Media Release

For Immediate Release
October 19, 2004
Contact: Jeff Swallow (Electric Boat) 268-2639
Robert Marshall, PhD. HEALTH 222-1017

Electric Boat to Donate Flu Vaccine to Rhode Island Department of Health; Move prompted by severe national shortage

The national shortage of the Influenza vaccine has prompted Electric Boat (Quonset Point) to donate its recently purchased supply of flu shots to the Rhode Island Department of Health.

“We are extremely grateful for this demonstration of corporate leadership,” said Dr. Patricia A. Nolan, Director of the RI Department of Health. “This donation will play a key role in helping us get influenza vaccine to those who need it most in the coming weeks.”

The vaccine shortage, resulting from a contamination problem at a overseas manufacturing plant, is expected to result in the United States receiving just half of its expected supply for the upcoming flu season.

“When we learned that many of our neighbors in the high-risk categories would have problems gaining access to the vaccine, we decided the most appropriate thing to do would be to donate our own supply to a community agency,” said EB Medical Director Dr. Robert Hurley.

Electric Boat Quonset Point received 800 doses of the vaccine.

“The Rhode Island Department of Health will ensure that the state’s at-risk population will receive the vaccine,” says Craig Sipe, EB Quonset Point’s Manager of Human Resources.