Are thousands of flu shots in Hamilton County likely to go to waste this year? And to prevent that from happening, what’s the best way to persuade area residents it’s not too late to make appointments to get flu shots and protect themselves against the disease?

Those are the questions being weighed by medical providers in and around Hamilton County, following this week’s announcement by U.S. health officials that millions of doses of flu vaccine may go unused this year and wind up being thrown out.

According to the CDC, more than 110 million doses – a record amount – are being made for the 2006-07 flu season.

The previous record was 95 million in 2002-03, when 12 million doses went unused – and one manufacturer decided to quit making shots.

If large quantities of vaccine are thrown out again this year, officials warned, persuading manufacturers to produce large supplies of flu vaccine during coming years will be difficult.

To help prevent that from happening, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging people who have not gotten flu shots yet to do so now. And to draw attention to the problem, CDC has designated Nov. 27-Dec. 3 – the week after Thanksgiving – as "National Influenza Vaccination Week."

Area health care providers – who know many people believe there is no point in getting flu shots this late in the year, although the flu season typically does not peak until January or February – are now deciding how best to respond.

Hutcheson Medical Center, which already had two flu clinics scheduled for Monday, is going ahead with them, according to spokeswoman Haley Walters.

She said no decision has been made yet on whether to hold additional clinics or take other special actions after that date.

The first of Hutcheson’s two Monday clinics will be held from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Gordon Lee High School in Chickamauga. Flu shots will be available ONLY to adults over the age of 18, and will cost $20.

The second clinic will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the LaFayette After-Hours Clinic, 615 East Villanow Street, LaFayette. As in Chickamauga, flu shots will only be given to adults over the age of 18.

At Erlanger Medical Center, spokeswoman Jan Powell said officials are still deciding whether to hold another large flu clinic or schedule other special events designed to draw in lots of people who have yet to get flu shots. Erlanger still has some vaccine, she said, but much of it is earmarked for employees.

At the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department, which still has more than 2,000 doses of flu vaccine for adults on hand, Donna Needham said men and women who want flu shots can still call and make appointments.

However, the health department is currently out of pediatric flu vaccine, although it does expect to receive more during coming weeks.

Ms. Needham said health department officials are still considering possible strategies aimed at reaching more potential flu shot recipients in connection with “National Influenza Vaccination Week.”

Sharon Goforth, the health department’s special projects coordinator, said her 2006 outreach program aimed at ensuring that nursing home patients and other high risk populations get flu shots has ended.

“My last clinic was Tuesday,” she said.

That program, which has been in existence for more than a decade, provided more than 1,600 flu shots to mostly high-risk patients throughout Hamilton County.

Between 5 percent and 20 percent of the U.S. population gets the flu each year, and about 36,000 deaths and 200,000 hospitalizations each year are flu-related, CDC officials said.

Today, the CDC's flu shot recommendations cover 218 million of the nation's 300 million people, according to CDC statistics. However, only a fraction of that total are expected to get them.

CDC officials acknowledged that part of the reason many people have yet to get flu shots is that the chronic distribution problems that have plagued the flu shot campaign for years have once again made it difficult for people in some areas to find shots.

Although an estimated 77 million doses were distributed across the nation by Nov. 3, there are scattered shortages throughout the country. And many providers – including the local health department, which currently has no pediatric flu vaccine – did not receive all the vaccine they ordered

In Alabama, for example, the state health department has received less than half its order for adults and only about 30 percent of its order for children.

For more information on the flu shot clinics that Hutcheson will hold on Monday, contact Hutcheson’s Occupational and Community Wellness Program at (706) 858-2808.