Washington (H24N). Federal officials hope an extra 9 million doses of vaccine to fight the flu will be just what the doctor ordered.

Production problems and some regulatory concerns this year have combined to create a scarcity of flu vaccine that's delayed immunizations nationwide. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory board said Thursday the government had made a deal with a private company to produce the extra supply; that company, Aventis Pasteur, is already working around the clock to produce 26 million doses, more than a third of the 75 million total doses that will be produced this year in the United States.

The CDC also said that next week it will issue formal guidelines to delay mass immunization programs until early or mid-November. Officials say health care facilities should concentrate first on high-risk groups, which 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 should also get vaccinated before any mass immunizations take place.

The formal guidelines, which are not binding, are virtually the same advisory the Center issued last summer, once it became clear there might be a one- or two-month delay in delivering the vaccine. Health care facilities nationwide have been working on contingency plans ever since.

"We don't have any vaccine yet, just big empty refrigerators," said Sue Randall, clinical services manager for the Inova Health System, which oversees numerous hospitals and medical facilities in Northern Virginia. Randall says she's received word that vaccine earmarked for mass immunizations is scheduled for delivery in mid-October, while vaccine meant for her hospital staff isn't scheduled to arrive until November. "We're going to do an inventory swap," she said, to make sure the high-risk groups and health care workers get their shots first.

Randall says the shift may cause some problems with mass vaccinations. "We've done a pretty good job nationwide of getting people to come out this time of year and get their shots. But now we have to push them back so we can focus on people who need the vaccine more. It's hard," Randall said.

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, between 110,000 and 140,000 in the United States alone each year. Some 20,000 will die from the flu or its complications this year, and 90 percent of them are seniors.

Doctors say that overall, 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. Officials blame this year's delay 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 also played a part.

Now experts say the delay may open a window of opportunity for the flu bug – it takes 2 weeks for the vaccine to take hold – and pose a health risk for many who might not have otherwise gotten sick this year. But officials are crossing their fingers that this year's flu season won't peak until January, a pattern it's followed 14 of the last 18 years.

Randall says people waiting to get their shots can take some simple but often effective method to keep the flu at bay. "You should wash your hands frequently," she said. "If you work alongside someone who might have the flu try and wipe down your phones and computer keyboards with alcohol. Drink plenty of water … this time of year people dry out a lot easier, and dry mucous membranes are more susceptible to getting the virus. Exercise regularly, eat a sensible diet and get plenty of sleep. All those things will boost your natural immune system."

And one final thing she said: "Once the shots are available, go out and get one. Remember it's impossible to get the flu from a flu shot. Complications are rare, and should not keep anyone away from getting the vaccine."

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