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June 13, 2003

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

“Flu Shots Up on Last Year”

Palmerston North Evening Standard (NZ) (www.nabspace.co.nz/evestd.htm)

(06/11/03) P. 8; Rankin, Janine

Andrew Orange, a pharmacist for New Zealand's Manawatu Independent Practice Association, is not sure if the goal of a 6 percent increase in flu vaccinations will be reached this year, even though vaccine sales in the MidCentral Health district have exceeded last year's total.  Orange said that over 25,000 doses of the Fluarix vaccine have been sold, but the data does not show how many people over 65 years of age or with chronic illnesses have taken advantage of the subsidized vaccine.  “We've already done better than last year,” Orange noted.  “But we had high hopes that the efforts we have put in might have reaped greater rewards.”