October 23, 2004
What should providers do if they do not have enough vaccine to vaccinate their high risk patients?
Providers who ordered from Chiron should contact their Chiron distributor to let the distributor know that they serve priority high-risk patients and to communicate the number of doses that are needed to reach the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) priority groups.

Providers who ordered from Aventis Pasteur should contact Aventis Pasteur (or their distributor) to determine how much of their original vaccine order will be filled, if they have not already been notified. Note that vaccine distribution typically continues through November and so shipments are ongoing.

In addition, all providers with insufficient vaccine to vaccinate their priority high-risk patients should contact their State and local health departments to determine if they are allocating some of their vaccine to providers or coordinating an effort to reallocate vaccine among providers. Providers should also refer their patients to any available clinics including grocery stores or pharmacies in their community, if providers do not have enough vaccine for their high-risk patients as outlined in the interim ACIP recommendations for vaccination. The American Lung Association has a tool that providers and patients can use to find clinics in their zip code (http://lungusa.org)

October 23, 2004
What are state and local governments doing to prepare for vaccine shortages and reallocation issues?
The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) is beginning to monitor the local experience with influenza vaccine supply and distribution as well as how and whether local public health agencies are reallocating vaccine. It has also developed The Influenza Vaccine Reallocation Clearinghouse, an online collection of generic voluntary vaccine reallocation plans. This collection of information about local contingency plans, now limited to plans developed prior to the current vaccine shortage, is intended to help jurisdictions learn what others have done as they address supply disruptions. Providers can access information on influenza vaccine including a link to NACCHO’s Influenza Vaccine Reallocation Clearinghouse at http://www.naccho.org/general1225.cfm.

Similarly, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) will provide information about state-specific activities in relation to emergency orders, surveillance tools for monitoring vaccine supply and influenza illness, and other public health resources. This material will be updated as new information becomes available from the states. This resource can be accessed at http://www.astho.org/index.php?template=influenza_resources.html.