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Most of recalled vaccine given
Mist was safe, but lost strength
Flu Shots 7 es
Forsyth County administered nasal mist flu vaccinations earlier this month. - photo by Emily Saunders
For the second time in as many weeks, doses of the H1N1 flu vaccination have been recalled.

The most recent recall affects some 4.7 million doses, about 800 of which were delivered to Forsyth County.

“As of [Wednesday], we have given 785 doses and only have 15 doses left of the recalled vaccine,” said Dave Palmer, spokesman for District 2 Public Health.

As with the first recall of 800,000 doses nationwide, the Dec. 22 order involves doses manufactured by MedImmune that were found to have lost potency over time.

Neither recall involved any safety issues.

Palmer said anyone who received the nasal mist vaccine for H1N1, or swine flu, should not try to take a second vaccination to compensate.

“Since most of this vaccine was in the earliest shipments, it was more than likely at full potency when given,” he said. “However, since there has been only a slight decrease in potency, [the] FDA has said that the vaccine would still be effective.”

H1N1 is a form of Type A influenza. While there have been some reports of seasonal flu nationwide, the majority of recent flu cases have been the H1N1 strain.

As of Dec. 22, there had been 694 hospitalizations for H1N1 and 41 deaths in Georgia, according to state statistics.

Palmer said the remaining 15 doses of the mist vaccine would be sent back to the manufacturer.

District 2, which includes Forsyth and 12 other counties, still has some doses of the spray not involved in the recall, as well as flu vaccine in shot form.

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