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August 2, 2002
U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS
"Vaccine Campaign Focuses on Minorities"
USA Today ( www.usatoday.com ) (08/01/02) P. 8D; Manning, Anita
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have begun a two-year
public awareness campaign to encourage pneumonia and influenza
vaccination in African-American and Hispanic communities. HHS
deputy secretary Claude Allen notes that while 67 percent of
whites age 65 and older got flu shots in 2000, only 48 percent of
African Americans and 56 percent of Hispanics did so; in the same
year, 57 percent of whites, 31 percent of African Americans, and
30 percent of Hispanics were vaccinated against pneumonia.
According to Allen, between 6,000 and 12,000 senior citizens die
each year of pneumonia, and 18,000 die from the flu. The
campaigns--which will be funded on Sept. 1--will begin in
Mississippi, San Antonio, Milwaukee, Chicago, and Rochester, N.Y.
Meanwhile, CDC National Immunization Program director Walter
Orenstein reports that roughly 77 percent of the children born
between February 1998 and May 2000 received their childhood
vaccinations. He said shortages of some of these vaccines have
been resolved in most areas, although pneumococcal vaccine
shortages are expected to continue through at least the end of
2002.
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LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND
COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH
YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.