Vaccine Shortages: Protecting the Public's Health amid Strategic and Ethical Concerns

Program Notes

Vaccines are Unique

  • Biological products
  • Produced from living cells and organisms
  • Require growth
  • Each lot must be tested for purity/potency
  • Lengthy production time
  • Regulated differently than drugs
  • Safety paramount because recipients are healthy

Flu Vaccine Demand

  • 2002 - Insufficient demand Manufacturers discard 12 million doses
  • 2003 -Vaccine orders significantly down, indicating demand would be less

Persons at Increased Risk for Complications from Influenza

  • People 65 years and older
  • People 2-64 years with underlying chronic medical conditions
  • Pregnant women
  • Residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities
  • Children 6 months-18 years of age on chronic aspirin therapy
  • Children between 6 and 23 months

Monroe County Action Steps

  • Conducted provider survey - 80,000 doses short for high risk adults
  • Covered nursing homes, other congregate care facilities, and HIV and renal dialysis patients
  • Determined who had excess vaccine

Ethical Priorities

  • Withhold vaccine from non-high priority persons
  • Reserve doses for high priority persons who may not seek vaccine
  • Develop coordinated and consistent communication messages about who should be vaccinated

Stabilize Vaccine Supply

  1. 1. Increase number of manufacturers and capacity of existing manufacturers
    • Financial incentives
    • Streamline regulatory process
  2. Increase value public places on vaccines
    • healthcare workers vaccination
    • healthcare worker recommendation