As many as 90 million doses of flu vaccine – including 200,000 doses donated for hurricane victims – are about to be distributed nationwide, which should be enough for everyone who wants a shot this season, health officials said Wednesday.
Still, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked that healthy people wait until after Oct. 24 for vaccinations so that those at risk for flu complications can get the shots first.
Dr. Julie Gerberding, CDC director, said the agency does not expect a vaccine shortage this season like the one that occurred last year.
But flu is unpredictable, she said, and “demand for vaccine is unpredictable.”
People who should get first access to flu shots are those 65 and older, children between 6 months and 2 years old, pregnant women and those with health conditions that put them at a greater risk for flu complications.
To that usual list, Gerberding added a new group: Hurricane Katrina victims now in shelters.
“We know those shelters could be a place where respiratory diseases could easily spread,” Gerberding said.
Colorado health officials said they weren’t aware Wednesday whether any of the doses, donated by Sanofi-Pasteur, a French pharmaceutical company, would be coming to evacuees here.
After a devastating 2003 flu season, Colorado had a relatively mild season last year, state health officials said.
There was an unexpected shortage of vaccine, however, after British regulators shut down a factory of Chiron Corp., a U.S. supplier, because of contaminated vaccine.
Gerberding said officials are expecting between 71 million and 97 million doses this year, depending on how much Chiron can supply.
Staff writer Karen Auge can be reached at 303-820-1733 or kauge@denverpost.com.
