WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden’s administration announced Wednesday that it will release doses of prescribed flu drugs from the Strategic National Stockpile for distribution to states as flu patients continue to show up in large numbers at hospitals and doctors’ offices across the country. .
This year’s flu season has been particularly intense. Some people have even seen empty shelves in pharmacies and stores when looking for over-the-counter medications at a time when cases are on the rise. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that the flu has caused 150,000 hospitalizations and 9,300 deaths so far this season.
“Jurisdictions will be able to get the support they need to keep Americans healthy as flu cases are on the rise this winter,” Dawn O’Connell, assistant secretary for preparedness and control, said in a statement. response in the Department of Health and Services. Human Resources (HHS), which oversees the CDC.
States will be able to request doses of the flu drug Tamiflu from HHS that is stocked in the Strategic National Stockpile. The government has not disclosed how many doses it will make available. Antiviral drugs were released from stockpiles more than 10 years ago during the swine flu, or H1N1, pandemic.
The federal agency also announced last week that it would allow states to tap state supplies of Tamiflu, making millions of treatments available. Tamiflu can be prescribed to fight the flu in people over two weeks of age.
This flu season coincides with an alarming increase in respiratory syncytial virus cases in children and as COVID-19 infections are on the rise again.
In some shops in the country, there have been reports of out-of-counter painkillers and medicines, especially for children.
