A public health order restricting universal access to the flu vaccine was lifted Wednesday in New Mexico.
The previous order restricted flu vaccines to those classified as high risk, which included children, pregnant women, people over age 50 or those with chronic illnesses.
Last year, the flu vaccination supply to America was cut in half when one of the foreign suppliers announced its batch was contaminated.
"As soon as we found out about the shortage, we issued the public health order to protect the most vulnerable," said Kay Bird, a spokesperson for the New Mexico Department of Health.
Bird said she believes the state reached the most high-risk patients possible.
New Mexico Secretary of Health Michelle Lujan Grisham rescinded the order and replaced it Wednesday with one that gives anyone who wants one access to a flu vaccination.
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Gov. Bill Richardson said in a news release the restriction is why an abundance of the vaccine is available in New Mexico.
"We were the first state in the country to take control of our supplies of vaccine to protect our seniors, children and others in danger of complications from the flu," he said.
Jim Krieger, director of the UNM clinical services at UNM Health Sciences Center, said he plans on sending the Student Health Center more vaccines if they were requested.
"We've already sent them 1,000 doses," he said. "The shortage is no longer a shortage."
The restriction also called for prosecution of any provider who administered the vaccine to anyone other than those outlined in the provisions.
Providers will no longer be prosecuted, Krieger said, but the vaccine should still be administered sparingly.
"The general practice should be to vaccinate higher-risk people first, unless availability is so expansive that it will be wasted," Krieger said.
Bird said he agreed people who fall under the high-risk category should still be given top priority.
But UNM students can benefit from the change.
"It's not fun being sick in March before midterms or spring break," Bird said, adding that the 18- to 35-year-old age group is the hardest to reach.
Health care providers requesting the vaccine can expect a short wait.
"We have a 24- to 48-hour turnover time in getting them the vaccine," Bird said.
Since late last year, the Department of Health has shipped out 470,000 doses, but Bird said it's difficult to know where it all went.
"It's hard to track down who has given out the vaccines and how much is still on the shelf," she said.
Besides the foreign agency that supplied the original batch of vaccine, the New Mexico Department of Health also received an additional supply from the Indian Health Service. She said they donated leftover vaccines after they reached all the people they could.
"We really have an ample supply if there is a big enough demand," Bird said.
It's a pretty mild flu season, she said.
"We've only had 60 confirmed cases of it so far," she said, but added that it seems to be spreading.
Krieger said flu season ends in March.
