Politics & Government
County Will Wait on CDC Recommendation Before Buying Flu Shots
County flu clinics being used "less and less" says Board of Health member, as residents opt for shots at drugstores
A new flu vaccine for those 65 and older will not be offered at clinics operated by Ocean County’s Health Department later this year, Board of Health members agreed Tuesday.
Instead they will wait and see if the federal Centers for Disease Control recommend the use of the vaccine, one the manufacturer, Sinofi Pasteur Inc., claims provides greater protection from serious flu symptoms for the elderly.
Public Health Coordinator Daniel Regenye said the manufacturer is pushing the vaccine but there “is not enough data from an independent source,’’ to include it in the flu shot arsenal.
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Assistant Public Health Coordinator Dr. Ella Boyd raised the “Fluzone High Dose’’ vaccine as an option as she reported on the flu and pneumonia shot clinics run by the Health Department starting last fall.
She said 7,694 people got flu shots at 76 clinics and 176 got pneumonia shots. The flu was widespread in January and February, she said, and there are still outbreaks in some longterm care facilities.
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Attendance at the clinics has fallen sharply because of the availability of the vaccine at doctors’ offices, box stores and supermarkets. She recommended that 13,500 doses of flu vaccine be ordered for the next flu season.
She mentioned the new vaccine because 90 percent of the deaths from flu symptoms occur in those 65 or older.
Neither the CDC nor the state Department of Health are recommending the use of the new vaccine, but she said the board might want to have some available for clinics in senior citizen communities. The price is $10 a dose for the regular vaccine and $25 for the new one, she said. The Health Department charges $20 for the regular vaccine, a cost covered by Medicare Part B.
Sen. Robert Singer, a member of the board, said there are “less and less users of our clinics. What we don’t use we eat,’’ he said of the surplus vaccine.
Boyd said the health Department will get a credit for 4,700 doses of flu vaccine that was not used in the last round of clinics.
“Wait for the CDC recommendation,’’ urged board chairman Jack Mallon.
