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Pandemic Shot May Be Available as Early as September
bloomberg.com
A swine flu vaccine may be ready as soon as September, earlier than the mid-October estimate previously reported, with 40 million doses available for distribution first and 80 million more shots ready in October, U.S. health officials said.
Yields of antigen, the key vaccine ingredient, have increased and that should ease pressure on vaccine manufacturers, said Robin Robinson, chief of the Biomedical Advanced Research Development Authority, the U.S. agency in charge of buying the vaccine. Vaccine makers previously reported antigen yields 50 percent to 75 percent less than that of the typical seasonal flu shot.
About 182 million doses have been purchased by the U.S., and 20 million doses of antigen have already been produced, Robinson told doctors and scientists at a vaccine meeting at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta today. Tests to determine safety and proper dosage are continuing.
?We?re starting to see for the first time increases in production yields -- we?re able to get a virus that grows well in eggs,? Robinson said at the CDC. ?We want to be prepared for the worst-case scenario.?
Some members of the CDC?s vaccine panel said that even if the shots were available in September or early October, testing wouldn?t be completed until the end of September, making it difficult to make recommendations for early distribution.
bloomberg.com