Washington (H24N). A nationwide scarcity of flu vaccine is raising concerns about the upcoming flu season.

With September half gone, many health care professionals say they still have not received their annual shipments, and they’re concerned about what that could mean for the millions of Americans at risk.

In July the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned health care workers about "lower than anticipated production yields" for this year’s supply of flu vaccine, a deficit that could lead to delivery delays and "substantially fewer total doses of vaccine" available for distribution than last year. Officials blame the lack of vaccine on unexpected difficulties in cultivating the A Panama (H3N2) strain, a new strain of the influenza virus included in this year’s vaccine. Regulatory problems between the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and some pharmaceutical companies have also contributed to the delay.

Although officials advised that at-risk individuals should get their shots as soon as the vaccine does arrive, the CDC suggested that mass immunization programs, usually launched in late September or early October, be put off until early or mid-November.

At the University of Michigan Health System (UMHS) Pharmacy Services Director James Stevenson confirms his hospital hasn’t received any shipments yet, nor does it have a timetable for when they will arrive. He calls the delay troublesome, but he’s "not panicked, just concerned at this point. Obviously we’d like to have the vaccine sooner rather than later, and vaccinate as many people as we can."

Thelma Bates, RN, chief of occupational health at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C., says she’s not exactly in "panic mode" yet, but she admits her "antenna is up" as her facility waits for the vaccine to arrive. "We’re eager to get going, to vaccinate our staff and the people who need the vaccine most."

Like other health care workers, Bates is concerned that even when the vaccine does arrive it may be too late to head off some infections; it takes two weeks for the vaccine to kick in, which may leave a window open just wide enough for the flu bug to creep in and do its dirty work. UMHS’s Stevenson says that too is a troublesome aspect of the delay. "What this means is that some people who might not otherwise get sick this year will find themselves coming down with the flu."

Influenza is a serious disease that usually spreads through the air, entering the body through the nose or throat. Most people who come down with the flu will get sick for a few days then recover, but many require hospitalization, as many as 100,000 in the United States alone each year. Some 20,000 in the United States will die from the flu or its complications.

Doctors say flu vaccines are effective in preventing the disease 70 to 90 percent of the time. But they admit it’s always a challenge to keep up with the virus since it mutates each year, requiring updated vaccines.

Those most at risk include people age 65 and older, nursing-home residents with chronic conditions, anyone with a history of pulmonary of cardiovascular disease or a compromised immune system, and pregnant women in their second or third trimester. Officials say anyone who works in the health care field and routinely comes in contact with high-risk patients also should get vaccinated.

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