RECOMMENDATIONS:
What are the CDC and JCAHO recommendations for the administration of flu vaccine to healthcare personnel?
- NEW! 2007-2008 CDC/ACIP guidelines:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/rr/rr5606.pdf
- Please see the attached CDC/ACIP guidelines:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/rr/rr5502.pdf
- The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) recently released its 2007 National Patient Safety Goals and a new standard aimed at ensuring more healthcare workers receive the annual influenza vaccine.
» How much influenza vaccine is projected to be available for the 2007-08 influenza season?
» Can I still order influenza vaccine for the 2007-08 season?
» What is "proportional distribution?"
» Shouldn’t all vaccination be done in medical care facilities like doctors’ offices, hospitals and community clinics?
» Why doesn’t the CDC just stockpile flu vaccine?
» Why do we continue to experience disruptions to the influenza vaccine supply?
» How can communications about influenza vaccine supply and distribution be improved?
» Is there an end in sight to the supply disruptions we’ve experienced in the past two years?
» Why doesn’t CDC recommend that all persons in the U.S. receive influenza vaccine annually? Why is demand for flu shots increasing?
Questions & Answers
Current Supply
How much influenza vaccine is projected to be available for the 2007-08 influenza season?
Influenza vaccine manufacturers and the CDC are currently projecting that up to 132 million doses of influenza vaccine will be available in the United States for use during the 2007-08 influenza season.
Can I still order influenza vaccine for the 2007-08 season?
Yes. However, much of the influenza vaccine supply is pre-booked early in the year. The totality of supply will not be fully known until all vaccine lots are manufactured, approved, and distributed. Providers should contact distributors and/or local vendors about supply.
LINK TO LIST OF DISTRIBUTORS >>
Questions & Answers
Influenza Vaccine Production and Distribution
What is "proportional distribution?"
The CDC recommends that proportional distribution is only used when a shortage or delay in the vaccine supply occurs to ensure that high-risk populations receive priority access to vaccine. In the event of any future vaccine shortages or delays, suppliers will distribute a corresponding ‘proportion’ of their total received supply to the broadest possible provider base.
Shouldn’t all vaccination be done in medical care facilities like doctors’ offices, hospitals and community clinics?
More flu shots are given in the doctor’s office (approximately 39%) than any other single setting. The second highest setting for a flu shot is the workplace (17%). For some patients, convenience does play a role in the decision to get a flu shot. Approximately 86 million flu shots were administered in 2005.
With a U.S. population of approximately 300 million, and with the CDC currently recommending that flu shots be given to more than 100 million Americans, widely available flu vaccine is essential. Workplace or retail centers offer access and convenience, removing real or perceived barriers that may prevent some patients from getting their flu shot.
Why doesn’t the CDC just stockpile flu vaccine?
A stockpile developed early in the season would remove doses from circulation during the most critical and optimal period for vaccine administration and when demand is the highest.
Also, because flu strains change each year, the vaccine is only good for the flu season for which it’s produced. Leftover supplies of flu vaccine are destroyed.
Why do we continue to experience disruptions to the influenza vaccine supply?
Flu vaccine is made using a sensitive manufacturing process and there are just four manufacturers producing for the U.S. market. The vaccine contains multiple strains of vaccine and each strain is grown in millions of chicken eggs. Then the strains are combined into a single vaccine, must pass manufacturing efficacy testing and must be certified by the FDA before being released for sale.
The four manufacturers producing for the U.S. market must run their facilities at maximum capacity to meet the U.S. demand. Production problems at any one of the companies can have substantial impact on supply and/or the timing of its delivery. Moreover, recent increases in demand for influenza vaccine have coincided with departures of several manufacturers from the market.
To counter this, manufacturers are expanding or adding new production facilities and distributors are making new commitments to distribute larger amounts of vaccine. Also the federal government has provided substantial research grants to develop synthetic vaccine.
How can communications about influenza vaccine supply and distribution be improved?
The CDC is collecting, and will disseminate, data that will give all flu vaccine stakeholders more transparency into the totality of the process. In addition, increased cooperation between the major manufacturers and distributors is occurring.
All flu vaccine stakeholders should have more information on the progress in manufacturing the vaccine; projections of total production; methods of pre-booking vaccine and determining how it is divided between various categories of providers; and the timing of vaccine distribution.
Is there an end in sight to the supply disruptions we’ve experienced in the past two years?
Yes. Manufacturing capacity is being expanded through plant expansion and new manufacturers entering the U.S. market. The four companies currently licensed to produce influenza vaccine in the U.S. market (, Inc., MedImmune Vaccines Inc., Novartis Vaccine, and GlaxoSmithKline, Inc.) are expanding their manufacturing capacity. This year, a record amount of flu vaccine will be produced.
Why doesn’t CDC recommend that all persons in the U.S. receive influenza vaccine annually? Why is demand for flu shots increasing?
At present, the ACIP recommends that 218 million of the 300 million U.S. population receive influenza vaccine annually. For the 2006-07 season, the ACIP has added to its recommendations all children ages 24-59 months (an additional 7.1 million) and their household contacts and caregivers (about 11.4 million more). The existing vaccine production capacity cannot support a universal vaccination recommendation.
Nevertheless, all four of the U.S.-licensed manufacturers have expansion plans and three others have announced their intention to seek U.S. licensure either this year or next. As production capacity increases, the ACIP can add to its recommendations. The committee has indicated its intent to move toward a universal influenza vaccination recommendation.
Find a flu vaccine distributor
Flu Vaccine Production Process
Graphic content derived from January 2006 CDC/AMA Flu Summit presentation
2006-2007 Flu Vaccine Distribution Overview
NEW! CDC 2007-2008 Influenza Vaccine Production and Distribution Vodcast
