Some heading north to get flu shots

EVERETT – Some Americans are heading to Canadian drug stores and clinics to get their flu shots, rather than go without because of a U.S. shortage this year.

The Canadian shots aren’t approved by the Federal Drug Administration, but the FDA is planning to review Canadian records to see if a vaccine surplus there can shipped to the United States.

In King County, the public health department hasn’t been able to offer vaccinations for high-risk adults because it never received the 21,000 doses it ordered from Chiron Corp., where tainted batches at a British manufacturing plant cut the U.S. vaccine supply in half, causing the shortage.

About 500,000 people in the county are considered “high risk,” including infants and the elderly.

In Snohomish County, many people trying to make appointments for November flu shots through the Snohomish Health District have been getting only busy signals. About 250 calls an hour jammed the phone lines.

Public officials have been urging providers to give shots only to people who need them the most. They’ve also been telling people to relax; the flu season doesn’t typically start in the Pacific Northwest until January. Hopefully by then, they suggest, more doses will be available.

In the meantime, U.S. residents have been traveling to drug stores and clinics, such as the one at Vancouver International Airport, to get their shots.

“People can walk in and get one,” said Allan Rajesky, a spokesman for Pharmasave, Canada’s fourth largest pharmacy.

Like other drug stores in British Columbia, Pharmasave’s 87 stores in the province independently manage their own flu shot programs and order their own vaccine supply. Because pharmacists in Canada are not licensed to administer the flu shot, the drug stores typically hire a nurse or have a clinic give out shots.

Americans can receive the shots for roughly $12 to $16 U.S., but should be sure of when drug stores are administering the shots before showing up, Rajesky said.

A few Americans have traveled to the clinic at the Vancouver airport to receive the shot, said Ali Hounsell of the Vancouver International Airport Authority.

Some health officials in Canadian provinces are concerned about the effect a massive influx of American patients could have. British Columbia’s Health Minister, Colin Hansen, said recently that the drug supply situation was too much for the provinces to deal with individually and that it should be tackled by the federal government.