Flu doses could be limited again

Flu shots may be limited again next season to people with the greatest health risks if efforts to bolster the vaccine supply fail, U.S. health officials say.

Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says if there is another flu vaccine shortage, any restrictions on who can get a shot will be in place by the fall – when most people get vaccinated.

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will meet Thursday and Friday to make its annual recommendations about vaccine use for the next flu season.

The Food and Drug Administration is working with vaccine maker Chiron to resolve problems that led to the suspension in October of the company’s license to make flu shots at its plant in England. That meant Chiron could not deliver up to 48 million expected doses, precipitating a vaccine shortage in the United States. After Chiron’s suspension, only Aventis Pasteur, now Sanofi Pasteur, and MedImmune were licensed to sell flu vaccine in this country.

At least two companies, GlaxoSmithKline and ID Biomedical, hope to be licensed in the next few months to sell their flu vaccines in the United States.