ShareThisThe thought of kids with runny noses sitting in Santa's lap sharing their deepest desires and germs this holiday season isn't eliciting the usual "Ho, ho, ho." It's more of an "Oh, no, no."
As in, "Oh no, don't give Santa swine flu."
Santas everywhere are saying they should be first in line to get the H1N1 vaccine even though many don't fit the priority groups getting the shots.
"I don't want people to stay away from Santa, but they need to bring their kids in healthy," said Daniel Gromer, a Santa in Sacramento, Calif. "Because Santa can't deliver toys if he's sick."
For the last six years, Gromer has been Santa Claus to thousands of children, and at his nonprofit toy and food drives he runs with Mrs. Claus, his wife, Mary.
Mary Gromer has asthma and can get the vaccine. Daniel Gromer, however, hasn't been eligible.
The Gromers have called local health care providers and have been turned down.
"My husband usually gets the flu or bronchitis each year from being exposed," said Mary Gromer. "Usually by Christmas Day, he's sick."
Ernest Berger, president of the national organization Santa America, said Santas "come in contact with more children than any other person or profession. Very few health care workers or teachers will see that many children."
It's not just the never-ending onslaught of children that makes Santas fear swine flu.
"Many of our Santas are over 100 pounds overweight," said Berger. "It puts them at enormous risk."
Obese people have been more susceptible to H1N1, probably due to underlying illnesses such as diabetes, Berger said.
Other groups with significant exposure to children also feel overlooked.
Victor Guerra, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union, the area's bus driver union, said they got the seasonal flu shot for the drivers but not the H1N1 vaccine.
"We're all worried about it," he said. "We're out in the public and we carry around a bunch of people in an enclosed space."
Because of limited H1N1 vaccine supplies, most health care providers follow the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's protocols reserving the vaccine for the highest-risk groups: pregnant women; health care workers; people ages 6 months to 24 years; adults ages 24-64 with an underlying medical condition; and those caring for children under 6 months old.
Santa America asked an Alabama congressman last week to make Santas a priority group, Berger said. He said the congressman's staff is looking into the matter.
Another national Santa association called the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas recently held a seminar on ways to prevent H1N1 transmission.
Members were urged not to wear cotton gloves (which absorb the virus) and told to regularly use hand sanitizers. They advised Santas to take vitamins and see their doctors.
And Santa America recommended that Santas -- in a jolly way -- ask children to be "nice" and use the hand sanitizer, too.
But Berger worries that all the precautions will detract from the Santa experience.
"We can't turn this into a hygiene exercise," he said.
Reach Anna Tong at atong(at)sacbee.com. For more stories visit scrippsnews.com
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