September 14, 2005 -- Providers Urged to Give First Flu Shots to High-Risk Populations

From now until October 24, providers of influenza vaccinations are being asked to target their first doses of this year's inactivated (injected) vaccine to persons at highest risk of complications from the flu, including persons age 65 or older; adults and children with chronic health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, asthma, chronic bronchitis, or HIV; and children 6 to 23 months of age. To prevent influenza from spreading, priority for shots is also urged for health care providers and household contacts or caregivers of children under 6 months of age. The "urgent immunization message" was announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a press conference joined by major medical associations and other government agencies. Asked how much vaccine will be available this year, the head of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Mark McClelland, said it's expected that 90 million doses of injectable vaccine will be available this time around. The CDC also pointed out that live attenuated influenza vaccine, which is administered nasally, is not subject to the priority restrictions and can be given to all non-pregnant healthy persons aged 5 to 49 years. The announcement pointed out that for the past several years, only one-third of children with underlying medical conditions have received influenza immunization, the lowest vaccination rate for any recommended childhood vaccine in the U.S, and only 40 percent of physicians and other health care professionals regularly received flu vaccine.