Nasal Spray Flu Vaccine Available For Children

A national flu vaccination programme for children has been launched, which this year seeks to help over three million 2-6-year-olds as the programme is extended to children in school years 1 and 2, who will be eligible to receive the free nasal spray vaccine.

As a result, Harford and Anne Arundel counties are cancelling their FluMist programs because shipments would not get in until December.

A spokeswoman for MedImmune, which is the manufacture that makes FluMist, says the company faces unforeseen challenges that are affecting production.

In December, Krugman said they prefer to offer the FluMist to children, but parents may need to just get their children the shot, which is widely available. Baltimore County also still plans to vaccinate a few low-income students with small supplies of FluMist acquired early, according to the county school system.

Baltimore City schools will delay their clinic until the second week. The spray, FluMist, is for children between two and 17 years and will be available before the end of October at public health centres. Permission forms must be returned to the school to ensure that children are given the vaccination.

“This manufacturing delay is an unfortunate turn of events”, said Dr. David C. Rose, acting health officer for Anne Arundel County, in a statement.

“This year, parents will have new options when they get their child vaccinated against the flu”.

“We’re really hoping that people who go to pharmacies regularly, and those are people who especially should get the flu shot, people with underlying risk factors, may find that also a convenient option to get the flu shot if their pharmacy is offering it”, said Shahab.

The flu season usually lasts until March, though peak illness times tend to be in January or February.

The CDC maintains that an annual vaccine – which is reformulated each year to better protect against whatever virus strains are circulating – is necessary because its effectiveness wears off. A few people are at a much greater risk from the serious effects of flu, including pregnant women, the very young, people of any age with health conditions, such as asthma, heart disease, diabetes, weakened immune systems, and older people.

The flu vaccine will be offered Monday-Friday at 162 County Services Drive, Suite 200, from 8 a.m.to 4 p.m. She said the recommendations change over the years.