H1N1 vaccine available to all in Cape County

The H1N1 vaccine will be available to anyone in Cape Girardeau County who wants it beginning Dec. 16, the county public health center announced Wednesday.

According to a news release issued by the center, the allotments of the vaccine are increasing and there are fewer so-named "high risk" individuals requesting the vaccine.

According to assistant director Jane Wernsman, the H1N1 flu, commonly called the swine flu, has been around since the spring.

"We've been fortunate this flu hasn't been more severe than it has been," Wernsman said in the news release. "But it is still a serious disease that makes people very ill."

The center has planned three public clinics:

• From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Dec. 16 at the Osage Community Centre in Cape Girardeau
• From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 30 at the Delta Community Center in Delta
• From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Jan. 8 at the University of Missouri Extension Center in Jackson

A limited number of regular seasonal flu vaccines will be available at the clinics.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services said Tuesday that physicians reported 26,307 cases of flu in Missouri in the first eight weeks of this year's flu season. In the first eight weeks last year, they reported 56.