Health officials ask for corporate donations in Oklahoma.

2004 NOV 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Oklahoma Health Department officials want private companies to donate unused influenza vaccine so high risk groups can be immunized.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and vaccine maker Aventis Pasteur also are seeking to reallocate flu doses to Oklahoma, federal health administrators said.

Oklahoma is short more than 300,000 doses of flu vaccine, prompting public and private health practitioners to search for shots for people who fall into a high-risk category like pregnant women or healthcare workers.

"We are asking those companies who have an employee population that is likely not to include persons considered at 'high risk' for flu complications to consider donating their influenza vaccine so that it can be redistributed to persons whose health could be compromised if unprotected from influenza," state Health Commissioner Michael Crutcher, MD, said.

Because of the shortage, some companies that order the vaccine for their employees and have already received vaccine or expect to receive it may be willing to share, he said.

Companies that donate their vaccine would receive a tax break. The Health Department also will buy the vaccine at the company's purchase price, Crutcher said.

In October when British regulators shut down a major U.S. supplier of the flu vaccine, it threatened the supply of vaccine to the Health Department's 100 locations, including county health departments and physicians who serve Medicaid clients.