Millions of Americans, by choice or not, are going to go without flu shots this year so that more vulnerable Americans can be immunized.
Chiron Corp., a group based in Liverpool, England, was to supply the U.S. with between 46 and 48 million units this year. It was forced to withhold all of them because of a contaminated few, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
Consequently, the U.S. is short its supply of flu vaccinations by almost half.
The case is no different in Athens. Many of the area's health-care facilities have received fewer vaccinations than they requested.
The order that we placed was with Chiron
so that was that said Linda Weiss, spokeswoman for O'Bleness Memorial Hospital in Athens.
O'Bleness received no flu vaccinations, Weiss said. Even though its yearly supply is intended only for distribution to staff members, hands-on health-care workers are listed among the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's high-risk groups, according to the CDC's Web site (http://www.cdc.gov).
Others within this group are infants 6 to 23 months old; those older than 64; children and teenagers age 6 months to 18 years who take aspirin daily; adults suffering from chronic heart or lung problems; those with chronic metabolic diseases, kidney diseases, blood disorders or immunodeficiency; caregivers of high-risk individuals; and pregnant women.
The CDC has recommended priority treatment for people in these groups.
Any healthy person between 2 and 64 years old should pass on flu shots this season, according to the CDC's Web site.
The CDC laid out these guidelines in lieu of this year's shortage, and local hospital officials have stated their intentions to follow the guidelines strictly.
We've asked all physicians to follow CDC recommendations for high-risk patients said Doug Adkins, director of nursing for Holzer Clinic.
Holzer Clinic has been allotted 5,000 of the 11,000 vaccinations it requested for all its operations, he said. Holzer has nine locations throughout Ohio and West Virginia.
Holzer Clinic's Athens location, however, had received no vaccinations as of last week. A clinic spokeswoman said she was unsure if or when any would be received.
Holzer Clinic's supplier, Aventis Pasteur, having manufactured 54 million units this year, has become the nation's sole flu vaccine provider in Chiron's absence.
Healthy students in search of flu shots can expect to be turned away from Ohio University's Hudson Health Center, which only received half of its requests from Aventis, according to Patty Debruin, Hudson's director of nursing.
Hudson will start inoculating students, faculty and staff members who fit into the CDC's high-risk groups Oct. 25, Debruin said.
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