100 million doses of flu vaccine this year, U.S. says

By Maggie Fox

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 100 million doses of influenza vaccine, the largest number ever shipped, will be available for the U.S. market this flu season, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday.

"Manufacturers have already begun to ship this season's influenza vaccine, with almost of all of the vaccine expected to be shipped and distributed in October and November," the CDC said on a statement.

Past flu seasons have been troubled by shortages of flu vaccine, the CDC said. Supply and distribution are often uneven, resulting in long lines in places.

"As we've learned in the past few years, there is always some uncertainty regarding influenza vaccine supplies and distribution," CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding said in a statement. "It's often very difficult to predict how much vaccine will be distributed and when, or exactly when influenza vaccine will be available for those who provide it."

The 100 million dose estimate is 17 million more doses of influenza vaccine than has ever been distributed in the past, the CDC said. The previous high was 83.1 million doses in 2003. Last year 81.2 million doses were distributed.

The CDC said manufacturers had predicted that 75 million doses would be distributed by the end of October.

The CDC recommends that 200 million Americans get flu shots every year to protect themselves from a virus that kills 36,000 people in an average year and puts more than 200,000 into the hospital. The elderly and children are often the hardest hit.

But in reality fewer than 100 million ever get the shots, even when they are available.

The CDC and other U.S. government agencies have been working to get Americans to get their flu shots, but only a few companies make flu vaccines and the manufacturing process is old-fashioned and uncertain.

World health officials are trying to encourage more companies to make flu shots and to modernize their processes, and cite the H5N1 bird flu as one reason why. Avian influenza does not yet easily infect people but experts fear it could mutate into a form that does, causing a pandemic that would kill millions.

Using current technology it would be months before a vaccine against a new pandemic flu could be formulated. But health experts believe if more people got annual flu shots, it would encourage companies to make more vaccine and upgrade their methods so they could move quickly against a pandemic strain.