hafeezanwar
Junior Member
Swine flu vaccine may be months away: Experts
Federal officials said it would take until January, or late November at the earliest, to make enough vaccine to protect all Americans from a possible epidemic of swine flu.
And beyond the US and a few other countries that also make vaccines, some experts said it could take years to produce enough swine flu vaccine to satisfy global demand.
Producing swine flu vaccine might interfere with production of the seasonal flu vaccine for next winter. "We would have to most likely make a compromise," said Andrin Oswald, chief executive of the vaccine division at the drug maker Novartis.
But Robin Robinson, who runs the emergency preparation research program for Department of Health and Human Services, said most firms would have finished producing the bulk of seasonal vaccine by June. If production of swine flu vaccine were to start after that, the first 50 million to 80 million doses would be available by September, Robinson said.
--Agencies
Federal officials said it would take until January, or late November at the earliest, to make enough vaccine to protect all Americans from a possible epidemic of swine flu.
And beyond the US and a few other countries that also make vaccines, some experts said it could take years to produce enough swine flu vaccine to satisfy global demand.
Producing swine flu vaccine might interfere with production of the seasonal flu vaccine for next winter. "We would have to most likely make a compromise," said Andrin Oswald, chief executive of the vaccine division at the drug maker Novartis.
But Robin Robinson, who runs the emergency preparation research program for Department of Health and Human Services, said most firms would have finished producing the bulk of seasonal vaccine by June. If production of swine flu vaccine were to start after that, the first 50 million to 80 million doses would be available by September, Robinson said.
--Agencies