Agencies Delay Annual Flu Vaccinations Difficulty Growing Common Flu Strain Forces Postponement Of Vaccines

A delay in the delivery of flu vaccinations nationwide has forced local agencies to hold off on regular vaccination campaigns.

With flu season starting this month, the Spokane Regional Health District has organized a meeting today with local medical officials to strategize how to best distribute the few doses of vaccine agencies have received.

“In a normal year, we would be out there encouraging the whole community to be vaccinated,” said Dr. Kim Thorburn, health officer for the district.

State and county officials said early vaccination efforts will focus on those at high risk of having severe medical complications if they contract the virus. But they stressed that vaccinations should be available for the rest of the population by November or December.

The delay was caused because vaccine manufacturers had difficulty growing a flu strain included in this year’s batch. Each year, the flu vaccine is reformulated to protect against the three strains experts believe will be the most prevalent.

Those considered at high risk include people over 65 years old, patients in long-term care facilities, pregnant women in their second or third trimester, healthcare workers and people with a chronic disease, such as asthma. Flu in high-risk people could cause severe illnesses such as pneumonia. Others, however, have minuscule chances of being hospitalized from flu complications.

High-risk people will be vaccinated starting Wednesday at the health district, 1101 W. College.

The district ordered 5,000 vaccinations for the flu season. Although it hasn’t received any of those doses, the district has 1,500 vaccinations from a local pharmacy. The district expects delivery of 800 doses of its order in the next week and most of the rest to be available next month.

But as of last week no local hospital had received any of their doses, Thorburn said. The meeting was called to determine how many doses are available and make sure doses are distributed to facilities with the most at-risk patients.

Although flu season runs from October to February, Thorburn said the virus doesn’t appear often in Washington until mid-November. It takes about two weeks for the vaccine to become effective.

“At least early in the year, we might not be able to prevent missed work and absenteeism,” she said.

But Thorburn said people should not be deterred from getting vaccinated just because part of the flu season may have passed before the medicine becomes available to them.

“When mass supplies do arrive, there will be vaccination campaigns across the state,” said Filiz Satir, a state Health Department spokesperson.

The state Health Department has not received any of the 30,000 doses it ordered for at-risk children. The department expects to distribute the doses by December, Satir said.

For now, Thorburn urges parents of at-risk children to visit the doctor at the first signs of flu.