By Liz Highleyman

On September 18, 2009, MedPage Today reported that Jay Butler, MD, head of the CDC's 2009 H1N1 vaccine task force, announced that at least 3.4 million doses of a new vaccine against the pandemic flu will become available the first week of October. These doses will be in a nasal spray containing live attenuated virus; some injectable vaccine may also be available.

Dr. Butler indicated that additional vaccine stocks will become available after the first week of October, eventually reaching 20 million doses delivered per week through the end of the year.

In total, the U.S. has ordered 195 million doses of H1N1 flu vaccine from 5 companies; 4 of these vaccines were recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The government will use the same distribution procedure employed by the Vaccines for Children program, which provides products to some 40,000 healthcare providers across the country. That network will be expanded with an additional 50,000 providers.

However, Butler said, distribution of the new flu vaccine may be logistically challenging, especially during the first couple weeks, and all providers will not have vaccine available for all patients immediately.

Vaccine stocks will be allocations to states based on population, and state officials will decide which orders to fill, according to Butler. These orders will be sent each day to the CDC, which will then transmit them to distributors. Orders should be filled and shipped within 3 business days.

The CDC previously announced which groups will be given highest priority for receiving the H1N1 vaccine. These include pregnant women, healthcare and emergency services workers, caretakers of young children, children and young adults between the ages of 6 months and 24 years, and people between the ages of 25 and 64 years who have chronic health conditions that put them at higher risk of flu-related complications.

To date, people with HIV positive have not been at increased risk for flu complications or death. Nevertheless, HIV positive individuals with a low CD4 cell count should ask their doctor about receiving the vaccine.

9/29/09

Sources
M Smith. CDC Spells Out Process to Get Pandemic Vaccine to Patients. MedPage Today. September 18, 2009. (Full article).

.