Flu-Shot Shortage

With the flu season nearly upon us, health officials announced Tuesday that the country’s vaccine supply has been suddenly  cut in half, after the British plant slated to provide the United States with 46 million doses of the vaccine was closed down due to contamination concerns. Health officials have asked healthy adults to delay or forgo flu shots altogether, so remaining stocks of vaccine will be available for infants, the elderly, and others for whom the flu poses a greater health risk. Why can’t a U.S. supplier simply step up production and produce more? Last year, Ed Finn explained the time-consuming process required to manufacture the annual supply of flu vaccine.