Press Releases: Northwest
October 8, 2004
Kaiser Permanente to follow federal guidelines
Restricting flu vaccine to patients at highest risk
PORTLAND, Ore. – Kaiser Permanente is still planning to offer flu shots to its health plan members at a dozen of its Northwest facilities from Salem, Ore., to Longview, Wash. In light of the national vaccine shortage which developed earlier this week, the health care organization will follow interim guidelines laid down by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These guidelines restrict the shots to people most at risk if they contract influenza. Patients who will be eligible to receive a flu shot include:
- Adults 65 and older;
- Adults and children between 2 and 64 years of age who have underlying chronic medical conditions, such as diabetes or heart disease;
- Children between 6 months and 23 months of age;
- Children older than 6 months and younger than 18 who are on long-term aspirin therapy;
- Women who will be pregnant during the flu season;
- Health care workers with direct patient care;
- Out-of-home caregivers and household contacts of children younger than 6 months.
Kaiser Permanente's flu shot clinics in Portland, Beaverton, Clackamas, Hillsboro, Tualatin, Salem, Vancouver, and Longview, Wash., are still planned to start on Monday, Oct. 18, and continue through Friday, Nov. 12. The shots will be given on a drop-in basis weekdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. There will also be special Saturday flu shot clinics at several of these sites on Oct. 23 starting at 9 a.m. There will be two Saturday flu shot clinics at Longview, Wash. on Saturday, Oct. 16 and Saturday, Oct. 23, both from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For a full schedule with the address of the Kaiser Permanente medical office giving flu shots nearest you, from the Portland area please call (503) 813-2000 and press 6, Ore. from outside the Portland area call 1-800-813-2000 and press 6. Or stop by a Kaiser Permanente medical office and pick up a flyer with details.
The telephone information line will also be updated with information about the vaccine supply, if there are changes.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it takes one to two weeks after being vaccinated for antibodies against influenza to develop and provide protection.
"Getting a flu shot in late October or early November gives people plenty of time to build up their immunity before the flu season gets under way, which in Oregon is usually mid- to late December through early March," says Joseph Kane, MD, chief of Kaiser Permanente's Infectious Disease Department.
