Still no flu vaccine

by Dana Urton, Administrator at Daviess County Health Department

The shortage of flu vaccine has certainly caused a lot of media frenzy as well as panic among those who take the vaccine yearly because of age or chronic health conditions as well as those healthy persons that want to avoid the flu. Proof of the panic can be seen by the long lines at clinics that were fortunate enough to have vaccine.

The Daviess County Health Department, as well as the entire county, still has no vaccine. We are not alone. Wright Memorial Hospital, Cameron Regional Hospital and clinics, Caldwell County Health Department, Hamilton Medical Clinic and Harrison County Health Department also received no vaccine. Grundy County Health Department was fortunate enough to get about one third of their vaccine, but have since given all of it to Grundy County residents and even had to cancel their last scheduled clinic.

News reports of enough vaccine to avoid those long lines are deceiving. There certainly is a shortage; however, Aventis/Pasteur (the French company making vaccine), is making more vaccine that will be available in January. This is usually the peak of flu season. These news reports are based on this fact of more vaccine coming. What they neglect to tell is that mid to late January is the expected date.

Because it takes between three and four weeks for the vaccine to become effective, flu vaccine clinics are generally done in mid to late October to help combat flu season that usually begins sometime in November or December and lasts into March.

If the Daviess County Health Department is lucky enough to get vaccine, it will be published in local newspapers, on local radio stations, and on fliers about clinics that would be available.