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Ed Yeates ReportingIn an angry blog posting to KSL, a Utah County doctor questions why the big boys are getting all the flu vaccine they need in this year of plenty but private physicians still can't get enough for their own patients.
As we reported earlier this week, the CDC says there's enough vaccine this year to provide shots for everybody , including grandma, grandpa, mom, dad, and especially the kids.
In this year of plenty, health departments are getting what they ordered. So are big companies that work through local nursing agencies. But at a large family clinic in the southern tip of Utah County, the cupboards - or vaccine refrigerators in this case - are almost bare. Physicians have been told, for the most part, they'll stay that way.
Doctors at the Spanish Fork clinic wanted at least 4,000 doses, but were told they could have 200 more doses than last year; that's only 2,400 doses.
Eric Hoganson, M.D., Spanish Fork Clinic: "Apparently, we don't have the political clout, I guess. Why is it the larger corporation, why is it the little guys can't get what they need? Why are the bigger companies getting it? I don't think that's fair. I think it takes care away from where is should be given."
Dr. Eric Hogenson says providing flu shots for patients is what this clinic used to do, and thought it could return to when the CDC this year said there was plenty to go around.
Eric Hoganson, M.D.: "A person needs to be able to come to their own doctor, the place where they've been getting their care, their shots, instead of going to a grocery store to get their health care."
Apparently, what really angers Dr. Hogenson and his colleagues is they've been told some of the bigger health agencies will actually have extra vaccine.
The Spanish Fork Clinic has 10 physicians, serving 30 to 40-thousand patients. It's the largest family clinic in the southern tip of Utah County.
