Production shifts to H1N1 from seasonal
H1N1 flu may be the most talked about bug, but the
old-fashioned seasonal flu -- which kills more than 33,000 Americans annually
-- is still a threat, and vaccines for the seasonal flu are running low in some
places in metro Detroit.
Oakland County health officials said that they
exhausted their supply of seasonal flu vaccine Thursday.
By late Thursday afternoon, Macomb County had about
4,400 vaccines left out of 17,000 ordered, said Tom Kalkofen, director of the
county health department. Wayne County was down to a couple hundred doses,
though officials there have administered most of their yearly allotment.
"Production has shifted to the H1N1
vaccine," said George Miller, director of Health and Human Services for
Oakland County. "We were prepared to do both, and it's unfortunate the
feds weren't."
Miller said Oakland already has administered about
24,000 seasonal vaccines and has another 11,000 on order, but even that will
come in short of the 44,000 doses the county administered last year. People who
were still hoping to get shots through the county will be out of luck, at least
until more becomes available.
Oakland does have about 900 doses remaining for people
who have paid to get shots at a Troy clinic next Thursday.
Wayne County already has administered most of the
3,000 to 4,000 doses it does in a typical year, but health officials said
private providers still have supply available.
"The demand has been higher than usual,"
said Dr. Talat Danish, Wayne County Medical Director. "We will be
referring these people to pharmacies that will still be doing the
vaccinations."
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
acknowledged the switch to H1N1 production, but said seasonal flu vaccines will
still be available.
"People who have not gotten the seasonal vaccine
may have to check around for it, but more is on the way and we hope everyone
who wants to get it will be able to," said CDC spokesman Tom Skinner.
Source: freep.com