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Millions of additional doses of flu vaccines will be available in the United States as the country seeks to avoid a simultaneous hit from a flu epidemic this winter with a growing number of new coronavirus cases.
Influenza vaccine manufacturers estimate that they will provide a record 198 million doses of influenza vaccine for the 2020-21 season.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) typically buys 500,000 doses of influenza for uninsured adults, but this year they ordered an additional 9.3 million doses. “This is a big step,” said Dr. Robert, director of the CDC. Redfield.
“Vaccine distribution is expected to last longer this season because a record number of doses is being produced,” the CDC said.
There have been no production delays among the private companies that make the drug, including Seqirus, GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals and Protein Sciences Inc. Influenza vaccine shipments began earlier this year and will continue through November until all are distributed.
The 2019-20 flu season in the U.S. was mild, the CDC said, with between 39 million and 56 million infections, 740,000 hospitalizations and 24,000 to 62,000 flu-related deaths.
In the 2018-19 season, the flu vaccine prevented approximately 4.4 million flu illnesses, 2.3 million flu-associated doctor visits, 58,000 flu-associated hospitalizations and 3,500 flu-associated deaths, the CDC said.
Advanced preparation for the 2020-21 flu season comes as several states face a new wave of coronavirus cases, raising fears that flu and COVID-19 cases could affect emergency rooms.
The new coronavirus has infected more than 8.1 million Americans and COVID-19 has killed 219,666, according to data reported by John Hopkins University as of Sunday.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the next few months could be difficult due to the flu.
“We need to cower and get through this fall and winter because it won’t be easy,” Fauci told a panel of doctors at Harvard Medical School. “What I’d like to see is keep the cap, keep the baseline low, until we get a vaccine.”
Dr. David Weber, a professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said that especially the very old and young should get a flu shot quickly as they are at higher risk. But he added that all adults are at risk, so they should also get a flu shot.
“It does not mean that at any age you are safe,” he told China Daily.
Dr. William Schaffner, professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, said, “Anyone who is older and has some type of chronic or underlying disease should be careful.”
Each year, about 2,000 New Yorkers die from seasonal flu and pneumonia, which can develop as a complication of flu, according to the city’s health department. And this year the city’s hospitals are on high alert for “nightmare” scenarios that could cause a flood of cases of both respiratory diseases.
The New York State Department of Health advises that children under the age of 5, adults over 50, and pregnant women prioritize vaccinations. Health officials will host outdoor flu vaccination pop-up events throughout the city this season.
