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Additional flu vaccine could arrive too late

The extra doses will be ready in January, two months after the advised vaccination period.

WASHINGTON - Federal health officials said Tuesday that 2.6-million additional doses of flu vaccine will be available in January, far fewer than the 48-million lost to contamination at a British manufacturing plant.

The country's second vaccine manufacturer, Aventis Pasteur, announced on Tuesday it could produce another 2.6-million doses, for a total of 58-million doses.

The shipment arrives after the date the government recommends for vulnerable Americans to have had their shots.

That makes it unclear how helpful the extra vaccine doses will be. Most flu seasons peak in January or later, and it takes two weeks for people to develop immunity after being vaccinated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that people be vaccinated in October or November.

"We're waging a comprehensive and aggressive response," Tommy Thompson, secretary of health and human services, told a news conference. "We have good reason to be optimistic in our ability to deal with the flu season and protect the most vulnerable from its harsh effects."

He said there was enough antiviral medicine available to treat 40-million people - shortening illness in people sick with the flu and preventing illness in healthy people.

Between vaccines and antiviral drugs, enough medicine will be available to treat 100-million people this flu season, he said. Federal authorities have asked that healthy adults refrain from getting vaccinated to leave enough for those at greatest risk: the very young, the very old and people with chronic illnesses.

Thompson aggressively defended the administration's response to the shortage in the wake of criticism from Sen. John Kerry, President Bush's Democratic challenger, who has raised the issue on the campaign trail.

"No president or administration has invested more in the flu than this one," Thompson said. He pointed to a fiscal year 2005 proposal for $283.1-million in flu-related investments, compared with $39.3-million in 2001.

Kerry has said the administration failed to heed warnings about a potential shortage.

In Florida, Bush sought to ease Americans' concerns about the shortage, saying, "I want to assure them that our government is doing everything possible to help older Americans and children get their shots despite the major manufacturing defect that caused this problem."

Thompson rejected the suggestion of one senator, Democrat Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, that the administration declare a public health emergency to better deliver scarce flu vaccine to people most at risk.

"The public health emergency would just create more confusion and not accomplish anything," Thompson said.

Chiron Corp. was expected to provide the United States with 46-million to 48-million doses of flu vaccine, nearly half the supply the government had expected. But British regulators closed its Liverpool facility because of contamination. FDA confirmed that Chiron's doses were not safe to use.

That left the United States with about 55-million doses available from Aventis Pasteur.

David J. Williams, Aventis Pasteur's chief executive officer, said the company got better than expected yields from its two A strain vaccine production runs. And Williams made a hedge bet to order additional eggs. Beginning next week, Aventis Pasteur will grow more B strain in eggs to create vaccine that covers three flu strains. The vaccine won't be ready for distribution until January.

Meanwhile, officials are looking "throughout the world" for additional vaccine, said Lester Crawford, Food and Drug Administration acting commissioner.

Crawford said the FDA would give expedited review to flu vaccine produced by ID Biomedical of Canada. The expedited review - "weeks, rather than months" - means the 1.5-million Canadian flu shots could reach Americans this season, he said. The agency plans to send its own inspectors to ensure the Canadian facilities meet U.S. manufacturing standards.

CAPITOL HILL: While many Americans search in vain for flu shots, members and employees of Congress are able to obtain them quickly and at no charge from the Capitol's attending physician, who has urged all 535 lawmakers to get the vaccines even if they are young and healthy.

The physician's office has dispensed nearly 2,000 flu shots this fall, and doses remained available Tuesday. That's a steep drop from last year's 9,000 shots, said a spokesman for attending physician John Eisold, because many congressional employees have voluntarily abided by federal guidelines that call for this season's limited supply to go mainly to the elderly, the very young, pregnant women, long-term care patients and people with chronic illnesses.

But people of all ages who are credentialed to work in the Capitol can get a shot by saying they meet the guidelines, with no further questions asked, the spokesman said.

The practice appears to directly contravene the instruction being given by the executive branch of government.

Tommy Thompson, secretary of health and human services, reiterated the Bush administration's guidelines at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

"What we are telling people is if you are not in a priority category, do not get the shot," he said.

PRISONS: Norman Cooper has been unable to find a flu shot for his wife who takes daily oxygen treatments for asthma, emphysema and bronchitis.

So the southeast Missouri resident was incensed to learn that some inmates in the state prison 30 miles down the road were getting flu shots.

Federal and state prison officials say the inmates getting the shots are also high-risk - either 65 and over or suffering from a chronic medical condition. They say it's the surest way to fend off a flu epidemic inside the prisons that could be costly to taxpayers.

Dan Dunne, a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, which has 152,811 inmates across the country, said the system didn't expect to use a disproportionate amount of vaccine.

He said he didn't know how many flu shots were available for federal prisoners. Shots to employees will be limited to those at greatest risk of getting the flu and spreading it to prisoners, he said.

Sources: Washington Post, Associated Press