As of today, the state will allow anyone who wants swine flu vaccine to get it.

Until now, due to a shortage, the vaccine supply in Alaska has been designated to go to those in five priority groups identified by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But now several states, including Alaska, have lifted restrictions on who may get vaccinated, said Dr. Joe McLaughlin, state epidemiologist.

State health officials think all Alaskans in the priority groups who wanted a vaccine have had the chance to get one, according to a news release.

And the vaccine supply appears to be loosening up, said Laurel Wood, immunization program manager for the state Public Health Division.

She said the state initially estimated 300,000 Alaskans might be interested in getting vaccinated. As of now, Alaska has been allocated 160,000 doses, the last of which will be sent out to providers this week, she said.

More is coming in at the rate of 15,000 to 20,000 doses a week, according to a state Web site.

Some health care providers around Alaska have reported they have vaccine sitting in refrigerators and going unused, said Wood.

"Our goal is to get it out of refrigerators and into the noses and arms of Alaskans," she said. The state also wants those who will be travelling at Christmas time to have the opportunity to get the vaccine before they go, she said.

The H1N1 disease (swine flu) appears to be on the decline in Alaska and the United States in general, said McLaughlin. But he warned it could pick up again, creating a third wave. The first wave in Alaska hit last spring, then it waned over the summer. When school started, a second wave of swine flu started up with it.

Even though swine flu appears to be slowing its attack, flu rates are still high for what you would expect at the start of December, said McLaughlin. He encouraged people to get vaccinated for both swine flu and seasonal flu.

"There's no indication that it's over at this point."

Seasonal flu hasn't kicked in yet, and health officials don't know how widespread it will be this year. Seasonal flu typically peaks in February in Alaska, McLaughlin said.

Ninety-nine percent of the flu in Alaska at this time is H1N1, he said.

The swine flu vaccine is available at community health clinics such as Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center, at the offices of private health providers who signed up to distribute vaccine -- including pediatricians, obstetrician-gynecologists and family or internal medicine providers -- and at pharmacies. The pharmacies in Anchorage that are doing vaccinations are Fred Meyer, Carrs, Walgreens and Geneva Woods Pharmacy, the city Health Department said.

The Anchorage School District is offering vaccines to all its students. In December, it is hitting middle and high schools and will return to elementary schools to give younger students a second dose.

The city held one mass vaccination clinic at the University of Alaska Anchorage, and has more scheduled beginning next week.

The priority groups that have been targeted for vaccine to date are pregnant women, young people aged 6 months to 24 years, people through age 64 who have chronic health problems, health care workers, and those who come in contact with babies under 6 months of age.

Find Rosemary Shinohara online at adn.com/contact/rshinohara or call her at 257-4340.

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