H1N1: availability of vaccines in the U.S., after delays

The number of vaccines against H1N1 influenza available in the United States is on the increase, said Tuesday a senior U.S. health officials, while shipments of doses still show delays.

"Although it is too difficult to get vaccines, they become much more available," said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the federal Centers for Control and Prevention (CDC).

"Today, we have 22.4 million doses of vaccine available," he said, predicting "at the end, there will be enough doses for those wishing to be vaccinated."

Last Wednesday, there were only 14 million doses available, he said.

Dr. Thomas Frieden has not been able to say whether the number of doses will reach 28 to 30 million at the end, as envisaged by the CDC two weeks ago. Initially the CDC had expected about 120 million doses in mid-October.

The gap between the availability of vaccines and public demand has led to serious frustration and long queues in front of vaccination centers.

"It is also likely that the very limited number of vaccines has been one of the reasons why some people wanted to be vaccinated," noted Dr. Frieden.

Insufficient production of vaccines is due to the slow growth of H1N1 strains in chicken eggs where they are grown. But pharmaceutical companies seem to have overcome these problems, according to health officials.

The United States has ordered a total of 195 million doses to five laboratories.

But according to the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci, only 140 or 150 million doses will be delivered to the end of the year.

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