40 Million Swine Flu Vaccines Written Off As Trash, USA
Thursday, July 1, 2010 at 04:31PM Editor's Note: H1N1 antigen prepared for the pandemic vaccine might not be destroyed. It can be converted to the seasonal flu products in an effort to save money according to FT.COM!
Approximately 40 million doses of swine flu vaccine, worth around US$260 million are to be burned. Jerry Weir, Vaccines Research and Review, FDA (Food and Drug Administration, USA) commented that by historical standards "It's a lot".
One quarter of USA's stocks of swine flu vaccine expired yesterday and will be burned, authorities inform. This is about four times as much as the leftover from seasonal flu vaccines, and is probably a record.
There is a good chance that over 43% of USA swine flu vaccine stocks will have gone to waste as future expiry dates loom.
Authorities say the purchase of such a huge stock of vaccines, in the face of a new virus was justified. When swine flu broke out many wondered whether it might develop into a new, deadly pandemic. Fortunately, swine flu turned out to kill considerably fewer people than normal seasonal flu.
In an interview with Associated Press, Bill Hall, US Dept of Health and Human Services (HSS) spokesperson said "Although there were many doses of vaccine that went unused, it was much more appropriate to have been prepared for the worst case scenario than to have had too few doses".
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http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c6a7e850-82d6-11df-b7ad-00144feabdc0.html
If the drug companies see disappointing sales ahead, they have one compensation: modest cost savings through the use of surplus bulk stocks of H1N1 antigen prepared for the pandemic vaccine they can divert into their seasonal flu products, and the expertise they have built in recent months to boost manufacturing efficiency.