As more people are getting sick from the H1N1 flu virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting that the production of the H1N1 vaccine is slower than expected. US health officials warned Friday that deliveries of swine flu vaccine may be delayed as influenza deaths climbed above epidemic levels in most states. As of Wednesday, 11.4 million doses of flu vaccine were available to be ordered and 8 million doses has been ordered by state health departments. Eleven more children were reported to have died of flu in a single week, confirmed by laboratory tests as being from H1N1 flu. Since April, when the swine flu outbreak began in Mexico, 86 children in the United States have died of the new strain of H1N1. Since August 30, 43 pediatric deaths from influenza have been reported to the CDC, and laboratory tests have confirmed that 38 of those deaths were caused by the H1N1 virus.
Long lines can be seen across the country and now the CDC says millions will be left out in the cold for weeks. Deaths in the United States from flu have leapt above the “epidemic threshold,” and widespread disease from influenza has been reported in 41 of the 50 states. Government officials and vaccine makers say the H1N1 vaccines are made the same way that flu vaccines have been made for years and contain the same ingredients, including virus particles in a solution that contains ingredients such as sucrose, phosphate, arginine, gelatin and glutamate, to stabilize the vaccine. The CDC had hoped that about 40 million doses of H1N1, or swine flu, vaccine would be available by the end of October. But due to manufacturing delays at most it will be 10 to 12 million doses less. Clinical trials conducted on the vaccine have turned up few side effects. Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a potentially life-threatening neurological disorder, could emerge as a side effect of the vaccine.
Hundreds of people out of more than 40 million vaccinated against swine flu in a 1976 campaign contracted GBS. Government scientists say the new H1N1 virus differs from the 1976 virus, and vaccine technology has improved. Another concerne is that flu shots can expose infants and toddlers to mercury, alleging a link between vaccines that contain thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative, and autism. All H1N1 nasal spray vaccines are free of thimerosal, as well as some shots in single-dose syringes. As of the middle of this week, 11.4 million doses of H1N1 vaccine were available and around eight million had been ordered by the states, where innoculation clinics got under way last week.
The CDC always has known that what has become the biggest public vaccination program in U.S. history would have some growing pains. But Friday’s announcement of a shortfall comes at a critical time. The CDC is not expecting widespread availability of the H1N1 vaccine until the end of this month or beginning of November. The CDC expects to roll out at least 800 million doses of swine flu vaccine. At least 4,735 people have died from swine flu infections since April, World Health Organization. Most deaths occurred in the Americas region, where 3,406 fatalities have been reported.
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