Shortages of the flu vaccine are forcing doctors and health departments around the country to ration doses, although this season’s bug appears to be nasty.

Parents trying to get immunizations for their children are particularly panicked. This year’s strain of the flu, Fugian A as the wonks call it, is bad enough that the Centers for Disease Control has changed its guidelines for who is most at risk. Young children between the ages of 6 months and 23 months have been added to the priority list, which also includes people older than 65, women who are more than three months pregnant and children older than 2 with chronic or underlying medical problems.

There are a lot of things about the flu that remain a mystery, but we do know this: The flu hits every year – in Maine it usually peaks in January and February; vaccines are not 100 percent effective, but they can reduce symptoms and slow the spread of an outbreak; and, on average, in this country about 36,000 people die every year from influenza. In a really bad year, that number can exceed 70,000.

Vaccine shortages are common, unfortunately. But heightened concern over this year’s flu has brought the issue home. According to Dr. Dora Mills, the director of Maine’s Bureau of Health, shortages of other vaccines, such as those for chickenpox and childhood pneumonia, are a reoccurring problem. She faults a system that leaves vaccine production to the whim of the marketplace.

In most years, the producers of vaccines make more doses than they can sell. Because vaccines, and especially flu vaccines, have a limited shelf life, many of them are destroyed. This year, the New York Times reports, the three major manufacturers that supply the U.S. market made 85 million doses of flu vaccine, far more than used in previous years.

That’s cold comfort for parents concerned about their children. Mills tells us that there are still shots available for people most at risk, but supplies are limited. Meanwhile, there are some steps that can be taken to lessen the risk.

Wash your hands frequently. Cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough. Stay home or keep your kids home if symptoms appear.

This year’s flu epidemic shows the serious flaws in the country’s vaccination system. Left completely to market forces, in really bad years, there’s not enough medicine to go around and, in good years, businesses make a product they know they won’t be likely to sell.

Companies can’t just make more. The process takes about four months.

Again, the individual can help. By getting flu shots every year – they’re a good idea for almost everybody – we can increase demand. The market will answer. On a larger scale, the government should develop a program that protects vaccine makers from big financial risks for making too much. No profiteering here, just an incentive to promote more production. And state and federal health officials should work together to develop a stockpiling program for vaccines.

For the vast majority of people who get the flu, it’s nothing more than a few days of discomfort. For those with other health problems, every flu season is a time of increased risk. Vaccination is a cheap and effective way to keep people well. This year should be a lesson: Flu shots are a good investment for individuals and the government.
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