SALT LAKE CITY — About 2,800 child doses of H1N1 vaccine that were less potent than they should have been were distributed to 10 of 12 local health departments in Utah, but health officials say there is no reason for children who received it to be revaccinated.
Tom Hudachko, spokesman for the Utah Department of Health, said the doses were part of a recall of some 800,000 doses produced by vaccine manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur and distributed nationwide.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a voluntary recall of the vaccine Tuesday, though officials emphasized there are "no safety concerns" about the doses.
The Salt Lake Valley Health Department's less-potent doses have been distributed through private health providers, Hudachko said. In some areas of the state, the vaccine was administered by local health officials; in other districts, it was administered through private health providers. State health officials were able to trace the vaccine that came to Utah and found it had been distributed to 10 of 12 local health districts. The Tri-County and Wasatch health departments are the only areas of the state that did not receive some of the less-potent doses, but there is no plan to track down people who received them, he said.
"We were able to track them by lot number, but what we're not able to do is figure out how many of those have been administered," Hudachko said.
Because it's not a safety issue, "it's just too difficult to determine that," he said.
"If we needed to revaccinate people or it was a safety issue, we would take those steps," Hudachko said. "But it's not."
"The CDC has said that even if children got two (vaccinations, which are encouraged) from this same lot, they would still be OK," in terms of being protected from the virus, he said.
Still, health officials want to get the less-potent vaccine off provider shelves. "A few of those seem to be weakening over time," Hudachko said. "It's not too uncommon with any vaccine that you see a few where the strength dips below minimum requirements. This isn't too much below that. There's still enough (punch) to provide an immune response." Hudachko said both the CDC and the FDA "conduct potency, purity and safety tests on all vaccine before it leaves manufacturer lots, and this vaccine passed all those tests." Even after the approved vaccine leaves the manufacturer, some doses are held back and continue to be tested for potency, he said.The doses were contained in pre-filled syringes for young children, ages 6 months to nearly 3 years, and two doses are supposed to be given, spaced about a month apart.
Dr. Anne Schuchat, a CDC flu expert, stressed that parents don't need to do anything or to worry if their child got one — or even two — of the recalled shots. The vaccine is safe and effective, she said.
"That's the $64,000 question," said Len Lavenda, a Sanofi Pasteur spokesman. Why the potency dropped isn't clear."
e-mail: carrie@desnews.com. Contributing: Associated Press