Senior Citizens on Low Priority for H1N1 Flu Shots Due to Signs that Younger More Vulnerable

CDC advisors do urge seniors to be at the top of the list of seasonal flu vaccinations

July 30, 2009 – Senior citizens are not a high priority for the vaccine being developed to ward off the H1N1 flu virus that has been sweeping the world, according to an advisory committee for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The good news about this is the evidence shows people age 65 or older are at less risk of catching this flu, once known as swine flu, than are younger people.

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The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices added, however, that as vaccine supply and demand among younger age groups is being met, programs and providers should offer vaccination to people over the age of 65.

The committee also stressed in their report yesterday that people over the age of 65 receive the seasonal vaccine as soon as it is available, since they are among the most vulnerable for this type of flue.

The committee recommended the vaccination efforts focus on five key populations.  Vaccination efforts are designed to help reduce the impact and spread of novel H1N1. The key populations include those who are at higher risk of disease or complications, those who are likely to come in contact with novel H1N1, and those who could infect young infants.

When vaccine is first available, the committee recommended that programs and providers try to vaccinate:

   ● pregnant women,

   ● people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age,

   ● health care and emergency services personnel,

   ● persons between the ages of 6 months through 24 years of age, and

   ● people from ages 25 through 64 years who are at higher risk for novel H1N1 because of chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems.

The groups listed above total approximately 159 million people in the United States.

The committee does not expect that there will be a shortage of novel H1N1 vaccine, but availability and demand can be unpredictable. 

There is some possibility that initially the vaccine will be available in limited quantities. If this happens, the committee recommended that the following groups receive the vaccine before others:

   ● pregnant women,

   ● people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age,

   ● health care and emergency services personnel with direct patient contact,

   ● children 6 months through 4 years of age, and

   ● children 5 through 18 years of age who have chronic medical conditions.

The committee recognized the need to assess supply and demand issues at the local level. The committee further recommended that once the demand for vaccine for these prioritized groups has been met at the local level, programs and providers should begin vaccinating everyone from ages 25 through 64 years. 

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Even if novel H1N1 vaccine is initially only available in limited quantities, supply and availability will continue, so the committee stressed that programs and providers continue to vaccinate unimmunized patients and not keep vaccine in reserve for later administration of the second dose.

The novel H1N1 vaccine is not intended to replace the seasonal flu vaccine. It is intended to be used alongside seasonal flu vaccine to protect people.  Seasonal flu and novel H1N1 vaccines may be administered on the same day.