On Wednesday, more than 40 million doses of Swine Flu vaccine expired. This is the largest amount of leftover flu vaccine in recent history that has to be destroyed. So what happened?
I am a big believer in vaccinations. My husband and I do our best to make sure that our family is vaccinated on time, and that includes the flu vaccination. In fact, as soon as it becomes available, generally in the early fall, I sign everyone up.
Last year, you know we had to deal with the new Swine Flu or H1N1, as it is more accurately known. At church and the office, we parents were swapping information on flu clinics that had the vaccine, along with our chances of actually getting it.
Clinics had long lines and long waiting lists. Online sign ups would fill their quotas within an hour or two. People who wanted the vaccine couldn’t get it. Now, on the other side of the epidemic, why are $260 million worth of the vaccines now being slated to be destroyed by fire?
There are a few reasons, reported today by AP news, although most people can probably figure out the reasons themselves if they think about it. The biggest reason is that the vaccine was very late at arriving for distribution. By the time it was readily available very late in the year, early the next, the major wave of the flu had already passed.
Another reason is that, thankfully, the Swine Flu did not turn out to be as deadly as was feared. There were actually 12,000 deaths, which is 12,000 more than we would like, but much less than were anticipated.
A third reason is that the World Health Organization just wasn’t sure at first how many doses would be needed to protect the average person. That turned out to be only one, with exceptions, such as for young children.
How ironic it is that while people October were scrambling to be vaccinated, even to the point of making up illness to be first in line, and now so much of the vaccine will be destroyed.