Obama girls vaccinated against swine flu

By Garance Franke-Ruta
Well, that settles that.

Ending speculation about when and whether the Obama girls would receive the scarce swine flu vaccine, the White House on Tuesday revealed that Sasha and Malia were both vaccinated last week, after the vaccine became available to children in the District of Columbia.

As previously reported by The Post, all four members of the Obama family have received the seasonal flu vaccine, but the president and first lady have not yet received a shot to protect against the H1N1 flu virus, or swine flu. Only 16.5 million doses of the H1N1 vaccine have become available so far, a figure well short of public demand, leading to rationing.

"They will wait until the needs of the priority groups identified by the CDC - including young people under the age of 24, pregnant women, and people with underlying conditions - have been met," the first lady's press secretary, Catherine Mccormick-Lelyveld, explained on the White House blog.

"The girls' H1N1 vaccine was administered by a White House physician, who applied for and received the vaccine from the DC Department of Health using the same process as every other vaccination site in the District," she wrote.

The Centers for Disease Control's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends that all children between 6 months and 18 years be vaccinated against H1N1 "as soon as possible." Those not in the high-priority groups are being asked to wait until more vaccine is available.

Posted at 5:09 PM ET on Oct 27, 2009