Local health care officials review vaccine shortage
Thursday, October 7, 2004 2:03 PM PDT
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| TAMI HART | Argus Observer
'No flu shots,' is the message in the window at the Malheur County Health Department, Wednesday afternoon. Because of the loss of a major vaccine supply, health officials are asking healthy people to defer from getting shots to save vaccine for those at high risk of getting the flu. |
Larry Meyer Argus Observer
ONTARIO
Health officials in Malheur County are joining others across the state and country in an attempt to assess the impact of a flu vaccine shortage.
Chiron Corporation, a maker of influenza virus vaccine, issued an announcement Tuesday that the British regulatory body for medicines and health care products had suspended the company's license to manufacture its flu vaccine in a Liverpool, England, facility.
That suspension prevents the company from releasing any of its product during the 2004-2005 influenza season, according to a company press release.
Penny Walters, director of the Malheur County Health Department, said the British firm manufactures about 50 percent of flu vaccine used in the United States.
Walters said the health department ordered its vaccine from another company and has received about one third of that order and is not sure if it will receive any more. However, she said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could pull vaccine from health care providers who already have it for redistribution elsewhere. A notice was posted at the department that flu shots are not being given there at this time.
"We're doing a survey in the county to see how much vaccine there is," Walters said.
The health department is working with Dr. Morris Smith, county health officer, to survey the local medical clinics and other entities which may also have vaccine, she said.
She said officials should know by Oct. 18 of how much there is and should have a recommendation on who should be getting the shots and where the vaccine is available.
At Holy Rosary Medical Center, officials are also in the process of assessing the situation there, and who should receive shots.
"Much of the staff receives flu shots," Angie Sillonis, HRMC marketing director, said, although it is voluntary. She said the hospital also already has some flu vaccine.
"Catholic Health Initiatives is working on getting some flu vaccine for later in the season," Sillonis said. The vaccine CHI receives later in the season would be for low-risk people.
The high and low risk designation is for staff as much as patients, she said, because, obviously, many staff members deliver direct patient care. Exactly which staff members are the most high-risk has not been determined, she said.
"This is a severe blow to the nation's efforts to prevent influenza, and we know it challenge both medical providers and the public," Dr. Grant Higginson, state public health officers in the Oregon Department of Human Services, said. In a statement released Wednesday, he said, "We are working with our partners around the state to minimize the extent to which Oregon's flu vaccination efforts will be affected by this, although we know that the effect will be substantial. Higginson said the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention is advising health-care providers to give flu shots to people in high-risk groups, including; children 23 months and under, Adults 65 and older, anyone with underlying chronic medical conditions, women who will be pregnant during influenza season, residents of long-term care facilities, children on chronic aspirin therapy and health-care workers who deliver direct patient care.
Larry Meyer is a reporter for the Argus Observer. He can be contacted at (541) 889-5387, or by e-mail, LarryM@argusobserver.com.
Cody W. Ables wrote on May 16, 2008 11:04 PM:
Here is something that we should all read. This is a letter from an angry woman in New Jersey regarding the War in Iraq and all of the war’s negative publicity. Pay attention.
'Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001?
Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan, across the Potomac from our nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania?
Did nearly three-thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they?
And I'm supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was 'desecrated' when an overworked American soldier kicked it or got it wet?...Well, I don't. I don't care at all.
I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.
I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime in Saudi Arabia .
I'll care when these thugs tell the world they are sorry for hacking off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling slashed throat.
I'll care when the cowardly so-called 'insurgents' in Iraq come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques.
I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs.
I'll care when the American media stops pretending that their First Amendment liberties are somehow derived from international law instead of the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights.
In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave marine roughing up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I don't care.
When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners who have been humiliated in what amounts to a college-hazing incident, rest assured: I don't care.
When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank: I don't care.
When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat, and fed 'special' food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being 'mishandled,' you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts: I don't care.
Sooner or later, it'll get to the people responsible for this ridiculous behavior!
If you don't agree, then by all means quit reading. Should you choose to do so, then please don't complain when more atrocities committed by radical Muslims happen here in our great Country! And may I add:
'Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem' -- Ronald Reagan
I have another quote that I would like to add
'If we ever forget that we're One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.' Also by.. Ronald Reagan
One last thought for the day:
In case we find ourselves starting to believe all the Anti-American sentiment and negativity, we should remember England 's Prime Minister Tony Blair's words during a recent interview. When asked by one of his Parliament members why he believes so much in America , he said: 'A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how many want in.. And how many want out.'
Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you:
1. Jesus Christ
2. The American G. I.
Important for us all!!!!
One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.
MANY SEEM TO FORGET BOTH OF THEM. AMEN!’
I hope you take this woman’s viewpoint into consideration. It closely parallels my own. As I begin my journey in becoming a soldier of the greatest country in the world, hearing this woman’s words sets my heart at ease. It is warming to know that there are people in this great country who still care about those men and women who have no choice.
Cody W. Ables
U.S. Air Force Academy 2012
"