Sunday, November 21, 2010
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
alcorn@vindy.com
YOUNGSTOWN
It is as important to get a flu shot this year as it was last year at the height of the H1N1 influenza pandemic, health officials said.
But, people are not getting the flu vaccine this year in the numbers they did during 2009 because there is no pandemic or vaccine shortage to raise people’s fears , said Dr. John Venglarcik III, medical director for Mahoning County District Board of Health.
“Our clinics are drawing about 50 percent fewer people than last year,” said Matthew Stefanak, health board commissioner.
Stefanak said he wonders whether people have become complacent because they got the vaccine last year or whether they have received shots at private sites instead of clinics sponsored and monitored by public health departments.
It may be that fewer people are getting flu shots this flu season, but it won’t be known for sure until after the season ends next year when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does its survey, the health commissioner said.
The bad news is that it appears that people in the community are not getting the shots in numbers as they did last year. The exception to that is the over-65 age group, which has the highest rate of inoculation, Dr. Venglarcik said.
Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.