On the scene with Holly Firfer in Atlanta, Georgia

Holly Firfer

CNN medical correspondent Holly Firfer discusses the current flu vaccination shortage.

Q: Why such a shortage of flu vaccines?

FIRFER: This year, one of the strains in the vaccination was slow to grow. There are usually three strains in the flu shot: two type-A and one type-B. One of those was slow to grow. There were also some manufacturing problems at a couple of the plants. That's something the FDA oversees and they had to fix those problems before they could go into mass production. But the CDC has assured everyone that there will be enough vaccines for everyone, just a little bit later than usual.

Health officials say there will be 75 million doses available by the end of December. Last year, they only used 74 million doses. So everybody who really wants a shot should be able to get one. Twenty-seven million doses will be available by the end of October; 30.3 million doses will be available by the end of November; the rest will be available by the end of December.

Q: What are health officials doing to try to alleviate the problem?

FIRFER: Right now, they are trying to get the word out to high-risk patients -- those who have chronic illnesses like asthma, cardiovascular disease and any respiratory illness. Also at risk are people over the age of 65, pregnant women in their second and third trimesters, and health care workers.

They are asking healthy people to hold off until mid-November and into December after all the high-risk patients have been vaccinated, so that we can prevent many of the illnesses and deaths the flu could claim.

Q: Should people be alarmed?

FIRFER: There's no cause for alarm. However, it is hard to predict the flu. If it's an average flu year, the season should peak between January and mid-March. It only takes about two weeks for the vaccine to fully protect somebody. So even if you get your vaccine in December, ... you should still be safe.

There are a lot of preventative things people can do, like washing your hands, disinfecting counters and surfaces. If you are sick, stay home so you don't infect other people.

Surgeon General: High-risk patients get first flu shots
October 25, 2000

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Flu vaccine Update

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