USA Today Examines Ways To Prevent Future Flu Vaccine Shortage
USA Today on Tuesday examined suggestions from experts in the public health, industry, government and academic sectors on how to strengthen the national flu vaccine supply to prevent shortages such as the one affecting the United States this season. USA Today reports that there are "ominous signs that the world is on the verge of a global flu pandemic" as new strains of the virus are emerging. According to USA Today, experts suggest:- Increasing public demand for vaccine: Many U.S. residents are not concerned about the flu virus because it is common and anticipated every year, making the disease "less compelling than one which is catastrophic, which kills lots of people at once in one place," according to David Ropeik, director of risk communication at the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis. In addition, physicians "may have little financial incentive to promote flu vaccine" because they are currently reimbursed $8 by Medicare for providing the vaccination, USA Today reports. Currently, fewer than half of people in high-risk categories who CDC recommends receive the flu vaccine are inoculated. Moreover, only 36% of health care workers -- "the first line of defense in an outbreak" -- receive the vaccine annually, USA Today reports. Len Lavenda of Aventis Pasteur notes that the company typically discards 15% of flu vaccine annually, adding that a manufacturer must decide how much vaccine to produce each year without knowing how many people will demand the vaccine and how severe the flu season will be.
- Providing incentives for vaccine production: According to USA Today, "Vaccines have to be profitable enough for businesses to want to make them, even if some have to be tossed out every year." The CDC's Vaccine for Children Program currently purchases flu vaccine at a low price because of its negotiating power; however, such low prices have deterred many manufacturers from producing vaccine. The entire U.S. flu vaccine supply before this season was manufactured by two companies. Experts suggest creating tax credits for new or expanded vaccine manufacturing facilities; providing liability protection and government subsidies "that would pay bonuses to companies for every flu shot that finds its way to a citizen"; guaranteeing the purchase of flu vaccine; and creating a single international manufacturing license standard, which would allow for easier importation of vaccine in the event of a shortage, USA Today reports.
- Encouraging research: Some experts say that the government should encourage flu vaccine production by funding research and clinical trials to test new vaccine technology and medications. In addition, the government should fund research into studying the flu virus, "how it mutates and reproduces and what makes one strain more dangerous than another," according to National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci. Such research also should examine how existing vaccine should be administered most efficiently and identify more expeditious ways to diagnose the virus (Manning, USA Today, 12/14).
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