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Johnson Calls for Equitable
Distribution of Flu Vaccine
Washington, DC—
After hearing from health care providers across South
Dakota, U.S. Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) is calling upon the
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to take immediate action
to ensure that those most at risk of complications from the
flu have access to the vaccine and made several
recommendations today in a letter to Dr. Julie Gerberding,
Director of the CDC.
“It
seems that large grocery stores and drug store chains have
had no problem getting their vaccine orders filled while
community health centers and individual physicians have
received few or no vaccine at all. Doctors are unable to
provide this preventive measure for their most at-risk
patients, and many community health centers serving the most
rural communities and poorest citizens in South Dakota are
also having problems,” Johnson said.
“While I understand that the vaccine industry is a
private-sector business, the CDC does have a responsibility
to protect the public’s health. There are hospitals in South
Dakota reporting that they have received only half of their
vaccine orders. If we are supposed to be preparing for a
global flu outbreak of epidemic proportions, surely we can
find a way to prioritize and equitably distribute the
vaccine during a regular flu season,” Johnson continued.
Recently, the Chiron Corporation announced that its supply
of flu vaccine for the United States would fall below the
amount previously expected. The CDC has stated that Chiron’s
announcement has resulted in a “delay” rather than a
“shortage”. While the state health department in South
Dakota has indicated that providers have received about 60%
of the supply, the way in which this supply is being
distributed is not meeting the needs of those at highest
risk in the population as reported by health care providers
in state.
“Health care providers in South Dakota are doing their best
with the resources they have, but this situation is leaving
people at risk. The CDC has a role to play in assisting
state and local providers in determining the best way to
make the vaccine available to the most people and protecting
the highest risk patients first,” Johnson said.
Over
36,000 people die of the flu every year and 200,000 people
are hospitalized. Johnson hopes the CDC can provide support
and guidance to states and localities in order to minimize
these occurrences and the costs associated with them. In a
letter, Johnson recommended that the CDC consider the
following actions immediately:
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Establish clear and detailed
guidance for states regarding when to initiate a flu
vaccine redistribution plan.
As mentioned earlier, while
the CDC reports no vaccine “shortage”, local areas are
experiencing just that. The CDC should be providing
more detailed and clear direction to states regarding
how and when it is time to initiate a vaccine
redistribution plan.
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Determine whether state
health departments should have a certain base level
amount of vaccine ordered every year to be used to
assist providers who do not receive their orders. While
all states do order some flu vaccine every year, it
would be helpful for the CDC to provide its expertise
and guidance to states regarding how much states should
stockpile every year, in order to protect local
community providers from problems such as those they are
experiencing right now.
-
Work with distributors to
ensure equitable access to flu shots.
Reports in South Dakota seem
to indicate that those who have purchased the largest
orders of the vaccine have had few problems receiving
their flu shorts. The smaller providers who often are
serving the most at-risk patients in the most rural
communities should be given equitable access.
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