On Jan. 14. the Defense Department’s top health official authorized the use of
military flu vaccine previously held in reserve. Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr.
signed a memorandum directing the expanded use of stored flu shot serum for
service members and other eligible recipients such as family members and military
retirees. This policy change allows the services to use flu shots for non
high-risk persons, including active-duty, while continuing their aggressive
efforts to get high-risk beneficiaries vaccinated. DoD now has about 500,000 doses
of the vaccine in storage, officials said. Vaccination against the flu remains
mandatory “for service members whose command has vaccine available to them,” said
officials. Dr. Julie Gerberding, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
director, said that “late-season vaccination is effective” against the flu. She
urged unvaccinated people at risk to try once again to obtain a shot.
