Flu vaccine shortage everywhere

The Daviess County Health Department was prepared for the flu season, but the department, along with the rest of the world, is facing a shortage of flu vaccine through no fault of their own. America’s supply of flu vaccine was cut in half recently when Great Britain abruptly shut down a major supplier just as flu season is about to begin.

“That was all the vaccine that was allotted for Daviess County,” said Dana Urton, administrator at the health department. The department had ordered its supply of vaccine from Chiron Corp. this year.

British regulators suspended the license of Chiron Corp., the world’s second-leading flu vaccine supplier, for three months. They cited manufacturing problems at the factory in Liverpool, England, where Chiron makes its leading Fluvirin flu vaccine. According to officials, Chiron will ship no Fluvirin anywhere this year, including the 46 million to 48 million doses originally planned for the United Sates.

Mrs. Urton said there is hope of a possible solution — reserving and redistributing remaining vaccines from other manufacturers.

The rest of the nation’s supply, roughly 54 million flu shots, is coming from Aventis Pasteur, the world’s leading supplier. Aventis already had said it didn’t expect to be able to produce more until at least November, when existing orders are filled. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has now asked Aventis to try to redistribute its shipments so high-risk patients get their shots first, CDC chief Julie Gerberding said.

“Other counties have only received about half of their vaccine from other distributors,” said Mrs. Urton. “The CDC could take what is left and distribute it to other counties who don’t have any vaccine at all. That would leave all the counties with about half of their supply.”

Healthy adults will be asked to delay or skip getting flu shots this year so health officials can give priority to more vulnerable patients. The people most in need of flu vaccine are babies and toddlers ages six to 23 months; the elderly; anyone with chronic conditions such as heart of lung disease; and pregnant women.

In the meantime, the Daviess County Health Department will attempt to combat the flu with continuing education.

“For healthy people, there are ways to try to avoid getting the flu,” said Mrs. Urton. “Wash your hands; cover your mouth when you cough; don’t go to work sick. People will have to be really cautious this year.”

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 people and hospitalizes another 114,000 mostly the elderly.