Originally published December 3 2005
States wait to receive promised amounts of flu vaccine
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention released figures that claim pharmaceutical companies have produced a record 83 million doses of flu vaccine, but at the state level, supplies are often limited and given out to patients with the greatest risks, including senior citizens and young children.
Dr. Kevin Burke of the Indiana State Medical Association said Monday that many Indiana doctors who didn't receive their vaccine in October are getting those shots this month.
The Fort Wayne-Allen County Department of Health also began offering a limited amount of flu vaccine to young children.
Business Health Services of RediMed has postponed around 100 company-flu-shot clinics indefinitely.
Half were to be used for the company clinics and the other 5,000 for distribution to the general public.
With the timing still in question, RediMed is anticipating eventually receiving 30 percent of its total order -- on pace with Chiron's scaled back output projections.
In the meantime, the network has been talking with other suppliers and is on a waiting list with Sanofi Pasteur, said Geoff Thomas, a spokesman for Lutheran.
As it waits, the local health department's Childhood Immunization Clinic began offering 200 doses of inactivated flu vaccine it recently received through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-financed Vaccines for Children program.
Immunization clinics are scheduled for 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 1 to 4 p.m. at the City-County Building, 1 E. Main St.
The Allen County Flu Task Force plans to meet to discuss community-wide questions of availability, although no meeting date had been set Monday, Silcox said.
More than 800 senior citizens turned out for Parkview Noble Hospital's pneumonia and flu shot clinic on Nov. 8.
Hospital officials reported that 780 flu shots and 270 pneumonia shots were given that day.
Meanwhile, many family physicians feel shortchanged by what they see as the ill effects of free market economics on flu vaccine supply.
But as supply delays continue into flu season, health officials hope for a repeat of last year's late-peak flu season.
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