U.S saying no to Adjuvants.... lucky you guys

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VaccinationAwareness
November 09, 2009

http://www.pbs.org/newshour... U.S. health officials are dealing with shortages and production delays of H1N1 vaccine, but stand by the choice not to opt for vaccine boosters, called adjuvants, th...

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/h...

U.S. health officials are dealing with shortages and production delays of H1N1 vaccine, but stand by the choice not to opt for vaccine boosters, called adjuvants, that could stretch supply of H1N1 vaccine, but are not licensed in the United States.

As of Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there are 38 million doses of H1N1 vaccine available, far short of the 159 million needed to cover people who fall into the highest risk groups, such as pregnant women and children.

Bruce Gellin, director for the National Vaccine Program office at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, called the situation "frustrating" for both patients and local health departments trying to make and keep distribution plans.

"We know the vaccine is safe and effective and we wish we had more of it now," said Gellin. "There is more coming, but it's not coming as quickly as we would like."

Gellin said manufacturers have continued to tinker with the efficiency of the production of the H1N1 vaccine, making improvements to the yield, but that global influenza vaccine capacity is largely fixed, due to the number of facilities and the time-tested, but time-intensive, process of growing vaccine virus in eggs.

However, one tool for stretching vaccine supply, called adjuvants, has not been employed by the United States in this pandemic. Adjuvants are enhancers that help boost the immune response to a vaccine, allowing less antigen to be used for each dose and more doses to be distributed.

Many countries in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, as well as Canada have primarily placed orders for adjuvanted versions of H1N1 vaccine, according to Marie-Paule Kieny, director of the Initiative for Vaccine Research at the World Health Organization.

"WHO encourages the use of adjuvanted vaccine because it will help to stretch the global supply," said Kieny, who emphasized that all safety reports for the adjuvanted H1N1 vaccine have been positive. "There doesn't seem to be --in terms of safety -- a difference."

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