The FDA has signed off on the flu vaccines to be made for the upcoming season by GlaxoSmithKline, Chiron, MedImmune and Sanofi-Pasteur. Those four manufacturers are intended to supply 100 million doses of vaccine to the U.S. market, which is expected to be enough to satisfy demand. Federal officials have been working hard to try to even out the kinks in the supply of flu vaccines to the country, working to prevent the kind of supply snafus that have snarled treatment programs over recent years. But in a country of 300 million people, experts also note that they never see enough vaccine to satisfy the country's full needs. Given the limited shelf life of vaccines, though, manufacturers are reluctant to manufacture more than they can sell, leading to the balancing act that is undertaken each year.
- check out the report on flu vaccines from The New York Times