Health officials push for more people to get flu shot

September 28, 2012 - 5:03 pm | Category: Health

here are plenty of flu shots available this year, and health officials urged Americans on Thursday to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated — if not for their own sakes, then for the health of their communities.

About 85 million doses of flu vaccine have been distributed, part of a total of 135 million doses for this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Influenza is predictably unpredictable,” said Howard Koh, assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services, who spoke at a news conference in Washington organized by the National Foundation for Infectious Disease.

“In 2009-2010, we had a pandemic with thousands hospitalized and many deaths,” Koh said. “Last year, we set a record for the lowest number of hospitalizations and the shortest influenza season.”