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Tracy Press |
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County
may issue flu-shot edit |
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October
12, 2004
Fallout from an announcement that about half the nation’s supply of
flu vaccine would be available this year continues.
San Joaquin Public Health Services officials could recommend that the board
of supervisors issue a declaration of emergency to reinforce a state order
to restrict the flu vaccine to those who need it the most, a public health
official said Monday.
An emergency declaration for the flu vaccine is already in place in some
Bay Area counties, said Dr. Dale Bishop, assistant public health officer
to San Joaquin County.
Health and County officials will assess the pros and cons of such a measure,
he said, as well as how to enforce it.
“We’re considering all the different options at this time,”
Bishop said.
State Public Health Officer Dr. Richard Joseph Jackson issued an order last
week that all California health-care providers restrict the vaccinations
to high risk groups.
High-risk groups, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
include seniors 65 years and older, people with chronic illnesses, pregnant
women, nursing home residents and health care workers who have direct patient
contact.
Jackson issued the order after the state of California learned that it would
receive none of the 573,500 doses it ordered from Chiron.
Chiron announced last week it would not be able to ship 48 million doses
of the flu vaccine to the United States.
The company said British authorities suspended its license to manufacture
the vaccine at its Liverpool plant for three months.
Maxim Health Systems nurses will have a flu shot clinic today at Costco
in Tracy, according to the company’s Web site. All clinics are restricted
to high risk groups.
The walk in medical clinic on West Grant Line Road vaccinated anyone who
requested a flu shot until this weekend.
The staff now restricts the vaccinations to high-risk groups, explained
Dr. Mohesen Saadat, who would support an emergency declaration in San Joaquin
County.
The walk in clinic received its flu vaccine from Aventis Pasteur, the doctor
said.
Stanislaus County public health officials will not issue an emergency declaration,
said spokesman Bill Jones, adding that Jackson’s order covers all
jurisdictions in the state. |
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