Doctors are warning that some 20,000 Americans could die from the flu this winter, many will be seniors or people with lung disease or immune diseases. These are the very people the Centers for Disease Control say need flu shots as a priority. But as Helen Palmer reports from the Marketplace Health Desk, this year that's not happening. He's complained to the Centers for Disease Control that though he has sick patients who really need the protection, he just can't get the vaccine. They're giving it to healthy employees.
Drug stores have it available and are giving it to anyone who walks in.
But we, the physicians, are unable to obtain it even though we ordered it. But, they acknowledge they have no power to enforce that good neighborly behavior. So meantime the vaccine factory is working 24 hours a day in a race against the flu. Of course, millions of Americans now swear by alternatives to drugs or vaccines. When it comes to the flu, vitamin C and Zinc and Echinacea, washing your hands often and keeping cheerful are all popular prophylactics.