Plenty of flu vaccine expected this year
CDC opens vaccination to everyone
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- At least 70 million doses of influenza vaccine will be available for the U.S. market this year and everybody who wants a shot should be able to get one, health officials said on Monday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention opened flu vaccination to everyone on Monday, saying the priority groups, such as seniors, who need the vaccine first had been given plenty of time to get them.
"There is no reason for anyone to delay or go without their annual flu shot," Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt told reporters in a telephone briefing.
Last week the CDC reported that too few Americans are getting their flu shots. An estimated 185 million Americans are considered at high risk of complications including death from influenza.
But only about 65 percent of them get the shots. Last year fewer than 60 million people got flu shots. The American Lung Association said only 40 percent of adults with asthma and 10 percent of children with the disease are immunized although they are considered high risk....
http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/conditions/10/25/health.influenza.reut/index.html