Swine flu vaccine shortage is due to slow vaccine production

November 5, 5:52 PMTampa Public Health ExaminerEsther Salyer

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Influenza Vaccine  Credit:Samantha Celera

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC),  48 states are now reporting “widespread influenza activity”. In addition to that, the number of doctor visits for influenza-like illness (ILI) and hospitalizations, as a result of flu complications, has increased.

• The H1N1 virus has been growing much slower than expected during the vaccine production process. Flu vaccine is made by growing the virus in fertilized chicken eggs. The virus is then extracted and made inactive, so that it can cause the immune system to respond without harming the body. Typically, one egg can produce as many as 2 or 3 doses of flu vaccine. In the earlier H1N1 production, however, each egg only produced about 0.2 to 0.5 doses of the swine flu vaccine.      
•  Another reason for the shortage is the fact that vaccine manufacturers are producing two different flu vaccines at the same time: the seasonal flu vaccine and the swine flu vaccine. This, of course, decreases the amount of time manufacturers can devote to making the H1N1 vaccine.
• In addition to that, the packaging step has also been a problem. Government officials are now asking flu vaccine manufacturers to use multi-dose vials or prefilled syringes instead of single-dose vials. This should speed up the packaging process of the swine flu vaccine.

For more info: Centers for Disease Control, Washington Post