Flu Vaccine? No Shortage Here, Says Private Firm
While a national shortage of flu vaccine has left the elderly, the poor and other frail Californians waiting in long lines, an Anaheim company is providing business clients with on-demand shots, for a modest price.
Test-Med Inc., which serves corporate customers at $20 a shot, is not worried about running short of supplies.
“We have plenty,” said Norma Pearson, a manager in charge of inventory for Test-Med. “Right now I don’t know exactly how much we have. But I do know we have enough.”
Registered with the secretary of state two years ago, Test-Med has 5,500 customers across the state, with satellite offices in Burbank, El Cerrito, Sacramento, San Jose and San Diego, Pearson said. The company is changing its name to On-Site Health National Vaccination Services Inc.
She said businesses of all sizes use Test-Med’s services, but she declined to provide names of customers. They are treated to virtual house calls, with nurses dispatched to sites as long as a minimum of five employees sign up.
Like a lot of customers, Equity Management in Manhattan Beach was worried Test-Med wouldn’t be able to come through this year.
“When we heard about the shortage, we called them . . . and they said no, they had plenty,” said Linda Copperman, a partner at Equity Management, which oversees residential properties from West Hollywood to Costa Mesa.
Test-Med, which charged clients $10 a shot last year, raised the price to $15 at the beginning of this year, and then to $20, because the company had to pay more for its supply, Pearson said.
“We get hit with manufacturers’ costs like anyone else would. Some people complained that it’s too high,” she said. “But when they realize no one else has it they come back to us, which is nice, in a way.”
Pearson said Test-Med relies on many different suppliers to fill its order, but would not provide any names, give information about physicians administering the program, or disclose how much the company paid to ensure timely delivery. She referred those questions to owner Jeffrey Wilmoth, who did not return messages left at his office Friday. Another employee said he was at a Palm Desert mall selling vaccinations.
Across the country, delivery delays are being blamed largely on manufacturing problems. Some leading makers of the vaccine reported trouble growing a common strain of the virus, and others got late starts because of quality control issues.
In California, most vaccines are provided by private doctors, pharmacies and hospitals through unregulated supply chains.
The state Department of Health Services, which provides doses to county health agencies for free distribution to the elderly, poor, sick and others, remains optimistic that California will get its full order in time.
That hasn’t stopped worried seniors like Otto Ewell, 70, from lining up for hours when public supply becomes available. He showed up at the Lakewood Senior Center in Irvine at 4 a.m. Friday to be first in line when doors opened five hours later.
“I’ve had four bypasses,” Ewell said. “My doctor didn’t have any shots. I was getting worried.”
Ewell was one of hundreds at the first of five large-scale clinics rescheduled to make up for lost time in Orange County. Public health officials had to cancel 100 free clinics earlier this month. Hundreds lined up to receive the vaccine.
Ewell and others said they’d be more than willing to pay if that were an alternative.
“I’d purchase a shot anywhere they’d give me one,” said Debra Mathias, who was there in search of a vaccine for her asthmatic 6-year-old daughter.
Pearson of Test-Med said while the public would be able to obtain their vaccines at some malls, their service was mainly for business customers.
* N.Y. SEEKS DONATIONS
New York City wants firms to donate vaccine meant for employees to aid those at risk. A19
