Healthy Virginians urged to save vaccine for at-risk groups

RICHMOND – State health officials said Tuesday that healthy Virginians should skip or delay getting flu shots to save the scarce vaccine for babies, the elderly and others who are at high risk of experiencing serious complications if they catch the disease.

“It is critical that we now focus on making sure that the available supply of flu vaccine is prioritized for those people who are most vulnerable to serious consequences from the flu,” said Dr. Robert B. Stroube, Virginia’s health commissioner.

The statement came after British regulators shut down Chiron, a major flu-shot supplier, for three months because of production problems at the factory where it makes the vaccine. The move cuts the United States’ supply of the vaccine in half just as flu season is about to begin.

Health officials said those at high risk include: children 6 months to 23 months old; people 65 years old or older; people with chronic health conditions; residents of nursing homes and long-term care centers; pregnant women; children on aspirin therapy; health-care workers who have direct patient care and people who take care of children younger than 6 months old.

Those who aren’t in the priority groups should help to preserve the vaccine for those who are more vulnerable to flu complications, Stroube said.

“We will need the help of the public and the medical community to make sure the vaccine gets to those who truly need it most,” Stroube said.

The Virginia Department of Health said it won’t be getting the 110,000 doses of adult flu vaccine it ordered from Chiron for local health departments. It will still get the 115,000 doses ordered from drug manufacturer Aventis Pasteur for a child-vaccination program.

Flu-shot campaigns usually start in October, a month before the flu season typically begins in the United States. In an average year, influenza kills 36,000 people nationwide and hospitalizes another 114,000, mostly the elderly.