ATLANTA—The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is formulating ways to ensure that, this year, flu vaccine supply meets flu shot demand. According to Benjamin Schwartz, MD, in the CDC’s National Immunization Program, the CDC is suggesting several measures that they hope will conserve the vaccine for those who need it most, including that:
• Manufacturers fill most orders in phases.
• Physicians inoculate only their highest-risk patients and health care workers in September and October. (Vaccination can be offered to other patients in November.)
• The inoculation period be extended into December.

To help the CDC accomplish its goal, vaccine manufacturers have been asked to distribute in September at least part of what each physician has ordered. (Hospitals and chronic care facilities serving high-risk populations will see their full orders shipped.) This, they hope, will encourage providers to vaccinate high risk patients early on.

“The [CDC’s] objective is to ensure that all health care providers who need the vaccine receive a portion of their orders and that high-risk patients are vaccinated first,” said Dr. Schwartz. Last year, some providers received all of the vaccine they had ordered; others received a partial supply, and still others received no vaccine at all. The CDC has also requested that shipment of vaccine for employer-sponsored vaccination programs—those aimed at healthy workers—be deferred until the end of November.

In 2000, a delay in distribution—if not a deficiency in supply—was created when one of the four vaccine manufacturers withdrew from the production process. The CDC does not anticipate similar problems this year. In an interview with RESPIRATORY REVIEWS, Dr. Schwartz sought to “assure those who are not first in line that there will be enough vaccine for everyone.”

The CDC expects that 47.8 million doses of vaccine will have been delivered by the end of October; another 31.3 million doses should be distributed in November and December. Because in the last 19 years the flu season has peaked 15 times in January and four times in December, the CDC advises that clinicians stretch their vaccination schedule for all patients through the end of November and into December. Dr. Schwartz said, “It is important that we promote vaccination as long as vaccine is available.”

Moreover, the CDC is urging clinicians to continue vaccinating their patients even if a flu outbreak has already occurred in their area, because there is a chance of additional local outbreaks due to other influenza strains. “There are 20,000 deaths and 114,000 hospitalizations that occur annually because of influenza disease,” said Dr. Schwartz. “With more than 80 million people falling into high-risk categories, we want to make sure that all the vaccine that is produced is used to protect people.”

—Owen McCarthy