COLUMBUS, Ohio -The state is asking healthy Ohioans to skip flu shots this year because of a shortage that cut the United States vaccine supply in half.
The state is also asking doctors in private practice to give their supplies of vaccine only to those at highest risk of getting the flu.
We are asking them to defer vaccination this year so we can stretch the available vaccine to go to only those at the highest risk for influenza and its associated conditions
department spokesman Kristopher Weiss said yesterday.
The state buys its supply of vaccines from a different company than the British firm that had its license suspended because of manufacturing problems.
But those vaccines go to health departments and a federal program serving poor children and are meant only for high-risk individuals, including the elderly and people with chronic health conditions. Public health flu shots represent only 10 to 20 percent of vaccinations, Weiss said.
British regulators suspended the license of the Chiron Corp., maker of the Fluvirin vaccine, because of manufacturing problems at its Liverpool, England, plant.
The state purchases about 270,000 doses from Aventis Pasteur and provides them to local health departments. It buys another 100,000 doses for a federal program that serves poor children, children with little or no health insurance and American Indian children.
Weiss said the state is also urging people to take other measures to ward off the flu, including frequent and thorough hand washing, eating well and getting enough rest and exercise.
-The Associated Press 17
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