More flu shots are available

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BUREAU COUNTY -- Preventing the flu in Bureau County has just gotten another shot in the arm. Craig Beintema, director of the Bureau County Health Department, said the county health department is scheduled to receive another shipment of flu vaccines and is scheduling four more flu clinics for Bureau County adults. Beintema said the clinics are for those who are at a high risk to get the flu. A proof of Bureau County residency, like a voter's registration or driver's license, will be required at the clinics. Beintema said the vaccines will be administered on a first-come, first-serve basis. Additional clinics will be scheduled as vaccines become available. Medicare benefits will cover the cost of the flu immunization for those persons presenting proof of enrollment in Medicare Part B. There is a $15 fee for those not qualifying for Medicare. Pneumonia vaccine will not be available at these clinics, Beintema said. The United States has faced a flu vaccine shortage this year as the result of a license suspension for the Chiron Corporation that produces the vaccine. On Oct. 5, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention was notified by Chiron that none of its influence vaccine, produced in Liverpool, England, would be available for distribution in the United States for the 2004-05 flu season. On Oct. 26, Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced his administration has placed an order to buy an additional 200,000 doses of the Aventis flu vaccine from wholesalers in Europe. About 80,000 of those doses have been guaranteed, with the other 120,000 vaccines expected to become available. The governor has also ordered up to 87,000 doses from a British wholesaler and has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for quick approval to get the flu vaccine to Illinois. Any extra vaccines, above the high-risk cases, would be offered to other states.