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Local
flu vaccine supply cut short
October 07, 2004
Texas
City Sun - 10/20/04
by Laura Huchzermeyer
People who are specifically
at risk for contracting influenza, such
as children and the elderly, may be the
only ones to be immunized this flu season
due to a shortage of vaccines.
The short supply also will
put a strain on doctors and other health
care providers who face the challenge
of equally distributing the available
vaccines to those who need it most.
On Tuesday, officials suddenly
pulled the license of the British company
Chiron Corp., which was to supply half
the flu vaccines used in the United States.
As a result, 46 million to 48 million
doses of flu vaccine manufactured by Chiron
Corp. will not be shipped for use this
season. The country now is left with only
about half the regular amount of flu vaccines,
or 53 million doses.
The threat of a shortage
prompted the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention to issue recommendations
on how to deal with the short supply of
vaccines.
People who fall into priority
groups such as the elderly, children,
pregnant women, people with chronic medical
conditions and health care providers will
be considered first on the list to receive
a flu vaccine.
Those who are not included
in one of the priority groups are asked
to forgo receiving a vaccination this
year.
“There is not enough
for everyone” said Martin Myers,
director of National Network of Immunization
Information based at the University of
Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. “We
can’t give to everyone who wants
it. It’s important to give it to
those at risk. We should not give it to
other people unless (those at risk) get
it first.”
Flu shot campaigns usually
start in October, a month before the flu
season typically begins in the United
States. In an average year, flu kills
36,000 Americans and hospitalizes more
than 200,000. More than 90 percent of
influenza-related deaths are in the elderly.
However, in 2003, there were 152 flu-related
deaths in children.
Myers said the short supply
also presents a difficult problem for
health care providers.
“As influenza vaccine
is ordered well in advance of availability,
it is likely that that some health care
providers will have their full supply
of vaccine, while others will have none,”
he said. “People on a local level
are going to have to share and communicate
with one another who has what and where
the vaccine is available.”
Nationwide, there are more
than 54 million doses of flu vaccines
available this season. Of those doses,
30 million already have been distributed
to doctors, clinics and hospitals around
the country.
An average of 8 million to
10 million flu vaccines are administered
by doctors, companies, health care facilities,
supermarket chains and other organizations
in Texas each year. Officials at the Texas
Department of State Health Services do
not know how many of those doses were
ordered from Chiron this year.
The Galveston County Health
District has received 6,600 doses of the
influenza vaccine so far this year. About
4,450 vaccines will not be received here
as a result of the shortage. Kurt Koopmann,
spokesman for the health district, said
they ordered about 2,000 additional doses
Wednesday, but he said he is not sure
if those will be received.
“We feel confident
that we can address the needs of the priority
population,” he said. “It’s
important that we educate the public and
those who are healthy allow those who
are in priority groups to get vaccinated
first.”
Koopmann said the majority
of flu vaccines administered each year
by the health district is outside their
clinics. The district commonly hosts flu
vaccine drives at special events and locations
around the community, such as senior health
fairs or for companies or churches who
request that their employees be vaccinated.
He said organizations that
request flu vaccine drives this year will
be prioritized by using the guidelines
recommended by the CDC.
“We have had to reschedule
some or put some on waiting lists,”
Koopmann said about the community flu
shot clinics.
Myers said the flu vaccine
shortage is not a new phenomenon in the
country. Since 2001, there have been other
shortages for diphtheria-tetanus and measles-mumps-rubella
vaccines. Shortages result from a variety
of factors, including the interruption
of manufacturing and companies leaving
the vaccine marketplace because they are
not profitable.
‘There have been shortages
of many vaccines over the years, and this
is the one of the moment,” he said.
“The current shortage emphasizes
the fragility of the vaccine supply system
in the United States and the world.”
The Associated Press contributed
to this article.
read the press
release
For More Information
Contact:
Kurt Koopmann
Public Information Officer
Galveston County Health District
(409) 938-2211
kkoopman@gchd.org
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