Healthy UCLA students will have to hold off annual flu shots
this year because of a national shortage of the flu vaccine and
allow people in certain priority groups to receive them
instead.
According to the Center for Disease Control and
Prevention’s Web site, Chiron Corporation, which produces the
flu vaccine Fluvirin, will not be distributing to the United States
this flu season.
The United Kingdom’s drug regulatory agency has suspended
the company’s license to produce the vaccine at its Liverpool
plant.
As a result, the number of flu shots available this year in the
United States has been reduced to approximately 55 million, half of
what is normally doled out.
The CDC has requested that distributors refrain from giving the
vaccine to people who do not meet an eight-point list of criteria,
discounting a majority of students from receiving the vaccine.
But there is no danger of a lack of flu vaccine for students who
need it, said Evi Desser, a nurse practitioner at the Arthur Ashe
Health and Wellness Center.
“The bottom line is that the Ashe Center has plenty of flu
vaccines for those who need it,” Desser said, referring to
the people meeting any of the conditions on the CDC’s
list.
The Ashe Center may even have more than it needs ““ the
center has received about 75 percent of the amount it received last
year.
The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services is closely
watching the Ashe Center’s situation and will decide where
additional flu shots would be most helpful.
“We would carefully make choices where these doses should
be delivered, places that have a lot of people in the priority
groups,” Desser said.
Those who do not fall into the CDC list can also take
preventative measures.
“Since most (students) do not fit the criteria, all of the
usual health care measures should be taken, including trying to get
adequate rest, careful hand washing, good nutrition and regular
exercise,” Desser said.
Fairs seen in past years offering flu vaccinations throughout
campus will also not take place this year, said Michele Pearson,
director of ancillary services at the Health and Wellness
Center.
The vaccine will still be offered to students who fall under any
of the criteria listed by the CDC, but only to those who drop by
the Ashe Center and request it.
To further steer healthy students from taking up scarce doses,
questionnaires must be filled out prior to vaccination to determine
the correct priority group.
Those who do not fall under any of the criteria will be asked to
defer the vaccine.
But Desser assures the shortage isn’t a cause for
alarm.
“There’s no need for people to have more anxiety
than usual because most students will not get the flu,”
Desser said. “For those who do, we can take care of (the flu)
in the clinic.”
Additional medication is also available at the Ashe Center, as
the flu shot is not the last line of defense against the
illness.
“There’s lots we can do, and we will return to our
first come, first serve basis next year if all goes as
planned,” Desser said.
To many students, the additional criteria for administering flu
shots is hardly of any concern.
Marina Marquez, a fourth-year English student said that because
she commutes, she doesn’t plan to schedule an appointment at
the Ashe Center, though she regularly gets flu shots.
“I think it’s pretty good that they focus on a
certain group.”
Eligible students can visit the Ashe Center on Mondays, Tuesdays
and Thursdays between 8:15 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. throughout the month
to get the vaccine.