Fred Mogul, Reporter, WNYC News
Fred Mogul has been covering healthcare and medicine for WNYC since 2002.
Flu Shots Not So Popular
Friday, September 19, 2008
New York, NY –
The Bloomberg Administration says fewer seniors are choosing to get flu shots, even though local, state and federal officials keep encouraging them to do so. WNYC's Fred Mogul has more.
REPORTER: Flu can be potentially fatal among the very young, very old and chronically ill. Five years ago, close to two-thirds of the elderly got flu shots, but the proportion has been slipping ever since 2004-2005, when a large stock of the vaccine was recalled. The shortage led to long lines, but when the flu season turned out to be mild, the next year’s message to go-get-your-shots fell on increasingly deaf ears.
ZUCKER: The challenge after that has really been to convince people to get a flu shot.
REPOTER: Dr. Jane Zucker is the city’s assistant health commissioner for immunization. She hopes this season, more people, and especially seniors, get their flu shots, because a new law allows pharmacists to administer them.
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