Dr. Jeanne Santoli is an MD and a Master in Public Health. She is Deputy Director of the Immunization Services Division at the National Centers of – National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at CDC. In a recent press conference, she told that when there is disease present in a community, individuals may still benefit from vaccinations, so the vaccine is the best way to protect yourself against influenza.
Well, we have been talking about the projections for influenza vaccines this season for the past month or so and we talked about anticipating as many as 115 million doses that will be available.
Our latest information about how many doses have already been distributed is that there have been 40 million doses that were distributed to providers as of the end of the second week of October and that we are still on track to achieve 75 million doses to be distributed by the end of October.
This is 15 million more doses that are compared to last October in terms of flu vaccine distribution. But I think one thing that is worth explaining further is the way that doses are distributed and the reasons that providers have been receiving partial shipments of vaccine.
Given the number of manufacturing plants that we have in the United States and the large number of doses that are currently being produced each year, it isn’t possible to complete the production and distribution process prior to the vaccination season. So this means that influenza vaccine distribution takes place in a phased fashion over a number of months.
It begins in late summer for some manufacturers and completes near the end of November or early in December. In addition, because the production and approval of doses is ongoing, it isn’t easy to predict exactly when a particular order will be delivered very far in advance.
Unfortunately, this situation leaves providers with the uncertainty about knowing when they can expect to receive their full order and the challenge that makes for their planning of vaccination activities.
Now while it is not possible for us to take away that uncertainty, there are several things that we think can help to address it. First, the manufacturers and distributors are working to try to get some vaccine to as many providers as possible as soon as possible so that providers can begin vaccinating their patients.
Getting some vaccine to all providers early in the season is important, because we know that all providers serve at least some high-risk patients and their household contacts.
Obviously it isn’t possible to ship doses to all providers at exactly the same time. So even with this approach, some providers will have vaccine in their offices and clinics before others. But with the large number of doses that we anticipate being shipped over the rest of this month and then in November, we feel that will really effectively smooth out the differences that we’re seeing right now between providers.
The second thing that’s important is that CDC is encouraging providers to take this phased nature of vaccine production and distribution into account as much as possible when they’re planning how they’ll vaccinate their patients.
Almost all providers have some vaccine to allow them to begin vaccinating their patients and we recommend beginning vaccination now, rather than waiting until more vaccine arrives. And however, for the providers who may not have received their first shipment of vaccine yet, the recommendation there would be to begin vaccinating as soon as vaccine arrives.
In addition, more vaccine will be arriving throughout the season and we expect that there will be more vaccine available this season than ever before.
Lastly, CDC urges providers to make significant effort to offer influenza immunization in December, January and beyond and that is consistent with the most recent recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
Vaccinating beyond November is important and beneficial because the peak of the season typically occurs in February or later and we know that many high risk persons and their household contacts are recommended for vaccination but are not vaccinated by the end of November.
In addition, even when there is disease present in a community, individuals may still benefit from vaccinations, so the vaccine is the best way to protect yourself against influenza.