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Contact: Cindy Parmenter
Director of Communications
(303) 692-2013 - Office
(303) 891-8382 – Pager
Lori Maldonado
Public Information Officer
(303) 692-2028 – Office
(303) 921-8598 - Cell
For Immediate Release Thursday, December 9, 2004
FLU SHOTS AVAILABLE FOR COLORADANS IN AT-RISK
CATEGORIES
DENVER – Flu vaccine is available for Coloradans in
at-risk categories who want to receive a flu shot.
Douglas H. Benevento, the executive director of the
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said that there should be
an adequate supply of flu vaccine for all interested at-risk persons. He said
this supply includes vaccine already in the state and additional vaccine that
has been ordered from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the
manufacturer Aventis Pasteur and is on its way to Colorado.
“If there are persons in at-risk categories who still want
to get flu shots, we want them to be able to do so. They can call their health
care provider; the local health department or county public health nursing
service in their community; or a statewide hotline to obtain information about
where flu shots are available in their area of the state,” Benevento said.
The state health director also explained that to avoid
letting any flu vaccine go to waste in Colorado this year, the categories of
at-risk persons eligible to receive the flu shots may soon be expanded in
Colorado to include persons 50 years of age and older, rather than the current
requirement that persons be 65 years and older to receive flu shots this year.
Benevento said that if vaccine remains after all interested
persons in at-risk categories have received flu shots, the remaining supply will
be made available to any Coloradan interested in receiving a flu shot.
The state health director said that persons in the current
at-risk categories can obtain information on where to obtain a flu shot from
several locations.
They can call (303) 692-2633 in the Denver metropolitan
area or 1-888-692-0269 statewide to hear a recorded list of flu clinics in
various sections of the state.
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Boulder County Residents: A list by town of all flu
clinics scheduled across the state is available on the Web at
www.bouldercountyflu.org. |
If interested at-risk persons still cannot find a place to
receive a flu shot after contacting possible sources in their communities, they
can call the Colorado Helpline at 1-877-462-2911. Names and telephone numbers
will be taken and calls returned by Department of Public Health and Environment
Flu Program staff members.
Currently, the at-risk categories are:
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All children aged 6-23 months of age.
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Adults 55 years of age and older.
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Persons 2-65 years of age with underlying chronic medical
conditions such as heart disease; lung disease, including asthma; diabetes;
kidney disease; blood disease; or are immune compromised as a result of
infection or medications they are required to take.
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Women who are pregnant during the flu season.
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Residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities.
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Children 24 months to 18 years of age who are on chronic
aspirin therapy.
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Health-care workers who come into direct contact with
patients.
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Out-of-home caregivers and household contacts of children
under six months of age.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in early
October directed that available flu vaccine be used only for those in these
at-risk categories after it was learned that Chiron Corp. would be unable to
supply a large portion of the nation’s vaccine supply for the 2004-2005 flu
season. The 50 million doses that Chiron was to have provided were ruled to be
unusable after officials determined they had become contaminated with bacteria
at the company’s manufacturing plant in England.
As a result, only the approximate 60 million doses of flu
vaccine manufactured by Aventis Pasteur were available for distribution and use
in the United States during the current flu season.
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