All About Viruses and Bacteria

Distribution of Vaccines

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Baby Getting Vaccinated
   Nowadays you can just walk into a clinic and get a vaccine. Anyone can get one at any time, but how do they decide who needs vaccines first, and how do they get them to the clinics where they are given? Well here you can learn about how vaccines are distributed. The CDC ships out vaccines to hospitals, clinics, doctor’s offices, health departments, and other providers of vaccines. These places are certified by the CDC to distribute vaccines to people. Any place that can receive, store, and administer vaccines properly is allowed to distribute them. There can be a total of 150,000 places designated to distribute vaccines. Areas are chosen that would be a good area to distribute the vaccines. They would be in areas where everyone in the community can access them. Another key part of disabusing vaccines is target populations. Target populations are groups of people that are recommended to get the vaccine. For example for the H1N1 vaccine it is suggested that the children, teens, young adults, the elderly, pregnant women, and people with conditions that make the flu very dangerous to them, to get the vaccine. This is to protect people who are at the most risks. Children, teens, and young adults are on the list because since they are young they will have little to no immunity to the flu. Elderly are listed because even if they have some immunity, they are older and their bodies are not as strong. Their immune systems will not be able to fight off the flu and are at a high risk. Pregnant women are advised to get the vaccine because it helps assure a safe pregnancy for the mother and the baby. It is proven that pregnant women and their child are not as often sick with the flu that season if they get the vaccine. People with pre-existing conditions are advised to get the vaccine. People with HIV have high risk of infection so getting the flu shot will lower their risk and make the danger of the flu causing life threatening issues not as high. Getting vaccines are important for everyone though, and even if you are not in the list of the target population you should still consider getting vaccinated.