Department of Defense officials are expanding the flu vaccination program to include people as
young as age 50 and those in close contact with individuals at high risk of getting the flu, Dr.
William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said. He credited
the military community with its cooperation in ensuring that all deployed and deploying service
members and high-risk beneficiaries were vaccinated first. That group included people younger
than age 1 and older than age 65, as well as those with specified medical conditions. 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. Clinical tests have proven that this newer vaccine works effectively on people
between ages 5 and 50, he noted.
