CHICAGO — Shipments of swine flu vaccine are coming to Illinois, and firefighters and hospital workers will be among the first to get it.
Federal health officials Wednesday allocated about 57,000 doses to Illinois. Chicago gets a separate shipment of about 16,000 doses.
Illinois Department of Public Health spokeswoman Kelly Jakubek said it will take about two weeks for the vaccine to be available. More doses will be available in the coming weeks.
The first shipments will be in nasal spray form, which is approved for use only in healthy people ages 2 to 49. Pregnant women shouldn’t receive the nasal spray.
In Chicago, hospitals and the fire department will get the first round. Dr. Julie Morita of the Chicago Public Health Department said hospitals plan to use it for healthy children and health care workers.
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