Health officials are recommending that almost everyone get a flu shot this year, and with retail pharmacists now able to give inoculations outside their stores, Colorado consumers may find it easier to get immunized.
In the past, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended the seasonal flu vaccine for the medically vulnerable and children between the ages of 6 months and 18 years.
This year, the CDC recommends everyone 6 months and older be vaccinated, said Joni Reynolds, director of immunization for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
According to the CDC, the decision to recommend vaccination for nearly everyone was made against the backdrop of a particularly brutal influenza season last season that included fears about H1N1, or swine flu.
Last season, at least 69 people died of influenza in Colorado, according to the state health department.
About 130 million doses of influenza vaccine that includes protection against H1N1 and two other strains are expected to be distributed nationwide this year.
Some of the vaccine is already available at some Safe way and Walgreens stores in Colorado, according to the health department’s online flu-clinic finder. A shot costs about $30.
The vaccine will become more widely available later this month, Reynolds said.
The early appearance of the vaccine doesn’t signal an early beginning to the flu season, she said.
“Winter is when we generally see flu. It usually peaks in the January-February time frame,” Reynolds said. “But of course, the flu, like any virus, is unpredictable.”
On Tuesday, Safeway pharmacists were vaccinating staffers and administrators at the Denver Christian Schools’ Van Dellen Campus.
A state law that took effect Aug. 10 allows pharmacists to administer vaccines to patients at locations outside the pharmacy, such as assisted-living homes, businesses and community events.
“Convenience and access to vaccines and immunizations will mean a healthier workforce and healthier Colorado,” said state Rep. Jim Riesberg, R-Greeley, who sponsored House Bill 1216, the legislation allowing pharmacists to give off-site inoculations.
Last season’s emergence of H1N1, a nasty bug christened swine flu, marked the first flu pandemic in more than 40 years.
But the strain was identified too late to include in the fall 2009 seasonal vaccine, and so a separate inoculation was required.
Flu clinics across Colorado were canceled or postponed as high demand for the shots collided with lower-than-expected supply as drug manufacturers shifted their focus toward mass production of H1N1 immunizations.
The Denver Post