Fred Harteis News Articles - U.S. to get 115 million flu vaccines this year, CDC says

Fred Harteis News Articles - Flu vaccine makers will provide 115 million doses to the U.S. market this year, by far the most ever, but vexing distribution problems mean it may still be difficult to get a shot, health officials said this week.

Doctors should start vaccinating patients as soon as they receive their vaccine orders, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

They should aim to get high-risk patients, such as the elderly, vaccinated first but there is no advisory calling for such patients to be first in line, as in past years.

"We recommend beginning vaccinating now, instead of waiting until later, when more vaccine arrives," Dr. Jeanne Santoli, deputy director of the CDC's Immunization Services Division, told reporters.

"More vaccine will be arriving throughout the season and we anticipate that there will be more vaccine available this season than ever before."

Santoli said 40 million doses had arrived at either distributors or doctors' offices from the manufacturers, and estimated that 75 million doses would arrive by the end of October. The flu season peaks in February or later in the United States, so there is plenty of time to be vaccinated, she said.

The United States has had continual battles over flu vaccine, with regular shortages due either to manufacturing troubles or distribution woes. Every flu season many people are forced to wait in lines for their vaccines or to seek them again and again.

Yet fewer than half of all Americans plan to get the vaccine -- including fewer than half of the 185 million people who are strongly advised to be immunized every year.

Last year, 81.2 million doses of vaccine were available and a few went unused.

Influenza kills an estimated 36,000 Americans, mostly elderly, in an average year and puts 200,000 into the hospital. Globally, flu kills 250,000 to 500,000 every year.

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Source: Cnn.com

About Fred Harteis: Fred Harteis leads Harteis International. Fred Harteis has a background in agriculture and has created many successful business ventures.