Local providers short on flu shots

Local providers short on flu shots

Nov. 11, 2000

By Katharhynn Heidelberg
Journal Staff Writer

Health-care providers in Montezuma County are having difficulty obtaining flu vaccines for this season.

The Internal Medicine clinic in Cortez has been forced to cancel its flu clinic. Staff there explained that the companies producing the vaccine have exhausted their supplies. Accordingly, the flu clinic scheduled for Nov. 14 - 16, has been put on hold, though there are plans to reschedule it as the vaccine becomes available.

Staff at the clinic were expecting 300 doses, and found out only on Thursday that they would receive far less — about 30, which will be reserved for high-risk patients.

"We’ve been shorted drastically," said Becky Skelton, a nurse at Internal Medicine.

The story is much the same around the county, where supplies of the vaccine have appeared only sporadically. A hospital spokesperson told the Journal that the La Plata County Health Department had the vaccine some weeks ago, but that, as of Friday, the Montezuma County Health Department had yet to receive its shipment. (Owing to the Veterans Day holiday, the local health department could not be contacted for information).

"We’re kind of hurting right now," the spokesperson said. Southwest Memorial Hospital entered into a national contract through a buying group last year, whereby it was to receive the flu vaccine at a cost of $29 per vial.

Although SWMH is expecting more within the next few weeks, as of Friday it had received only five vials — each containing 10 doses — of the 300 ordered. These will be given to high-risk employees, then other hospital employees and home-health patients. Any leftover vaccine will be shared out.

Vaccines are reformulated each year, owing to the speed with which flu viruses evolve. Specialists must project what strains will evolve for the next season, and develop a vaccine tailor-made to fight it — a process referred to by some as a "best-guess scenario."

This year, the shortage has arisen in part because only two firms, Aventis Pasteur, Inc., and Medeva, are currently taking orders for the vaccine. Monarch Pharmaceuticals (Parkedale) and Wyeth-Ayerst have no doses at this time, according to the Centers for Disease Control. (Wyeth did, however, deliver a small portion of the vaccines ordered by SWMH, as mentioned above).

This year saw problems in the growing process, which resulted in not enough vaccine being produced.

Those willing to pay top dollar for the vaccine might be able to get it through smaller, wholesale outlets that buy up quantities of vaccines when shortages are projected — a scheme known as the "gray market."

Montezuma County is a long way from such drastic measures. The hit-or-miss distribution gave the office of Dr. Karla Demby a supply that is sufficient for patients only, according to a staff member there. She said the vaccine had been ordered last year.

FluStar, an online service that tracks flu risks by ZIP code, notes that, while the risk is expected to increase, the occurrence of flu in the Cortez area is presently quite low. Last year, SWMH had six confirmed cases of flu. Since January of this year, there have been as few as four confirmed cases.