H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccine

The FDA approved the H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccine on September 15, 2009, and the first shipments were received around the country on October 5, 2009http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2009/09/14/daily26.html These first doses are intended for young children and pregnant women.

Although 120 million doses were expected to have been produced by the end of October, only 13 million have been shipped, leading to concerns about a swine flu vaccine shortage.http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hDG1Y2pO9MZlJLNboKJOSSY9xWTwD9BFOG0O4

The Swiss drug manufacturer Novertis announced that they had successfully created the first swine flu vaccine in early-June 2009. At the time, over 30 governments had requested the drug and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service ordered $289 million worth of supplies.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31269066/ns/health-swine_flu/

In July 2009, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the swine flu vaccine should be ready for distribution in the middle of October 2009.http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/07/09/obama.swine.flu/index.html While it was expected that 120 million doses would be available, on August 17 government officials announced that only 45 million doses would be ready on schedule.http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/17/eveningnews/main5247937.shtml

The Center for Disease Control is hosted 10 swine flu focus groups nationwide to discuss vaccination and strategies to deal with swine flu. The forums were be held before Labor Day, and were limited to 100 residents from the affected communities. Residents who attended were paid $50 for their time.http://www.somervillema.gov/alert.cfm?alert_id=225

Because the swine flu affects primarily a younger demographic, the elderly are not on the priority list for the H1N1 vaccine, although they should still get the regular seasonal influenza vaccine. The priority groups for vaccination include:

1. Pregnant women
2. Caretakers of children less than six months old
3. Public health and emergency medical workers
4. Children between six months and four years old
5. Older children and teenagers (up to 18) with chronic medical conditions.http://www.examiner.com/x-1163-Atlanta-Public-Policy-Examiner~y2009m8d17-CDC-releases-list-of-H1N1-immunization-priorities

There are five pharmaceutical companies working to supply swine flu vaccine for the United States:

• Novartis (46%)
• Sanofi Pasteur (26%)
• CSL (19%)
• MedImmune (6%)
• GlaxoSmithKline (3%)http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/news/20090720/swine-flu-vaccine-when