Updated March 05, 2015.
Lately, it seems like each year there is some problem so that we can't meet the demand for flu vaccines for everyone that needs or wants them. This year, it was because Chiron Corporation had its license suspended in the United Kingdom because of 'concerns of possible microbial contamination of product.'
Unfortunately, Chiron was to produce between 46-48 million doses of influenza vaccine for the United States and so overnight, we had our vaccine supply cut in half.
Aventis Pasteur, the other large manufacturer of flu vaccine, is still going to supply about 54 million doses this year and MedImmune is distributing about 1.1 million doses of the live virus FluMist nasal spray flu vaccine.
Why do only a few companies make the majority of flu vaccine for the United States? Most experts say that it is because of fears of lawsuits, but the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program has been in place since 1988 and is 'a no-fault alternative to the traditional tort system for resolving vaccine injury claims.' Although the VICP only covers 'vaccines recommended by the CDC for routine administration to children,' it shouldn't be hard for Washington to add the flu vaccine to the program to encourage or push more vaccine manufacturers to make flu vaccine and not have to worry about getting sued.
And if you think about it, we should have at least one large manufacturer of flu vaccine that is based in the United States. Chiron is based in the UK and Aventis is a French company.
It is kind of ironic that with all of the people who thought that a boycott of French products was a good idea and talk of 'freedom' fries, that something from France may now be saving the day...
This 'rationing' plan likely won't work though. It would work if each doctor, clinic, or hospital, had a limited supply of flu vaccine that they could give to their high risk or priority patients, but that isn't what we are seeing. Instead, there are some health professionals who have their full order of flu vaccine because they ordered early and from the right company (Aventis), and others who won't have any this year because they ordered from Chiron. So you can probably get a flu shot if you are in a priority group and are lucky enough to have a doctor who has it or your local health department has it or you can find somewhere else to get it.
A better plan, although logistically difficult, may have been to put a hold on all vaccinations and voluntarily recall the vaccine to central distribution centers, like a local health department or hospital. You can't force doctor's to share their flu vaccine, but as long as you could make sure that their own high risk patients would still get their vaccine, this could have helped to make sure that those most at risk still got a flu vaccine.
Freezing the price of the flu vaccine might also have been a good idea to prevent price gouging, which some say is already happening.
It is important to note that the FDA has stated that because of 'emergency medical reasons,' under the FDC Act, it is permissible for a hospital, health department, or healthcare provider to redistribute influenza vaccine to alleviate shortages. If your child is in a high risk group, like if they have an immune system problem, you might ask your Pediatrician to see if they might find someone to 'share' a dose of vaccine for your child. This may not work if your child is in a lower risk priority group, like being 18 months old, but if they have very bad asthma or cystic fibrosis, then you may be able to find someone to share a dose for your child.
Again, recalling the vaccine may have been impossible, but that may be what is going to happen to the rest of the flu vaccine that Aventis has not distributed yet.
And that is what has happened. On October 12, the CDC and Aventis announced an allocation plan to make sure that flu vaccine gets to high-priority providers. See our guide to finding a flu shot for more information. So even if you haven't been able to find a flu shot before, you may now and in the weeks to come.
And if you or your children are not high risk, don't push your doctor to give up a flu shot. What I would like to see is that the doctors who have flu shots right now, use them on their high risk patients and then redistribute whatever they have leftover to a health department or somewhere else to make sure that as many high risk people as possible get vaccinated.
Lately, it seems like each year there is some problem so that we can't meet the demand for flu vaccines for everyone that needs or wants them. This year, it was because Chiron Corporation had its license suspended in the United Kingdom because of 'concerns of possible microbial contamination of product.'
Unfortunately, Chiron was to produce between 46-48 million doses of influenza vaccine for the United States and so overnight, we had our vaccine supply cut in half.
Aventis Pasteur, the other large manufacturer of flu vaccine, is still going to supply about 54 million doses this year and MedImmune is distributing about 1.1 million doses of the live virus FluMist nasal spray flu vaccine.
Why do only a few companies make the majority of flu vaccine for the United States? Most experts say that it is because of fears of lawsuits, but the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program has been in place since 1988 and is 'a no-fault alternative to the traditional tort system for resolving vaccine injury claims.' Although the VICP only covers 'vaccines recommended by the CDC for routine administration to children,' it shouldn't be hard for Washington to add the flu vaccine to the program to encourage or push more vaccine manufacturers to make flu vaccine and not have to worry about getting sued.
And if you think about it, we should have at least one large manufacturer of flu vaccine that is based in the United States. Chiron is based in the UK and Aventis is a French company.
It is kind of ironic that with all of the people who thought that a boycott of French products was a good idea and talk of 'freedom' fries, that something from France may now be saving the day...
The Response to the Flu Shortage
The current response to the flu shot shortage by our government health experts has been to change the recommendations for vaccination so that only those people in priority groups get vaccinated. Others are being asked to 'forego or defer vaccination' this year. The hope is that by doing this, those people who are most at risk will still get vaccinated and be protected from the flu.This 'rationing' plan likely won't work though. It would work if each doctor, clinic, or hospital, had a limited supply of flu vaccine that they could give to their high risk or priority patients, but that isn't what we are seeing. Instead, there are some health professionals who have their full order of flu vaccine because they ordered early and from the right company (Aventis), and others who won't have any this year because they ordered from Chiron. So you can probably get a flu shot if you are in a priority group and are lucky enough to have a doctor who has it or your local health department has it or you can find somewhere else to get it.
A better plan, although logistically difficult, may have been to put a hold on all vaccinations and voluntarily recall the vaccine to central distribution centers, like a local health department or hospital. You can't force doctor's to share their flu vaccine, but as long as you could make sure that their own high risk patients would still get their vaccine, this could have helped to make sure that those most at risk still got a flu vaccine.
Freezing the price of the flu vaccine might also have been a good idea to prevent price gouging, which some say is already happening.
It is important to note that the FDA has stated that because of 'emergency medical reasons,' under the FDC Act, it is permissible for a hospital, health department, or healthcare provider to redistribute influenza vaccine to alleviate shortages. If your child is in a high risk group, like if they have an immune system problem, you might ask your Pediatrician to see if they might find someone to 'share' a dose of vaccine for your child. This may not work if your child is in a lower risk priority group, like being 18 months old, but if they have very bad asthma or cystic fibrosis, then you may be able to find someone to share a dose for your child.
Again, recalling the vaccine may have been impossible, but that may be what is going to happen to the rest of the flu vaccine that Aventis has not distributed yet.
And that is what has happened. On October 12, the CDC and Aventis announced an allocation plan to make sure that flu vaccine gets to high-priority providers. See our guide to finding a flu shot for more information. So even if you haven't been able to find a flu shot before, you may now and in the weeks to come.
And if you or your children are not high risk, don't push your doctor to give up a flu shot. What I would like to see is that the doctors who have flu shots right now, use them on their high risk patients and then redistribute whatever they have leftover to a health department or somewhere else to make sure that as many high risk people as possible get vaccinated.