Hope to Get A Swine Flu Shot At Work? Not Likely
Businesses may have to wait months to offer the shot, if they get it at all.
The regular seasonal flu vaccine is available a bit earlier than usual, and federal health officials recommend most people get that shot. Some employees are already lining up for it.
But the strain thats already a national fixture is swine flu. And for healthy adults, the vaccine will not be readily available.
“I would prefer to have it done at work. Everythings easier,” said Tom Barclay, a 24-year employee of drug and chemical maker Bayer Corp. in Pittsburgh. “Its very convenient.”
The first swine flu vaccine should be available in the U.S. sometime around the first week of October.
About 90,000 sites – mainly hospitals, clinics, doctors offices, county health departments and pharmacies – are expected to receive doses. The federal government is covering the cost of the vaccines and related supplies, said Tom Skinner of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A total of at least 195 million doses are expected through winter.
States will get a share based on their population. Their health departments must approve or reject requests from health providers and other groups wanting the vaccine.
From California to Florida, states say they plan to make sure the initial vaccine supply goes to the 159 million people in the priority groups. Their rules vary slightly, but businesses are generally at the back of the line.
New York, for example, will only allow businesses with on-site medical facilities to get the vaccine. Other states, like New Jersey and Texas, say businesses can hire medical providers to administer shots, but only to staff in priority groups.
For many workers used to getting their seasonal flu shot free at the office every fall, thats frustrating.
Barclay, 56, head of emergency response for Bayers Pittsburgh campus, said Monday hes gotten a seasonal flu shot every fall for more than a decade, and did so again last Friday.
But for protection against swine flu, hes planning to call his doctor – just as employers are telling their workers to do.
“Theres heightened interest in getting (seasonal) flu shots,” more than at any time in at least 25 years, Iams said.
Other major corporations, from oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. to software maker Microsoft Corp. and grocery chain Kroger Co., are taking similar steps. Whether companies will get any swine flu vaccine for their workers is generally unclear.
Exxon Mobil, based in Irving, Texas, has requested the vaccine from health departments there and in other states where it has employees, but is still in the dark, said spokeswoman Cynthia Bergman.
Microsoft of Redmond, Wash., finally got word Tuesday that it can offer swine flu vaccine to employees there if it has a pre-approved, licensed health provider to administer vaccines.
“We know that our vendor has been approved, and likely will get vaccine,” said spokesman Lou Gellos. What remained unclear was whether that company would have enough for all the businesses it serves.