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NEWS RELEASE - October 12, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:

Deb Wiethop
(314) 923-4767
deborah.wiethop@wellpoint.com

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT RECEIVING FLU VACCINE

ADVISORY

Flu Vaccine Shortage Hits U.S. — For Updates Visit www.cdc.gov/flu/

The CDC, in coordination with its Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP), has issued interim recommendations for influenza vaccination during the 2004-05 season.

According to the CDC the following are priority groups for receiving the vaccination:
  • all children aged 6-23 months;
  • adults aged 65 years and older;
  • persons aged 2-64 years with underlying chronic medical conditions;
  • all women who will be pregnant during the influenza season;
  • residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities;
  • children aged 6 months-18 years on chronic aspirin therapy;
  • health-care workers involved in direct patient care; and
  • out-of-home caregivers and household contacts of children aged < 6 months.

If you do not fall into one of the above groups, the CDC recommends that you forego receiving the influenza vaccination at this point in time.

If you have questions about whether you should receive a flu vaccine, please contact your physician.

If you are interested in additional information about influenza and the flu vaccine, please visit the Centers for Disease Control website at www.cdc.gov/flu/.

UniCare serves approximately 1.7 million medical members and is the national operating subsidiary of WellPoint, Inc., one of the nation’s largest publicly traded health care companies. WellPoint serves the health care needs of more than 14 million medical members and more than 44 million specialty members. WellPoint offers a broad spectrum of quality network-based health products including open access PPO, POS and hybrid products, HMO and specialty products. Specialty products include pharmacy benefit management, dental, utilization management, vision, mental health, life and disability insurance, long term care insurance, flexible spending accounts, COBRA administration, and Medicare supplements.

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