Flu shots

[Marge]

I hope everybody is able to get their flu shots. Looks like the vaccine may be hard to get with the UK regulatory agency shutting down Chiron, which provides half the vaccine distributed in the US.

<<Flu vaccine licence is suspended

The UK government has suspended the manufacturing licence of major flu vaccine maker Chiron.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said the three month suspension would take place with immediate effect.

The suspension means the Oxford-based company, which makes Fluvirin, will not be able to supply flu vaccines to anyone, including the major US market.

There are concerns about the way the vaccine is manufactured.

The MHRA decision could have a particularly severe impact in the US, as Chiron is responsible for half of the flu vaccines distributed in the country.

In the UK doctors have been advised to prioritise the most vulnerable patients until supplies return to normal.

In August, Chiron announced that millions of flu vaccines made in Liverpool were contaminated, and delayed shipment to the US until October.

A company spokesman said extensive tests and safety checks had subsequently been carried out, and the company was confident that its products now met the highest standards.

He said the MHRA decision was unexpected, but he also said Chiron would immediately begin discussions to determine what further action was required to meet UK safety standards.

In a statement, the company said the MHRA suspension would mean that it would be unable to release any of its products during the 2004-05 flu season. [...]

Chiron makes a total of four flu vaccines: Agrippal, Begrivac, Fluad and Fluvirin.

The last of these is the number two flu vaccine in the US, which accounts for the majority of supplies, although 20% go to the UK and Europe.

Geoffrey Porges, a market analyst with US firm Bernstein & Co said: "The fact that the US will potentially only have 50m doses is a public health nightmare."

Vaccine makers do not have a lot of spare stock because they produce on demand. >>

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3717726.stm

 

[Eloise]

....call my cynical but I expected this.As it happened last year it didn't surprise me in the least. I will even "perdict" this will happen next year.

 

[Ross]

Anything to jack the price up huh?

 

[Eloise]

...wait...let me out-do myself in being cynical and paranoid...why are there only 2 companies that make this drug and why,so close to the election does this happen? And why was this problem discoverd now? Yep,I've out done myself...Why has it been re-iterated so often about how Americans will be effected? What about the French,Germans,Spanish and Australians,uhh...the rest of the planet?

 

[Karlynn]

...wait...let me out-do myself in being cynical and paranoid...why are there only 2 companies that make this drug and why,so close to the election does this happen?

I saw a segment on 20/20 a few months ago that addressed this issue. The main answer is one word - litigation. 20 years ago there were at least 2 dozen companies in the US that developed vaccines. Now there are 4. The insurance constraints were just too heavy a price to pay for most companies.

I think it's coincidence that it's before the election - flu shots in the fall, elections in the fall.

And by the way - good job being cynical and paranoid! But cynical and paranoind don't necessarily go hand in had with being wrong. At least that's what my cynical, paranoid husband tells me.

 

[csutherland]

I stopped by the pharmacy to pick up some meds today and they had a notice up that they wouldn't be having the flu shot clinic this year due to the above reason. That reminded me to call our dr. for an app't. I'm 62 and healthy and Jerry is 67. They checked our records and agreed to make Jerry an appointment due to his AVR and possibly some other issues he's had, but wouldn't schedule me.

They said to keep checking back.

That's our story.

 

[catwoman]

My husband was extremely luck -- he got his flu shot today at the community college he teaches at.
The newspaper I work for had scheduled a flu shot clinic 10/26. This has been an annual thing for years and years, free for employees. I got an online reminder today and 5 minutes later came a notice that the clinic was canceled. So I called my PCP, only to be told it won't have any vaccine this year. Remember seeing an ad for Kroger's in Sunday's paper, so I called, only to get a recording to call back after Nov. 1.

May just have to say a few prayers that I won't get the flu this year.

 

[Harrybaby666]

Hey Marsha,

Hey Marsha,

If you have other doctor's besides your PCP that you see, contact all of them, as I noticed that all of my doctor's have the flu shot clinics posted at their offices also, and I ended up calling all of them and got into the one at my pulmonologist's office. Just thought I would mention this, as I know how important the flu shot is....I hope this helps ya...Take Care, Harrybaby666

 

[breakingwaves]

Marge - Thanks

Marge - Thanks

for reminding me, I read this tonight and called my doctor's office and they set it up for me to receive mine at my next visit in a couple of weeks, hope they still have some. Thanks!

 

[Marguerite53]

ouch!

ouch!

So my husband got his flu shot at work. $5. I called my PCP and they won't be carrying any at all. Cardio's office, same thing. So, I looked on the internet and was able to get a schedule of locations by zip code. Ended up at a Walgreen's about 3 times farther than our closest, but the schedule fit mine and there wasn't even a line at 2:30 pm. They did have a checklist, but when I said I did fall under one of their categories, they just asked which one, heart disease, and they gave me my vaccine. $20.

The American Lung Association has a site. Hm. Guess I could get it for you all, hunh?? It's www.lungusa.org There's a box right in the middle of the page where you just put in a zip code and get a list with times and phone numbers and everything.

Hopefully this site can help some of you locate a clinic.

Marguerite

 

[LUVMyBirman]

Hi Marguriete,

Thank you so much for posting the link. Have an appointment with my PCP at the end of the month. Who knows if they will still have the vaccine by then??? I was really starting to fret. Went to your link. Entered my zip. Walgreens has it tomorrow afternoon. Thanks again!

