Nasal spray vaccine to ward off swine flu began arriving Tuesday in the central San Joaquin Valley.
Kings County received 1,600 doses of the vaccine for the H1N1 virus, also called swine flu. Fresno County got about 200 doses.
In Kings County, health workers will begin giving the vaccine to 2-year-olds within the next week or two, said Keith Winkler, health director for Kings County.
Winkler said health workers will take the vaccine to preschools, day-care centers, "anywhere where we can contact 2-year-olds."
Fresno County will give most of this first shipment of nasal spray vaccine to healthy children between ages 2 and 9 at its immunization clinic on the Fulton Mall. It also will give the vaccine to people who are in contact with infants younger than 6 months old.
The counties' shipments are part of 200,000 doses of the nasal spray vaccine that arrived at providers' offices statewide Tuesday.
The state expects 400,000 doses to arrive this week, said Ken August, spokesman at the California Department of Public Health.
Most of the vaccine headed to the Valley is being shipped directly to hospitals, clinics and doctors' offices. Health providers are not required to tell the state when they receive seasonal or H1N1 vaccine, August said.
People who want the vaccine should check with their doctor and ask whether the vaccine has arrived or when it is expected, August said.
Pediatricians in the Valley -- as well as community clinics, school health centers and Indian health centers -- should get the nasal spray vaccine this week, said David Luchini, manager of Fresno County's communicable disease division. "Call your provider first, because they may have it," he said.
As many as 4.5 million doses of H1N1 nasal spray vaccine may be ordered this flu season statewide, he said. Vaccine shipments will continue for many weeks.
"If someone wants vaccine, there will be vaccine for him or her," August said.
About 200,000 doses for H1N1 flu shots should begin arriving at providers' offices by the middle of this month, August said.
A total of 18 million doses of the vaccine for swine-flu shots could be available to Californians, he said.
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