TOPEKA, Kan. – A vaccine against H1N1 is expected to be available in Kansas beginning next week.

State health director Jason Eberhart-Phillips said Wednesday the state’s first allocation of 16,000 doses should start arriving at local health departments within the next few days.

The first vaccines will be a nasal mist.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment is recommending that health care workers and children 2 to 9 years old be the first to get the vaccine.

Kansas has reported six deaths of people who had been diagnosed with swine flu. The virus has been confirmed in 55 of the state’s 105 counties since the first cases occurred in late April.