Across the state, doctors and public health officials are complaining that their flu vaccine is dribbling in much more slowly than expected.
In Summit County, the health department needs about 1,200 doses for a flu vaccine clinic, said Deb Crook, county director of public health.
“But I can only scrape together 800 doses,” she said. “We don’t have enough vaccine to have a community clinic.”
Some doctors are also complaining about not getting adequate supplies, said Dr. Litjen Tan of the American Medical Association.
“A lot of physicians (expected) to have all their doses by the end of September,” Tan said. “I honestly do not believe that is a realistic expectation anymore.”
Still, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health department officials say that while vaccine distribution may be sporadic, it is taking place at a nearly record pace.
The CDC expects some 75 million doses of flu vaccine to be on the market and ready for injection by the end of October, said Dr. Jeanne Santoli, deputy director of the CDC’s immunization division.
“That’s a lot more more than was available at the end of last October,” she said.
In Colorado, 647,785 doses had been distributed by Oct. 18, according to the state health department.
In all, 115 million doses of vaccine are expected nationwide this year.
Last year, most of the nearly 80 million doses didn’t arrive until November.
The one possible shortage, health officials say, is vaccine specially dosed for children.
The CDC has expanded its recommendations for flu vaccines for children, and manufacturers did not have a chance to catch up, Santoli said.
In recent years, demand for the vaccine has jumped while the number of companies making injectable vaccine has dropped. Making flu vaccine takes months, Santoli said.
The combined effect is that “it is not possible for manufacturers to complete the manufacture and distribution process prior to vaccine season,” she said.
She acknowledged that the current system “creates a lot of uncertainty to providers.”
Despite distribution bumps, Santoli said, the CDC is not recommending that any high-risk groups move to the front of the vaccine line while vaccinations are delayed for others.
“We’re urging everyone to vaccinate as soon as they have supply,” she said.
Tan said that the AMA had met this year with vaccine distributors to work on greater transparency as far as who gets vaccine when, and how much.
Tan and Santoli said they hope the information will help dispel the widely held belief that mass distributors – such as drug stores and supermarkets – suck up much of the first available vaccine, leaving small medical practices out in the cold until late in the vaccination season.
Staff writer Karen Augé can be reached at 303-954-1733 or kauge@denverpost.com.
