Too much flu vaccine? Shot push this week to tell
Lauren Neergaard, Associated Press
Issue date: 1/28/10 Section: News
First there was too little swine flu vaccine. Now could there be way too much?
This week will tell. Get ready for a huge flu-shot push as health officials try to rekindle interest in protection against this new influenza strain that, despite plummeting cases, still is threatening lives - even as they reassess just how much more vaccine needs to be shipped.
There's finally plenty of vaccine - 136 million doses and counting - against what scientists call the 2009 H1N1 flu strain. No more standing in long lines at the health department. CVS drugstores have so much the chain is touting vaccine in national radio and TV ads. Competitor Walgreens got more than 50,000 takers in a single day last week.
Monday, children younger than 10 began rolling up their sleeves for a second time in Rhode Island schools. The state has attracted acclaim for vaccinating three-quarters of its students, and now is starting Round 2 - the second dose required to protect kids that young.
And flu-shot drives for all ages are scheduled around the country for what's officially dubbed National Influenza Vaccination Week - in hopes of preventing a possible third wave of the epidemic later this winter.
How much demand this week brings will put the U.S. at a critical juncture: When is it time to halt the bottling of vaccine, so that too many unused doses don't go to waste?
Australia's CSL Ltd. revealed Monday that U.S. officials have cut by more than half the amount it was supposed to ship here, 14 million doses instead of 36 million. The nation's largest suppliers - Sanofi-Pasteur, Novartis and MedImmune - told The Associated Press that their orders were unchanged so far. But other countries already are looking to unload leftovers.
U.S. officials say they're deliberately delaying that decision.
"The danger is in turning off the spigot before we really know what the winter flu season looks like, what the demand is," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told the AP. "As long as there is demand, the good news is we will have a supply."
This week will tell. Get ready for a huge flu-shot push as health officials try to rekindle interest in protection against this new influenza strain that, despite plummeting cases, still is threatening lives - even as they reassess just how much more vaccine needs to be shipped.
There's finally plenty of vaccine - 136 million doses and counting - against what scientists call the 2009 H1N1 flu strain. No more standing in long lines at the health department. CVS drugstores have so much the chain is touting vaccine in national radio and TV ads. Competitor Walgreens got more than 50,000 takers in a single day last week.
Monday, children younger than 10 began rolling up their sleeves for a second time in Rhode Island schools. The state has attracted acclaim for vaccinating three-quarters of its students, and now is starting Round 2 - the second dose required to protect kids that young.
And flu-shot drives for all ages are scheduled around the country for what's officially dubbed National Influenza Vaccination Week - in hopes of preventing a possible third wave of the epidemic later this winter.
How much demand this week brings will put the U.S. at a critical juncture: When is it time to halt the bottling of vaccine, so that too many unused doses don't go to waste?
Australia's CSL Ltd. revealed Monday that U.S. officials have cut by more than half the amount it was supposed to ship here, 14 million doses instead of 36 million. The nation's largest suppliers - Sanofi-Pasteur, Novartis and MedImmune - told The Associated Press that their orders were unchanged so far. But other countries already are looking to unload leftovers.
U.S. officials say they're deliberately delaying that decision.
"The danger is in turning off the spigot before we really know what the winter flu season looks like, what the demand is," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told the AP. "As long as there is demand, the good news is we will have a supply."
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