Oct 1, 2009 4:10 pm US/Eastern
Swine Flu Vaccine Begins On Tuesday In Some States
The 1st 600,000 Doses Available Will All Be Nasal Spray
However The Seasonal Flu Vaccine May Not Be So Readily Available
WASHINGTON (CBS) ―
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The largest U.S. supplier of seasonal flu vaccines says it's running behind on shipping vaccine for the regular, seasonal flu. (File)
WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Images
Twenty-five cities and states have ordered swine flu vaccine, and the first doses should be administered Tuesday, officials said Thursday.
An estimated 6 to 7 million doses of vaccine should be out next week, and they should include both shots and the nasal spray form of the vaccine. But the first 600,000 doses available Tuesday will all be nasal spray, said officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More than 60 states, large cities and territories will be placing swine flu vaccine orders, so nearly half have their orders in and more are placing them this week, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, who heads the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
The states that have placed orders include Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., are also on the list.
At a press conference Thursday, Schuchat also said about 300,000 pediatric, liquid doses of the antiviral drug Tamiflu have been released from a national medicine stockpile to address a shortage. U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius approved the release Wednesday.
The CDC doesn't have an exact count of swine flu deaths and hospitalizations, but existing reports suggest the infection has caused more than 600 deaths and more than 9,000 hospitalizations since the virus was first identified in April.
The government keeps more careful count of deaths of pregnant women and children attributed to swine flu. The CDC is aware of 28 deaths of pregnant women and about 50 of children.
Meanwhile, the regular flu vaccine may not be readily available. The biggest manufacturers of seasonal flu vaccines in the U.S. are delaying or reducing the number of doses shipped to U.S. -- partly because of the crunch to produce millions of doses of the swine flu vaccine.
The pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur says it has shipped more than
half of the 50 million doses of seasonal flu vaccine order by U.S.
health care providers. But the French company has sent notices to
customers indicating that additional doses may be delayed, reports
CBS station WFOR-TV.
Company spokeswoman Donna Cary said it could be November before some customers get the rest of their orders.
"We understand it does create an inconvenience for some people who
wanted to hold their seasonal influenza campaigns earlier," Cary said.
"We apologize for that, but we're doing every thing we can."
Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline however say their shipments are on schedule. But they've told customers they may get about 10 percent less than originally ordered.
Some delays have caused doctors to turn away parents seeking seasonal flu vaccines for their infants and toddlers. Other public health offices have canceled vaccination clinics.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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