College-bound students in Carroll and Howard counties might trouble time getting a meningitis vaccine.
“There are some concerns” that the demand is outweighing the supply, said Dianna Davis, Carroll County Health Department?s director of nursing.
The vaccine is in high demand now with many colleges and universities requiring freshmen to be vaccinated. Each state agency is given a limited number of doses, and the supply is spread thin, county officials said.
The shortage started when the CDC recommended that children as young as 11 or 12 years old get vaccinated, said Lorraine Quarrick, a registered nurse and immunization supervisor for the Howard County Health Department.
Federal officials later asked health departments to give college-bound kids precedence, easing the supply.
Sanofi Pasteur, a French pharmaceutical company with U.S. offices in Pennsylvania, is the lone manufacturer of the two types of meningitis vaccines. The company makes about 6 million meningitis vaccines per year. Spokeswoman Donna Cary said there is enough to meet the need, but it can?t all be made in August.
The Carroll County Health Department can order 20 doses every three months, Davis said.
In Howard County, officials can order 20 doses per month directly from the manufacturer, Quarrick said.
In July, Howard County officials were told that because of the high demand, they may not receive the vaccine until the end of September.
They recently received the shipment sooner than anticipated, Quarrick said, and have about 15 doses.
Davis said Carroll County officials have been referring people to Passport Health, a private organization that provides travel vaccines and has six Maryland offices, including one in Columbia.
