Older Americans Scrambling for Flu Vaccine

State and local health departments— which have been frantically trying to locate flu vaccine for their high risk residents—can now log on to a new, secure government website to see how much vaccine has been shipped to their states and where it has gone. The new site went up this week and is constantly updated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"The site gives a county by county breakdown of where the vaccine has gone and who has it," says Christine Pearson, a spokesperson with CDC.

The CDC also has set up a new toll free flu hotline at (800) 232-4636 where individuals can receive general information in English or Spanish about the flu and the flu vaccine shortage.

The 24-hour hotline also allows callers who haven't been able to find a flu shot provider to punch in their area code to report the problem.

"CDC will then pass along that information to state health officials," Pearson says.

Two suppliers say they will be able to provide Americans with an additional 2.6 million doses of flu vaccine and another 1 million doses of nasal flu spray. Meanwhile the government continues to negotiate with other countries—including Canada—for additional supplies of flu vaccine to assure that protection is available for those who need it most.

Today the U.S. has about 58 million doses of vaccine to cover the 95 million most vulnerable Americans—along with about 3 million doses of nasal flu mist recommended only for healthy Americans ages 5 through 49.

Officials say significant supplies of both vaccines are in the pipeline.

The critical shortage of vaccine this year—triggered when a major U.S. supplier was shut down after inspectors found tainted batches of vaccine in its factory in Britain—is forcing health care providers to ration the supply. And while there have been shortages across the country that have left older Americans standing in line for the shots—in vain—a top public health official said Thursday that much of the U.S. supply has yet to be distributed to doctors, clinics and hospitals.

"Everybody thinks it’s all out there, it’s all been shipped," says Tommy Thompson, secretary of Health and Human Services, "but it hasn’t. We’re going to have about 24 million doses of vaccine that will be shipped in the next seven weeks. And then there will be an additional 2.6 million doses in the first weeks in January."

Thompson says people who cannot find the vaccine now probably will be able to find it over the next few months.

"We want them to be persistent," he says, "but not stand in line."

The flu season runs from early fall through March. The flu vaccine takes effect about two weeks after a shot.

Public health officials advise Americans who need a flu shot to contact their doctors or local health clinics. If they cannot locate a supply, they should contact their state health departments.

The American Lung Association also is working to provide a constant update of clinics across the country where the vaccine is available. Visit the organization’s special website to find the closest location stocking the vaccine.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is working to see that supplies are shipped to areas of the country that need them, also provides updates on the vaccine situation at its site.

The CDC is trying to allocate the vaccine to those most at risk—babies from six to 23 months old, people 65 and older, nursing home residents, pregnant women, those with chronic illnesses and frontline medical and health care workers.

Thompson promised that older Americans would be given priority because 91 percent of last year’s flu deaths were among people 65 and older.

While the vaccine offers the best protection against the flu, there are other preventive steps officials recommend as well:

• Check with your doctor about antiviral medicines—available with a prescription—that help prevent and treat the flu. The United States estimates it could have enough doses of these to treat 40 million people.
• The most vulnerable elderly should also get a vaccination against pneumonia—an often fatal complication of the flu. The pneumococcal vaccine protects against one of the most common types of bacterial pneumonia.
• Take common-sense precautions to protect against the flu: Avoid close contact with anyone who has it, wash your hands frequently and avoid touching your eyes, mouth and nose to prevent the spread of germs.