The Order of Ma'at  

The Food and Drug Administration approved the new swine flu vaccine Tuesday Sept. 15th, a long-anticipated step as the government works to start mass vaccinations next month. Limited supplies should start trickling out the first week of October.

The government has ordered 195 million doses but may order more if there's enough demand, she said. Typically fewer than 100 million Americans seek flu vaccine every year

The new swine flu seems no more deadly than regular winter flu, which every year kills 36,000 Americans and hospitalizes 200,000. But there's an important difference: This H1N1 strain sickens younger people more frequently than the people over 65 who are the main victims of seasonal flu.

So the government wants certain people in line first for the H1N1 vaccinations: Pregnant women; the young, from age 6 months up through age 24; and people younger than 65 who have flu-risky conditions such as asthma, diabetes or heart disease; caregivers of the at-risk, including newborns; and health workers.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told Congress "Eventually, we will have enough vaccine available for everyone."

The vast majority of people who get swine flu "so far are not terribly ill," Sebelius noted, saying most will recover fine at home with some rest and fluids. And they shouldn't race to doctors' offices seeking tests to find out what kind of flu they have — H1N1 or the regular strains that circulate every winter — because treatment is the same.

"The flu is the flu is the flu right now," Sebelius said.