PORTLAND (AP) – A federal plan to steer shipments of influenza shots to high-need patients could ease Maine’s critical shortage, but the state’s top public health official said that it may not be enough.

If vaccine dose distribution boils down to a state’s population, as it has during past national shortages, Maine would receive about 70,000 doses, said Dr. Dora Anne Mills, director of the Maine Bureau of Health.

“We know the need in Maine is much, much greater than that, even to cover just the high-risk population,” she said. An estimated 20,000 doses are needed just to cover nursing home residents and their caretakers, she added.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced its plan to ration vaccine doses a week after the country lost half of its expected flu vaccine supply when British officials pulled the license of Chiron Corp. in England.

The CDC has a stockpile of 4.5 million doses, but it is working with the country’s only other flu vaccine provider, Aventis Pasteur, to reserve its remaining 22.4 million doses for pediatricians, nursing homes and other high-risk patients.

Federal health officials said Tuesday that even if planned rationing goes well, some high-risk patients won’t get shots.

“We’re sorry for the people who need flu vaccine and may not be able to get it this year,” said Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the CDC. “But we will take every step that we can take to get an equitable distribution of vaccine.”

Maine has rushed to stockpile vaccine two months before the start of the state’s flu season.

As of Wednesday, the state had located more than 14,000 doses, an increase from 9,900 as of last Friday, Mills said.

About 8,000 doses came directly from Aventis with 20,000 more on the way. Postponed vaccinations for state workers brought in another 4,000, and the cancellation of a “Vote and Vaccinate” clinic added another 900.

During a briefing in his office Wednesday, Gov. John Baldacci thanked four Maine employers for turning over a total of 859 flu vaccine doses so they can be redistributed to high-risk groups.

Baldacci said Fairchild Semiconductor, International Paper, Medical Mutual Insurance Co. and the University of Maine Cutler Health Center demonstrated “a tremendous amount of civic leadership” in making their vaccines available.

The governor urged other employers that can spare vaccine from their health programs and clinics to contact the state through its hotline, 1-888-257-0990.

Mills said Wednesday that the number of available vaccines and estimated need “is very fluid” and changes daily, but the need is greater than the supply.

In addition to Maine’s nursing home residents, there are another 40,000 high-risk patients at rural health centers, Mills said. Another 40,000 doses are needed to cover babies over 6 months. Other state residents at risk include pregnant women.

“There are areas of Maine where there is no vaccine now,” Mills said.

Mills also said she is also concerned that the remainder of its order from Aventis “may count as part of the possible 70,000,” allocated in the CDC plan.

The state provides vaccine to hundreds of health care providers. It is unknown how many providers who ordered on their own depended on Chiron.

AP-ES-10-13-04 1704EDT

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