NC, Orange County order fewer flu vaccines than last year

Both the state and Orange County have ordered fewer vaccines for this flu season, a trend health officials say has resulted from more availability in local communities.

The state ordered 550,000 flu vaccines this year, a decrease from the 610,000 orders last year, said Julie Henry, spokeswoman at the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

Orange County followed suit, receiving about 500 fewer doses than last year for a total of 1,800, said Judy Butler, community health services supervisor of Orange County.

“We didn’t use all of our vaccines last year because it is so readily available in the community now,” Butler said.

Grocery and drug stores also provide the vaccine. Flu shots are available at more than 7,600 Walgreens stores across the U.S., including the Walgreens on Franklin Street.

A vaccine will protect individuals from variants of the seasonal flu virus this year, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s website.

The vaccine is distributed at Orange County’s two health department sites as well as senior center sites, Butler said.

The county hosts flu clinics beginning in September and running through Nov. 9, but vaccines will continue to be distributed as long as there are doses in supply, she said.

The county also receives vaccines meant for uninsured children from the state, which participates in the federally funded Vaccines for Children Program, Butler said.

The program provides free flu vaccines for children between six months and 18 years old who are uninsured, underinsured or eligible for Medicaid. Free vaccines are also offered by the county to pregnant women, health care workers and college students.

UNC Hospitals anticipates the demand for flu vaccines to be similar to last year, said Dr. David Weber, professor of medicine and pediatrics at the UNC School of Medicine. On Tuesday, the hospital began providing all in-patients a flu vaccine before their discharges. Flu vaccines for hospital workers are free.

Each year, 10 to 20 percent of U.S. citizens contract the flu, and 10,000 people will die from it, Weber said. The CDC recommends that all people older than six months receive the vaccine.

“We have seen perfectly otherwise healthy people come in and die from influenza,” he said.

Weber urges all students and faculty members to receive a flu shot.
“Protect yourself, protect your family and protect the people around you.”

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