the five boroughs, while another 100,000 will go to upstate counties.
Most of the first wave of vaccines is reserved for health care workers, who are mandated by a new state law to get inoculated before December. Some medical workers oppose the mandate, saying it’s a violation of personal freedoms.
“We don’t feel the government should have the right to force us to put any substance – whether or not the government feels it’s safe – into our body,” Laura Ally, a nurse at St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany, said at a rally outside the state capitol.
The first vaccines will be in the form of a nasal mist – not an injection – recommended only for healthy people ages 2 to 49 who are not pregnant.
Injectable vaccines are expected to follow in staggered shipments.
Others eligible for the first doses are those considered high risk by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, such as children and young adults, people ages 25 to 64 who have health conditions that could lead to medical complications from the flu, and pregnant women.
The Bloomberg administration announced last month that all schoolkids can get free swine flu vaccinations when they are available.
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