Faced with mounting influenza outbreaks and reports of vaccine shortages, the federal Centers for Disease Control said it is moving to get vaccine to areas where it is most needed.
The effort to redistribute the immunization agent was announced Thursday as the CDC reported 35 states with outbreaks of influenza-A - the type of flu usually associated with high mortality.The health agency said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, drug companies and the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association were participating in the plan to redistribute vaccine from areas of surplus to areas reporting a shortage.
"We're seeing the earliest outbreaks of influenza in many, many years," said Dr. Joanna Buffington, a CDC epidemiologist. "This early arrival and subsequent media coverage of that has gotten people aware the flu is around and there has been a response to that."
She said vaccine manufacturers were getting reports of shortages around the country and were using their sales people to pinpoint areas of ample vaccine stocks, with a view toward shipping some of the surplus to areas of shorgage.
Manufacturers produced 32 million doses of vaccine for the current flu season, compared with 24 million doses last year, a 12.7 percent increase.