The exercise was planned to actually give flu shots, but officials were to enact the procedures for treating a mass outbreak of smallpox resulting from a bioterrorism attack. Several local authorities, nurses, volunteers and staff have received extensive training in case an attack of this nature ever occurs.
"Right now we feel pretty good about how we've been trained and what we've learned," said John Thur, administrator for the Jackson County Health Department. "We're just sorry we couldn't complete our plan. All of the knowledge we've gained will help us in the future."
Tuesday, the British government suspended the manufacturing license of major flu vaccine maker Chiron, which provides nearly half of the United States' supply of influenza vaccines. Of the 325,000 vaccine doses that the Oklahoma State Department of Health ordered, nearly 90 percent was from Chiron. The remaining 10 percent will be redirected to those persons identified as high risk for influenza complications.
"Flu vaccinations will be given on a strictly prioritized system," Thur said.
Priority groups for vaccinations this season include:
- All children 6-23 months
- Adults 65 years and older
- Persons 2-64 with underlying chronic medical conditions
- All women who are pregnant during the influenza season
- Residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities
- Children 6 months to 18 years on chronic aspirin therapy.
- Health care workers involved in direct patient care
- Out-of-home caregivers and household contacts of children less than 6 months old
People who are not included in one of the priority groups should be informed of the urgent vaccine supply situation and are asked to forego or defer vaccinations this year.
"We're working with our federal partners -- the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and other vaccine manufacturers -- to determine the best way to proceed to protect the public's health this flu season," said Oklahoma State Health Commissioner Dr. Michael Crutcher. "At this time, it appears that most of Oklahoma's vaccines will be available from private physicians and not public health departments."
According to Thur, the Jackson County Health Department will still receive plenty of children's vaccine.
Thur reported that although there is no planning of another bio-terrorism exercise in the works at this time, it will be something to look into in the future.
"We apologize for the inconvenience and we'll try our best to deal with this surprise situation," Thur said.
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