Alternative vaccine will be available by end of the week.
By Lindsay Kuhn
With the flu season in full charge, the vaccine to ward off this year’s strain is nowhere to be found in Malibu. St. John’s Urgent Care Center is completely out of the vaccine, and has been advising residents to contact the local Red Cross for information regarding flu shots.
Last year, Dr. David Frankle of the Urgent Care Center said the facility administered 350 shots and had 50 leftover. This season, they gave 450 flu shots before running out. Frankle indicated they weren’t going to get more anytime soon.
“They’re pretty much not in existence,” he said.
Caroline Pearson, a spokesperson for the CDC, said the agency is in the process of evaluating the distribution of the vaccine countrywide.
“CDC is doing everything possible to assess the availability of flu vaccine to identify any locations that have supplies that may be able to be made available to locations that need vaccine,” Dr. Julie Gerberding, CDC director, said in a press release last week.
State Health Director Diana M. Bonta announced Dec. 10 that 19,500 more doses of flu shots will be disseminated to local health departments throughout California this week. But that doesn’t mean they’ll be accessible to everyone.
“I am encouraging local health departments to use this additional supply of flu shots for high-risk individuals and health care personnel,” she said.
Even if this category excludes you, it’s no reason to fret. Frankle, who typically encourages people to get vaccinated (he said he was begging people in early November), said people shouldn’t worry if they haven’t gotten it, praising the other antiviral medications and the alternative flu vaccine, FluMist. “There is hope here,” he said. “There’s no reason for the hysteria.
“The anti-viral medications offer a quick recovery and are well stocked.”
FluMist should be available at Super Care Drugs in Malibu by the end of the week. The price is steep, ($100 at Super Care Drugs), several times the cost of the flu shot, but some insurers like Cigna and Aetna announced last week they would cover it. Also, it is recommended only for certain individuals, and people are advised to consult with their health care provider before using it.
Frankle emphasized the importance of treating the flu with these medications at the onset of symptoms.
“Come to the doctor on day one or two,” he said. “The medications work best when the virus is caught at an early stage.”
The concern over this recent flu epidemic was spurred by the tragic deaths of at least 11 children in Colorado and by forecasts that predict this year’s flu to be severer than most. The CDC made one such prediction. Due to the dominant strain that has been associated with a more severe flu season in the past, the CDC expects this year to be worse than the past three flu seasons.
This seemingly omnipresent virus is the Fijian strain and is not contained in the vaccine. But not to worry. Gerberding said she was hopeful the vaccine would provide protection against this strain, citing laboratory evidence.
The vaccine has yet another shortfall at this point in the season: it takes two weeks to work and by that time, some speculate, it may be too late.
Caroline Pearson, a spokesperson from the CDC, said she still recommends the vaccine.
“The flu season typically runs from October through April so there are, potentially, a few months left,” she said.
Frankle, however, disagrees with Pearson. “The flu shot is prophylactic,” Frankle said, “and the time for that has past.”
During those two weeks, Frankle deemed it nearly impossible to avoid the conquering domain of the flu. “There’s no way to avoid the flu for the next two weeks unless a person hides out,” he said.