Groups sick of waiting for flu vaccines

Alex Coolman

NEWPORT-MESA -- Orange County’s flu vaccine shortage is hitting the

Newport-Mesa area hard, with virtually all of the local agencies that

were planning to give shots in the weeks ahead forced to cancel their

offers.

At least four November flu-shot distributions have been canceled in

the area, including ones that were scheduled to take place at the Oasis

Senior Center, the Costa Mesa Senior Center and the Jewish Community

Center.

Hoag Hospital says it has a small supply of the vaccine that it plans

to make available at an upcoming clinic. But Debbie Legan, a spokeswoman

for Hoag, said the hospital is so concerned about being overwhelmed by

people trying to get shots that it’s actually urging the public to stay

away.

“We’re really concerned about the number of people that will show up,”

she said. “A lot of people are going to be disappointed.”

Under ordinary circumstances, the Orange County Health Care Agency

provides about 100,000 doses of flu vaccine to 130 organizations in the

county, said Mary Wright, immunization project coordinator for the

agency.

Typically, those flu shots are distributed in October.

This year, however, the company that supplies the agency had problems

with one of the strains of the virus that is used to create the vaccine.

“The flu vaccine is like anything else,” Wright said. “It’s got a

production schedule.”

But the agency did not realize until recently how far back delivery of

the vaccine would be pushed, she added.

“We guessed wrong,” she said. “We thought Nov. 1 would be safe [as an

estimated date for delivery].”

Rather than continuing to postpone clinics, the agency opted to cancel

its earliest shipments throughout the county. It’s an approach, Wright

admits, that may seem “somewhat drastic.” But she argues that it’s a step

preferable to creating confusion through constant rescheduling of vaccine

distribution.

It is likely, the agency says, that shot clinics will now be

rescheduled for some time in late November. And rather than staging the

disbursements throughout the county, the agency will probably hold them

in four or five centralized locations.

That’s frustrating for agencies like the Costa Mesa Senior Center,

which has a health expo where flu immunizations were scheduled for

Tuesday.

The center will go ahead with the expo, said Jeanne Beach, a

receptionist with the center. But the lack of vaccine means a centerpiece

of the expo is missing.

“About 2,000 people attend the health expo,” Beach said. “There’s a

real high percentage that just come for flu or pneumonia

[immunizations].”

The center still plans to offer pneumonia shots, along with hearing

evaluations, vision screenings and other services.

At the Oasis Senior Center, Gwen Collins, president of the Friends of

Oasis nonprofit group, said a Nov. 17 shot clinic has been canceled

altogether.

“This really is a ridiculous situation,” Collins said.