Flu shots for students postponed due to vaccine shipment delay

Published: September 17 2014

Category:InsideUF

GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- The University of Florida’s Student Health Care Center has postponed its annual “Free Flu Shots” event scheduled for Sept. 19 due to a delay in vaccine shipment. The center will reschedule possibly in mid-October to get as many students as possible vaccinated before the Thanksgiving break.

"While we try to play it safe and order doses from several different vendors to avoid single-source delays, each year is unique in that the flu vaccine has to be created and tested before it can be shipped and delays are not uncommon," Dr. Guy Nicolette, the center's interim director, said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the 2014-2015 shipments were expected to begin in August with the majority of vaccine circulated by the end of October; however, distribution is likely to continue into November. As of Sept. 5, 40.8 million doses had been shipped, which is approximately 25 percent of the season’s projected 159 million doses to be made available.

In the meantime, UF SHCC encourages all high-risk individuals to seek the vaccine anywhere it may be currently available. High-risk categories are those who are pregnant or have chronic illnesses or low immune systems.

Additional information and updates are available via the following websites:

http://shcc.ufl.edu/services/primary-care/flu/

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/vaxsupply.htm

http://www.flu.gov

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Contact: Catherine Seemann, 352-273-4551, cseemann@ufl.edu

Category:InsideUF