Friday, December 17, 2004
Vaccines: from shortage to surplus
[Daniel Yee, "U.S. Worries Flu Shots May Go to Waste," Associated Press, Las Vegas Review-Journal, 17 December 2004.]
It will be interesting to see how much media attention this item receives: after cries of outrage that the government needed to be in control of the vaccine industry in order to prevent shortages, it turns out that the government may end up wasting vaccines due to mismanagement:
As concerns rise that tens of thousands of doses of flu shots could go to waste, federal officials were considering changing their advice on who should get the shot.
A survey indicated only about half those who are at high-risk even tried to get the shot. Now, a mild flu season seems to have lowered demand for the vaccine and several states are reporting a surplus.
A CDC study found that as of last month, only about 35 percent of high-risk adults, mainly senior citizens, had gotten a flu shot. Another CDC study released Thursday found that people at high risk often do not get vaccinated for various reasons, including a misperception that the shot causes influenza and the belief that it would not be easy for them to get the vaccine.
As a result, health officials have been scrambling to find a way to make use of the remaining supply of flu shots - before they go to waste.
"We really have to work hard to get rid of it," said Dr. William Schaffner, an influenza vaccine expert and head of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn.
[Daniel Yee, "U.S. Worries Flu Shots May Go to Waste," Associated Press, Las Vegas Review-Journal, 17 December 2004.]
It will be interesting to see how much media attention this item receives: after cries of outrage that the government needed to be in control of the vaccine industry in order to prevent shortages, it turns out that the government may end up wasting vaccines due to mismanagement:
As concerns rise that tens of thousands of doses of flu shots could go to waste, federal officials were considering changing their advice on who should get the shot.
A survey indicated only about half those who are at high-risk even tried to get the shot. Now, a mild flu season seems to have lowered demand for the vaccine and several states are reporting a surplus.
A CDC study found that as of last month, only about 35 percent of high-risk adults, mainly senior citizens, had gotten a flu shot. Another CDC study released Thursday found that people at high risk often do not get vaccinated for various reasons, including a misperception that the shot causes influenza and the belief that it would not be easy for them to get the vaccine.
As a result, health officials have been scrambling to find a way to make use of the remaining supply of flu shots - before they go to waste.
"We really have to work hard to get rid of it," said Dr. William Schaffner, an influenza vaccine expert and head of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn.
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