PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) ?Health officials on Friday for the first time invoked an emergency state law to save the supply of suddenly scarce flu vaccine for people consideDoctors and hospitals could be subject to $500 fines and professional sanctions if they fail to follow the emergency guidelines, said Dr. Mel Kohn, chief state epidemiologist.

"This year, because the vaccine supply is so small, we feel it´s necessary to implement an emergency rule," Kohn said. "Hopefully, we won´t need to use this rule at all. But the fact that we are implementing it underscores how seriously we take this whole issue."

British health officials this week halted production and shipment of flu vaccines manufactured by Chiron Corp., which supplies about half the U.S. vaccine stock.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials said Friday they were unlikely to approve impounded stock of 40 million doses for use nationally after concerns about possible contamination forced British authorities to close the Liverpool plant where Chiron produces the vaccine.

Kohn said the state will ask doctors and hospitals around Oregon to tell county health departments how much remaining vaccine is available because the state does not track the supply.

"The inventory is in private physicians´ offices and hospitals ?they buy their own vaccine and they do not report it," said Lorraine Duncan, manager of the state immunization program.

The remaining vaccine will be used to protect children and adults considered most at risk, including children 6 months to 2 years old, pregnant women, the elderly, people suffering from chronic health problems and health care workers who deal directly with patients.

The shortage raises questions about how to manage the vaccine supply nationally, Kohn said.

"I think the issues of vaccine supply are big ones, and they´re complicated in part because this isn´t something we can just say, ´We need vaccine tomorrow, let´s just go home and cook up a batch.´ It takes many months," Kohn said.

Changes in vaccine supply management "should be open to a public policy debate," he said.

One of the largest retailers in the state, the Fred Meyer chain, issued a statement Friday saying its pharmacies would strictly follow the guidelines recommended by the federal Centers for Disease Control and the state, limiting vaccinations to those considered most at risk.

Kohn said it was difficult to predict how many additional cases would result from the vaccine shortage but "I think there´s no doubt that there will be some more cases and there´s no doubt there will be some deaths because of the shortage."

Influenza, or the flu, kills an estimated 36,000 people a year in the United States, about 500 in Oregon. Most of the victims are elderly.

昣_

On the Net:

Oregon Department of Human Services: http://www.dhs.state.or.us