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Level of flu-like illness in Georgia sporadic

Over the remainder of the influenza season, Georgia will receive 215,000 doses of influenza vaccine from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Aventis Pasteur. About 70 percent is expected to arrive before the end of the year, and the remaining 30 percent will arrive near the peak of the flu season, in January.

Shipments are expected to arrive incrementally, and the DHR Division of Public Health will continually assess each region's need for vaccine so that it can quickly be directed to areas of the state with the greatest need.

CDC determined how much of the remaining vaccine would be allocated to Georgia by comparing the number of doses of influenza vaccine already sent to Georgia with estimates of the number of Georgians in the priority groups. The DHR Division of Public Health is addressing the state's distribution using a similar method.

"This is a great opportunity and a challenging task," explained Kathleen E. Toomey M.D. M.P.H., director of the DHR Division of Public Health. "The first phase of the national distribution plan only addressed the needs of individual providers, without giving state health officials the ability to address regional needs. Now, we can take a good look at our vaccine and population data, and use it to make influenza vaccine available to individuals across the state."