70 million doses likely available for flu season

At least 70 million doses of influenza vaccine will be available for the 2005-06 flu season in the U.S., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Julie Gerberding said.

Chiron Corp., the flu-vaccine maker that caused a U.S. shortage last year when it was forced to close a plant, will ship fewer doses than officials expected, Gerberding said Monday on a conference call with reporters. Chiron said on Oct. 17 that it will make less than the 18 million to 26 million doses of Fluvirin vaccine it planned to produce. The estimate of 70 million shots doesn't include the Chiron doses, Gerberding said.

U.S. health officials are trying to encourage people to get flu shots this year after the shortage last year cut the number of expected doses in half. Last month, the Medicare health- insurance program for the elderly raised reimbursements for flu shots. Seasonal flu kills an average of 36,000 people every year and sends 200,000 to hospitals, Gerberding said.

"Our nation has been recently focused on avian or bird flu and the threat it poses for a worldwide pandemic," Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said. "Today I want to focus on something that confronts all of us, right now, and that's the seasonal flu."

In addition to Chiron's Fluvirin vaccine, Sanofi-Aventis SA plans to deliver 60 million doses of Fluzone; MedImmune Inc., based in Gaithersburg, Maryland, plans to release 3 million doses of its FluMist nasal-spray vaccine; GlaxoSmithKline Plc, based in London, is preparing 8 million doses of its Fluarix shots.

All four manufacturers are shipping vaccine, and anyone who wants a shot should contact a doctor or pharmacy.

Chiron already has shipped two million doses of flu vaccine, Gerberding said. Delays for resolving manufacturing issues cut planned production this year, the Emeryville, California-based company said Oct. 17.

The CDC, based in Atlanta, recommends flu vaccine for categories that cover about 190 million Americans, or about two- thirds of the U.S. population. Age and disease can raise vulnerability to complications such as pneumonia.

Four prescription drugs for fighting the seasonal flu virus, including Roche Holding AG's Tamiflu and GlaxoSmithKline Plc's Relenza, are also available, U.S. officials said. The Food and Drug Administration said Monday it is trying to prevent counterfeiting of Tamiflu, which is also a potential therapy for avian flu in people.

"In our conversations with Roche, it has become clear that it will not be universally accessible," Leavitt said. "There will be times when it's out of stock. We've come to have some concern about threat of counterfeiting."