Inmates Get Scarce Flu Shots

Despite a nationwide shortage of flu shots, prison inmates in New York are getting vaccinated now because they are at high risk of serious illness if they contract influenza.

The 16,000 New York state prison inmates who will receive the vaccine are a segment of the prison population deemed at "high risk" because they have heart, liver and lung conditions, like HIV and tuberculosis, that could cause serious complications should they get the flu.

The union representing state prison guards says law-abiding citizens should get a priority over the inmates when it comes to flu vaccines.

"If there truly is a shortage, what they should be doing is making that available to the various health clinics across the state to take care of the children and the elderly," said Denny Fitzpatrick, director of public relations for the New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association.

But state prison system officials say they are following protocols for administering vaccinations set by the state Health Department.

Prison spokesperson Jim Flateau said high-risk inmates, guards who oversee them and medical staff that treat them, get vaccinations every year. But other inmates don't get flu shots, he said: "If they come in and ask for a shot, they don't get 'em."

As for the union's complaint, Flateau said, "if we don’t vaccinate the high-risk inmates and the officers get the flu," the officers may infect their families.

Fitzpatrick counters that if the families got the flu shots before the inmates, they wouldn't be at risk.

Manufacturing problems have led to delays in producing and distributing the flu vaccine, which is re-formulated annually to reflect the strains experts think are most likely to make people ill.

Each year, federal health officials choose three strains of the virus for new inoculations, but one of this year's strains — the A-Panama — proved difficult to produce.

Full distribution of the vaccines may not be complete until late December, possibly early January, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Some reports have suggested supermarket chains that offer vaccines and some private employers got first call on the limited supplies.

Luckily, the flu season doesn't peak until January — in 14 of the past 18 winters, large outbreaks of the flu did not begin until January or later. It only takes two weeks after vaccination to reap full protection, so getting vaccinated in December will leave plenty of time for immunity to take effect, the CDC said.

Healthy people who are not at high risk are asked to wait until then to get their shots.

Influenza kills, on average, 20,000 people a year in the United States and puts 100,000 in the hospital. Pneumococcal disease which causes pneumonia and meningitis and is also easily prevented by a vaccine, kills more than 10,000 Americans every year.

Yet only about 63 percent of people over the age of 65 get their flu shots, and the percentages are even lower for blacks and Hispanics.

Persons at highest risk for contracting the flu include:

• Anyone over age 64.
• People of any age who have chronic heart or lung disorders, including asthma, or who have diabetes, kidney disease or a weakened immune system.
• Women who will be in the second or third trimester of pregnancy during flu season.
• Health care workers and family members who are in contact with high-risk patients.