 

[tobagotwo]

Thanks, Marguerite! I was just wondering about this. I have a whole list of places and dates now.

Thank you,

 

[KathyH]

After reading this, I am glad that I took the flu shot when the nurse at the anticoagulation clinic offered it to me today.
Kathy

 

[Harpoon]

Boy... Lots of conspiracy theorists out there today eh???


Anyways, the vaccine is made (in part) by growing live flu virus in chicken eggs. For some damn stupid reason the companies in question have shoddy facilities for said eggs and there's a fair amount of screw up in the manufacturing process. I guess the end vaccine isn't really effected much, just that they're production lines (and the use of live eggs and chickens) is in some way "sub-standard" and they can't get their act together.

Or so I've been lead to believe...


Our (U.S. anyways) Founding Fathers choose November for the elections LONG before there was a flu vaccine so I'm not really sure there's a connection there, at least not in that way. The lawsuit thing seems about right though.

It seems to me that certain medications or vaccinations that directly effect the public health and can be "routinely" in high demand during certain times of the year or during any "man-made" crisis should be manufactured, in part, under a seperate set of guidelines. Assign oversight to the FDA and/or but enact legislation that protects private companies from litigation resulting in the manufacture of said medications and/or vaccinations when such things are being produced under the direction of the FDA and/or CDC as a matter of maintaining the public health or for the purposes of national security.


Half the vaccine produced for a particular virus is made by one company. The other half, another company. What happens if you manage to suspend the operations of one or both companies during a time of great need (there are no antidotes for anthrax and a terrorist cell has exposed a major city/transportation hub to the disease while simultaneously blowing up the production plants for the only two facilities that produce the vaccine.)


That seems to me a risk to national security that needs to be addressed.

It's part of what free market society is all about, having choices, competition. If only one or two companies are making something that almost EVERYONE needs, it's a monopoly and that's not healthy for the country, or the world for that matter.


My shot is scheduled for Oct. 20th along with a general physical with my new primary physician... Will see if I get it...

 

[Ross]

Umm no, it's a plot that was well thought out to thin the population and cleanse the gene pool.

 

[Karlynn]

Thanks! Walgreens 1/4 mile from my house has it on the 12th of this month. Wonder what the line will be like?
Well, I can see the end of it from here, does that tell you anything?

 

[Abbanabba]

...wait...let me out-do myself in being cynical and paranoid...why are there only 2 companies that make this drug and why,so close to the election does this happen? And why was this problem discoverd now? Yep,I've out done myself...Why has it been re-iterated so often about how Americans will be effected? What about the French,Germans,Spanish and Australians,uhh...the rest of the planet?

Well, I don't know about Europe and the rest of the world, but down here we produce a lot of our own flu shots and won't be affected by the shortages. It's also heading into spring here, so the worst of winter is gone.

We're also lucky here that there is still a lot of free medical care availabe and most people who require the flu shot can get it for free - I think you need a valid "health care" or pensioner card, but I'm not 100% sure since I've never had one. I find that wearing gloves whenever I go out in winter really reduces my chances of contracting colds/flus; you're not touching things other people have touched after they've sneezed into their hands - like lift buttons and hand rails, etc.

I believe the shots only cover 3 or 4 strains anyway, so unless you catch the one you're vaccinated against, then they're really not much help (..or so I've been told by my GP..).

A : )

 

[Marge]

Eloise posts:

<< ..wait...let me out-do myself in being cynical and paranoid...why are there only 2 companies that make this drug and why,so close to the election does this happen? And why was this problem discoverd now? Yep,I've out done myself...Why has it been re-iterated so often about how Americans will be effected? What about the French,Germans,Spanish and Australians,uhh...the rest of the planet? >>

Eloise, I'm fairly cynical myself but I don't see how this factors into the American electoral situation at all. Which side could possibly think they would gain an advantage by engineering a flu vaccine shortage? And how would they rope the British regulatory agencies into the plot?

As for the question about the rest of the planet -- I can't answer re: specific countries, but the BBC story I linked indicates that it's not just the US that may have problems -- the World Health Organization is quite concerned about the impact in the rest of the world too:

<<The World Health Organization said the suspension could have a major impact elsewhere - particularly as the flu season is just beginning in the northern hemisphere.

Dr Klaus Stohr, the WHO's flu chief, said: "The implications may be significant. There could be a shortage.

"It may be resolvable but that would require a lot of adjustment on the part of the other companies." >>

My HMO, Kaiser Permanente, has scheduled its flu clinics starting October 20 -- I hope they get in sufficient supplies for the more vulnerable population, which at this point, unfortunately, includes ME.

 

[Ross]

Thanks! Walgreens 1/4 mile from my house has it on the 12th of this month. Wonder what the line will be like?
Well, I can see the end of it from here, does that tell you anything?

Well, I can see the end of it from here, does that tell you anything?

 

[Eloise]

...hmmmmmmm...thankyou,all,for leading me to believe I just may have over-reacted a weeeeeee little bit... What an interesting thread in any case!My lastest newest solution to the flu shot shortage is simple...I'm going to consume lots of chicken soup,orange juice and hebal tea's this winter.That might keep the flu at bay,if not...well...it's a healthy diet!