By Kevin Lavery, WKAR News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-871662.mp3
LANSING, MI –
The Ingham County Health Department is concerned that fewer people are getting vaccinated against the H1N1 virus than they expected.
Health care providers have two problems. First, shipments of the vaccine are coming in slower than expected. The second is the county's campaign to win the hearts and minds of at-risk people who are fearful of the vaccine. A poll taken last month by East-Lansing based EPIC-MRA found 70% of Michigan residents do not plan to get vaccinated or are unsure. Marcus Cheatum is with the Ingham County Health Department:
"We know that the numbers of people showing up at our clinics are less than we expected, and we think it's because those polling results are true that there really is misunderstanding or just apathy," he says.
Cheatum estimates as many as 15,000 Ingham County residents have been vaccinated. That doesn't factor in how much of the vaccine has been administered by private physicians.