Kentucky health departments receive more flu vaccine

Kentucky health departments were among the first to receive an additional supply of flu vaccine to compensate for the vaccine that was taken off the market, the governor’s office said Friday.

Most of the state’s 56 local health departments have received the vaccine shipments, which will provide most of them with about 50 percent of the vaccine originally requested, said Gwenda Bond, a spokeswoman for Health and Family Services in Frankfort.

The nation’s vaccine supply of about 100 million doses was nearly cut in half this month after authorities found one of two suppliers, Chiron Corp., was potentially contaminated. This left only 55 million doses available from the second manufacturer, Aventis Pasteur.

Kentucky and two other states were the first to receive additional shipments of the vaccine from Aventis under the Center for Disease Control’s reallocation plan, Bond said. That’s because state officials were able to provide complete information about local health department orders and need, Fletcher’s office said in a written release.

It likely will be the last shipment of vaccine for health departments in Kentucky, the release said.

Private providers are expected to get more vaccine over the next few weeks, it said.

Provided by ArmMed Media
Revision date: July 5, 2011
Last revised: by Dave R. Roger, M.D.