Flu vaccine fiasco

[Guest guest]

From a Peds upset about trying to order ful vaccine for 06-07.

(his comments in the Sanofi website article in CAPS)

Has anyone else felt a bit, um, frustrated with Sanofi Pasteur this week?

After multiple attempts to get thru Tuesday to order flu vaccine for 06-07,

we reached our field rep Wed. AM. Told us, " Fine, no problem - I'll take

your order. " What she did was file a spreadsheet report with our " request "

for the home office, along with millions of other requests nationally. No

confirmation by Thursday, no phone calls returned. I called Friday AM -

reach Laurie Mc at Sanofi ( " the manager " I was told) - " Sorry, no

order placed, we sold out on Tuesday. " Sold out? Like the Stones? Yup -

and she'll have to see what happened to our rep. So, without waiting - I

did - she now says, oh, it's just a report, haven't heard - unlikely to get

anything at this point. All orders after Tuesday probably not getting

filled.

Now, this, from 2/1/06 on Sanofi's web site:

http://www.vaccineshoppe.com/secure/index.cfm?FA=FluSeasonInfo

Sanofi pasteur Experiences Unprecedented U.S. Demand for Influenza

Vaccine for 2006-2007 Influenza Season

" Swiftwater, PA - February 1, 2006 - Recognizing Sanofi Pasteur Inc. as a

reliable supplier of influenza vaccine, immunization providers contacted the

company in record numbers yesterday requesting Fluzone., Influenza Virus

Vaccine for the 2006-2007 season. During the first 30 minutes of accepting

prebooking requests, the company received over 40,000 phone calls and more

than 200,000 calls came in during the first eight hours.

As a result of the unprecedented demand, the company has committed all

influenza vaccine doses planned for production for the next season except

its no preservative Fluzone vaccine in pediatric doses.

(MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THIS IS INCORRECT - IT SOLD OUT FIRST).

Sanofi pasteur anticipated a surge in demand for its influenza vaccine and

doubled the capacity of its

phone lines and on-line ordering systems. Under normal conditions, the

company receives an average

of 1,500 customer calls per day. During the eight-hour period from noon to 8

PM yesterday, the

company received as many calls as it normally receives in a six-month

period.

The company plans to produce approximately 50 million doses of all Fluzone

vaccine formulations for

U.S. distribution by the end of October. Additional doses could be produced

for delivery in November or

December based on customer needs and production yields. To determine

customer need, sanofi

pasteur established a waiting list of customers who were unable to prebook

and will contact those

providers to offer the alternative of accepting later delivery. Customers

willing to accept later delivery will

have the option to cancel their request later in the year if they are able

to obtain earlier delivery from

another supplier. At this time, the company is no longer accepting

additional customers on the waiting

list.

The company is currently unable to supply the entire U.S. influenza vaccine

market. However, based on

public statements made by other influenza vaccine manufacturers, the company

anticipates that there

will be an adequate supply of vaccine to meet the nation9s needs for the

2006-2007 season. Sanofi

pasteur is sending apologies to its customers for the frustration they

experienced in attempting to place

their requests. Immunization providers who were unable to prebook their

vaccine with sanofi pasteur will

likely be able to look to other manufacturers to meet their vaccine needs.

(THAT9S THEIR PLAN?????????)

I'm trying to alert the media to look into this, since Sanofi's been so

unresponsive and disorganized. I hope you all had more success than me.

Pediatrician........

--------------------------------------------------------

Sheri Nakken, R.N., MA, Hahnemannian Homeopath

Vaccination Information & Choice Network, Nevada City CA & Wales UK

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