Southwest District Health received 2,250 of the 5,000 flu vaccine doses we ordered for this flu season. All 2,250 doses have been administered or are committed through appointments.

The Health District is following the risk guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Those guidelines indicate priority should be given to:

• infants 2 through 23 months of age,
• adults age 65 and older,
• pregnant women,
• people 2 through 64 years with underlying chronic health conditions, and
• health care workers.

Rather than make priority determinations within these guidelines, we allocated a small percentage of our vaccine to health care workers at hospitals and paramedic groups in the six Southwestern Idaho counties – those on the front line who will contact and treat flu patients. The remainder of the vaccine has been allocated to individuals in these categories on a first come-first served basis.

As the remainder of our order has been redirected by the federal government, we are not sure at this time whether we will receive any of it. If additional vaccine is received, we have already enlisted the support of local TV, radio, and newspapers to publicize it immediately.

There are things we can all do to reduce the risk of catching the flu or passing it on to others: practice simple, straight forward personal hygiene.

• Wash hands thoroughly with hot water and soap after using the rest room, blowing nose, after coughing or sneezing, after touching eyes, nose, or mouth, and before handling and preparing foods.
• Cover mouth when coughing or sneezing and turn your head away from others.
• Keep your body well rested and fed and dress appropriately for conditions - when we are worn down, we are more susceptible to illness.

Also, some have asked why, in a District with over 208,000 residents, we only ordered 5,000 flu vaccine doses! Good question and it deserves a straight forward answer.

It takes several months for vaccine manufacturers to determine the strain of flu virus most likely to occur, manufacture it, and fill the orders they have. Any excess vaccine, either at the manufacturer or the Health District, must be destroyed if it is not used because it has a limited shelf life and the flu strain is not be the same year to year.

We place our flu vaccine orders based on the number of flu shots we gave the year before plus a slight increase. Unfortunately, only about 2 percent of our population comes to the Health District for flu vaccine! The rest either don't get a flu shot or they go to one of the several retail outlets that give them. When circumstances like this year occur, no one can meet the demand.

There are also other issues that created this year's shortage. There are only two manufacturers of flu vaccine world-wide: one in France and one in England. The vaccine production in England was shut down by the British government do to irregularities in the manufacturing process and it was too late to begin the process all over again in time for this flu season. Also, because the price charged for a dose of flu vaccine is held artificially low by government regulation, there is no incentive for other manufacturers to enter the market.