Now that the H1N1 flu has been declared a national emergency, I did a quick check of where to get the H1N1 vaccine.

Allocation of vaccine doses delivered to Hawaii is apparently made by the State Department of Health.

Clearly, they’re setting aside a large supply for schools.

But where should others go? Here’s a link to the DOH roster of where to get your H1N1 vaccination, updated on October 22. Prominent on the list are Safeway stores, Walgreens, and Times Supermarkets, along with the Kalihi-Palama Health Center and two locations of Mina Pharmacy.

What’s odd about the list is what isn’t listed. Longs Drugs isn’t there. How about Queen’s Medical Center and its long list of doctors? The Honolulu Medical Group, a long established medical clinic where I’ve been a patient my entire life? Search the list for “Kaiser”, expecting to find Kaiser Permanente’s hospitals and clinics that have nearly 225,000 members. Not there. These seem like significant omissions.

I can’t find a list of actual vaccine deliveries, as opposed to “allocations” or orders, but the DOH list appears to indicate that private corporate chain stores are getting the bulk of initial allocations, ahead of key health providers, clinics, and doctors.

I’ve been told some of the major health providers have received only token vaccine deliveries to date, unlike Safeway and others.

Is DOH trying to drive business to Safeway and Walgreens pharmacies rather than to established medical clinics and providers?

And notice the “additional information”: “Call for insurance restrictions…Please call ahead to verify availability and cost of vaccine administration.”

Perhaps things have changed. I tried to get a flu shot at Safeway and couple of years ago but left after being told that they didn’t accept HMSA insurance. Perhaps that’s changed. If so, why the warnings to check “restrictions”?

In any case, some additional reporting is in order.