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Launa Conrad wants her six school-aged children to get the H1N1 flu vaccine.
"There's enough sickness going around as it is," she said.
But stiff competition for a slot has discouraged the Kaysville mother from trying to get her youngsters in.
That difficulty is why 44 percent of Utahns say they haven't been vaccinated, according to a new Salt Lake Tribune poll. It's also a situation that is not likely to change until doses are in abundant supply -- and that isn't expected soon.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported Thursday that 2 million fewer doses will be shipped out next week than was originally projected by manufacturers. For Utahns, whose allotment of the national
"We did hear that we would be getting a little less than usual," said Lance Madigan, a spokesman for the Utah County Health Department. It has been receiving between 15,000 and 16,000 doses weekly, but will get only 12,900 next week.
"We definitely understand people's frustration with getting the vaccine," he said. "For Utah County, for instance, we've gotten somewhere in the neighborhood of about 75,000 doses of vaccine down here. Of course, we have half a million people. That's just barely scratching the surface."
The Tribune poll revealed that 89 percent of the 625 Utahns interviewed by Washington, D.C.-based Mason-Dixon
When asked why they haven't received the vaccine, however, the majority of those polled said they are not planning to get it, either because they don't see the novel flu as a serious threat, they don't think the vaccine is safe, or they don't believe in vaccines at all.
East Millcreek resident Jaki Nordrum said she wishes there were more vaccine available along the Wasatch Front, though she wouldn't queue up for a dose even after it is made available to the general population.
"I don't think it's going to affect me as seriously as it does the younger generation," said the 63-year-old, who did get a seasonal flu shot.
The Utah Department of Health (UDOH) launched the Utah Flu Fighters campaign last month to educate Utahns about prevention and what to do if they get sick, and to encourage vaccination. Executive Director David Sundwall said of the poll results: "I'm not surprised, but they are disappointing."
At the same time, however, Sundwall is skeptical: If the H1N1 flu epidemic were to get worse, he'd expect the naysayers to line up for a vaccine along with everyone else.
"I think a lot of those people who are not interested in the vaccine would pretty quickly change their minds," he said.
Lewis Garrett, director of the Davis County Health Department, said The Tribune's poll results track closely with others that have been conducted nationally.
But in light of new CDC data released Thursday, which estimates 22 million Americans have gotten the H1N1 flu, 98,000 people have been hospitalized and 3,900 have died -- including 540 children younger than 18 --- "I don't think it's a good conclusion that this is not a serious pandemic," Garrett said.
While the H1N1 flu is no more virulent than the seasonal flu, he said, "the fact that so many people are contracting it means the impact is ... going to be higher than a regular seasonal flu year."
During the past week, UDOH reported Thursday, there were no new reported deaths and flu-related illness declined slightly, though it's still above the epidemic threshold for the state.
Sundwall cautions, however, that "we could very well have a third phase of this coming, so it's not going to make it less important to have the vaccine."
Darby Cuvelier of Bountiful is among Utahns polled who said they want their families to get an H1N1 vaccine, but haven't because it's not readily available.
"I definitely believe in vaccinations," said Cuvelier, who has a 7-year-old and two toddlers. "We would rather have them protected against the virus than susceptible."
Ronald Hrebenar of Holladay said he'll get the vaccine just as soon as it's available to people in his age group. The 64-year-old travels frequently -- in the upcoming months he plans to go to Japan and Austria -- and wants some protection from the illness.
"I do a lot of traveling and meet a lot of people on airplanes and crowded trains," he said.
lrosetta@sltrib.com mariav@sltrib.com
As of Thursday, 623 influenza-associated hospitalizations attributed to both seasonal and H1N1 strains had been reported, which is 103 more cases than last week, according to the Utah Department of Health. Only 37 of those cases happened between Nov. 1 and Nov. 7; the rest occurred earlier but weren't reported until that week.
Since the flu season began Sept. 1, 14 Utahns have died of flu. No more deaths occurred during the reporting week.
