Flu vaccine shortages as demand increases

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If anyone is dumb enough to believe this, I still have that bridge in Brooklyn going cheap...Flu vaccine shortages as demand increasesTENS

of thousands of Australians have been unable to get flu shots as a

shortage of the seasonal flu vaccine delays vaccination programs across

the country.A number of companies that provide workplace

vaccination programs have been forced to suspend them after difficulty

obtaining the vaccine.There had been "unprecedented demand" for

the vaccine this year, said Greg Caleo, managing director of Calastica,

a workplace health provider.His company had been forced to cancel 30,000 injections that were scheduled for this month.About

10,000 Medibank Health Solutions customers had their vaccinations moved

to a later date, a spokeswoman said, and a number of other smaller

companies told the Herald they had been forced to cancel or delay their programs.While

the increased popularity of the vaccine may be partly to blame for the

delay, there have also been problems getting enough vaccine into the

country.One of the three main companies that sell the vaccine,

Sanofi Pasteur, has been unable to distribute its supplies on time

because of delays in the production of swine flu vaccine and disruption

caused by the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano.Brent

MacGregor, the general manager of Sanofi Pasteur, said Sanofi had

prioritised supplying its existing stocks to high-risk patients.A spokeswoman for CSL said the company had filled its orders but was producing more vaccine because of increased demand.Alan

Hampson, the chairman of the Influenza Specialist Group in Australia,

said there had been delays importing enough flu vaccine in times of

peak demand."It does seem as if there is a higher patient awareness of influenza at the moment, and that is a good thing," he said.

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