News and Press Releases

South End scrambles for influenza shots: Naked Clay, agencies pitch into address flu vaccine shortage

Excerpt from: South End News
October 28, 2004

The Boston Coalition for Adult Immunization has its home at the Upham's Corner Community Health Center, which works with other providers to reach out to low-income elderly and homeless.

Rowe said that last year the clinic received approximately 2,300 doses.

"All we can tell [people that call the clinic] is we have no idea. ... Hopefully we should have something by the beginning of next week," said Rowe.

Angela Burgess, clinical services director for South End Community Health Center, said that as of Oct. 25 the facility had a limited supply of vaccine left which was being used for high risk patients, meaning mostly children and citizens over 65.

"It's affected [the health center] the same as everyone," said Burgess. "We are getting calls from patients and insurers asking if we have vaccine available because people are searching for a source... We are trying to reach the needs of our high risk patients. I have some vaccine but this is vaccine that we put in an order for [about] a year ago and purchased."

May Shields, the director of health services for the Committee to End Elder Homelessness (CEEH), said it's crucial to the residents in the assisted living houses they operate be vaccinated.

"Definitely the residents here need to get it. ...They all have chronic illness," said Shields. They live in apartments here, by there is a lot of community space. ...It's not too late yet. Nobody is in panic mode."

CEEH operates independent, supported-housing facilities such as the Anna Bissonnette House on Washington Street, which provides permanent, affordable-supportive housing for very frail and low-income elders.

Anna Bissonnette, who has been a public health nurse, a director of the Ann Bissonnette House and a professor of community medicine at Boston University, said she has been facing problems with flu vaccinations for years.

"Every year there has been something there that has stood in the way of implementing [a flu immunization] program the way it needs to be implemented," said Bissonnette. Last year the Commonwealth of Massachusetts cut the budget for purchasing flu vaccines so that ... we started out already with fewer doses.

Bissonnette believes there must be a greater incentive for pharmaceutical companies to create flue vaccines in the future.

"I think that the incentives to the pharmaceutical companies have to be sufficient to warrant them wanting to do this very complicated procedure of preparing the [flu] vaccine," she said. "Most drugs have a shelf life of a period of a year or two. ...With this vaccine it has a very short life span and it has to be used with in the season that it's cultivated."

Bissonnette added that the short life span of the vaccine could set up pharmaceutical companies to potentially take a loss in profits if the vaccine is not used, which in turn takes away motive for creating the vaccine.

Kristin O'Connor, spokesperson for the Boston Public Health Commission spoke concerning this year's vaccine supply for the city.

"We hope that there will be more [vaccine] coming into Boston, but right now we are waiting for some of the recommendations [for at-risk guidelines] to be finalized by the state and the federal government," said O'Connor.

Currently the guidelines for people most in need of flu vaccines include babies and toddlers ages 6-23 months; the elderly anyone with chronic conditions such as heart or lung disease; and pregnant women.

Last year the state distributed to Boston about 72,000 doses of the vaccine purchased from Chiron and Aventis according to O'Connor.

"We have in Boston about 61,000 elders and 12,000 kids, so right there you're over [the amount of vaccinations purchased from last year]. ...Providers need more guidance. ...They can't just say we can give it out to 65 or over because there's no going to be enough, said O'Conner.

She also said that the current guidelines outlining who is most at risk must be re-interpreted due to the shortage and that hopefully Boston will be seeing more of the vaccine in the coming weeks.