Defense Department expands flu vaccine program Published Dec. 27, 2004 By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Department of Defense officials are expanding the flu vaccination program to include people as young as age 50 and those in close contact with those at high risk of getting the flu, the Pentagon's top doctor said Dec. 22. The military medical system has enough flu vaccine on hand to expand the program, said Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. He credited the military community with its cooperation in ensuring that all deployed and deploying servicemembers and high-risk beneficiaries got vaccinated first. These included people younger than age 1 and older than age 65, as well as those with specified medical conditions. "We wanted to make sure that we vaccinated all of those people first as a priority," Dr. Winkenwerder said. This effort was so successful, he said, that DOD still has some of its initial 2 million units of vaccine available to administer to people at lower risk of getting the flu. Also, he said, DOD received additional doses.Extra shipments of FluMist, a nasal spray flu vaccine, will be shipped to military recruiting stations "to make sure recruits coming in and living in close quarters get their vaccines," Dr. Winkenwerder said. This newer vaccine has proven during clinical tests to work effectively on people between ages 5 and 50. Dr. Winkenwerder complimented the military medical community and the beneficiaries for sticking to the initial guidelines for distributing the flu vaccine to those who need it most. "That's good news," he said. "Now we are in a better position to continue to use the vaccine that we have available. … So we want to reach out now to vaccinate more people." January and February tend to be the peak flu months, Dr. Winkenwerder said, generally because the weather forces people to spend more time indoors in confined spaces. This environment enables the flu virus to quickly spread from person to person. To help prevent its spread, Dr. Winkenwerder encouraged people to take basic precautions: wash their hands frequently, cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze and use tissues. Hand sanitizers, while effective against bacterial infections, generally do not work against viral infections, he said. Dr. Winkenwerder said these basic precautions can go a long way in protecting against the flu and preventing its spread. "We're hoping we have a safe, flu-free winter," he said.