What You Need to Know About the H1N1 Vaccine

The new vaccine should be available wherever the seasonal vaccine is traditionally administered — doctors' offices, hospitals, public-health clinics, workplaces and retail clinics.

In addition, the H1N1 vaccine will be available at some unconventional locations, including pharmacies (pharmacists in 49 states are allowed to administer flu shots) and schools. That's because health officials not only want to immunize as many people in as short a period as possible but also want to target school-age children first. (Other priority groups for vaccination include health-care workers, pregnant women and caretakers of children under 6 months.) In New York City, for example, which had one of the country's highest rates of 2009 H1N1 last spring, each public and private elementary school will serve as a vaccination center and will hold two rounds of immunizations, spaced four weeks apart, to ensure that children needing two doses of vaccine receive their complete schedule of shots — with parental consent.

See how to prevent illness at any age.