Shortage cancels plans for flu vaccinations

• By SANDY DAVIS
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Nov 10, 2009 - Page: 4A

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A mass seasonal flu vaccination program scheduled Friday at parish health units statewide has been canceled because of a shortage of vaccine, state and local officials said Monday.

“The program has been postponed because the vaccine we ordered for it did not come in,” said Dr. Marilyn Reynaud, medical director for the Office of Public Health, Region II, which includes East Baton Rouge Parish.

Reynaud said it is unclear whether enough vaccine would come in for the program to be held this year.

However, she did say the East Baton Rouge Parish Health Unit does have some seasonal flu vaccine. “People should call first and make sure they still have it before they come in for it,” she said.

Dr. Frank Welch, the state’s medical director for pandemic preparedness, said the shortage of seasonal flu vaccine is the fault of two of the manufacturers of the vaccine.

Four of the six manufacturers who produced this year’s seasonal flu vaccine produced the number of doses they promised and on schedule, Welch said.

Two manufacturers did not make enough and did not meet their deadlines.

One of the companies has produced only 70 percent of the vaccine it promised, Welch said. “But it is expected that the company will deliver 100 percent of the order, just behind schedule.”

The other manufacturer has announced it will produce only half of the number of vaccine doses it initially promised.

Welch said complicating the matter is the increased demand for the seasonal flu vaccine because of all the attention placed on swine flu.

“While we have almost as much seasonal flu vaccine as we did last year, it might not be enough because it looks as though the demand is going to be higher this year than it was last year,” he said.

And neither the state nor federal government can do anything about the shortage.

Unlike swine flu vaccine, which the federal government is giving away nationwide for free, the seasonal flu vaccine is private business: local clinics, hospitals and pharmacies order it on behalf of their clients and patients and pay for it.  “We do not monitor or broker seasonal flu vaccine,” Welch said.