HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson said there's still time for those needing shots to get them.
By LISA GREENE
Published October 19, 2004
TAMPA - People trying to get flu shots need to "just relax," go home and wait for the shots to be available, said Tommy Thompson, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
"If you are in an area that doesn't have the vaccine right now, don't wait in line and don't get upset," Thompson said at a press conference here Monday. "This is not an emergency."
He stressed that people still have time to get a flu shot. There are still some 20-million doses of flu vaccine being shipped around the country, and flu season hasn't arrived yet.
But Thompson and state health officials still don't know exactly when more vaccine will be available in Florida. He acknowledged that some people will have to go without shots this year.
"Not everybody that wants the vaccine is going to be able to get it," Thompson said.
Federal health officials will keep working to get shots to those at highest risk of getting complications or dying from the flu, he said. That includes people 65 and older, those with chronic health problems and children from 6 to 23 months old.
"We want people to understand if you're a senior, there's a very good possibility you'll be able to get the vaccine," he said.
Flu shots became scarce two weeks ago with the sudden announcement that half of the nation's supply of shots could not be used because of suspected contamination problems. British officials shut down the Liverpool, England, plant where some 46-million to 48-million shots headed for the U.S. market were made.
Since then, U.S. health officials have asked healthy people to forgo shots and started a campaign to track existing shots and redirect them to the most needy.
But with shots in scarce supply, many Tampa Bay doctors and hospitals don't have them. Most local health departments only have shots for children. Many people have waited in line at local grocery and drugstores hoping to get shots, but hundreds have been turned away without them. Things became so heated at a St. Petersburg Publix on Saturday that police had to be called.
Thompson also said Monday that federal officials will join in a lawsuit filed by Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist against a drug wholesaler, Meds-Stat, for price gouging. The company was reportedly selling vials of vaccine for $900 each. They normally sell for about $85 each.
The vaccine also has become a political issue, with Sen. John Kerry's campaign airing a TV ad blaming President Bush for not acting on warnings that the nation's vaccine system was shaky. In the Tampa Bay area Saturday, U.S. Senate candidate Betty Castor also criticized government response to the crisis.
But Thompson said Democrats are "scaring the seniors" and said his department has increased funding for vaccine under President Bush. Thompson slammed "critics who have done nothing to strengthen our system trying to lay blame where it doesn't belong."
