Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Destroying Flu Vaccine

Can you believe that they are going to dump millions of doses of flu vaccine because it will expire at midnight June 30, 2007? Actually it is still perfectly good and could possibly be useful for a few more years, but it will wind up being destroyed because it went unsold during this year's mild flu season. What a horrible waste of money. This is done yearly to make sure Americans always get the most up-to-date vaccine every year. But this year, the leftovers, more than 10 million doses, which is a record, will be destroyed before a new supply is guaranteed. How about donating the leftovers to poor countries or pushing back the expiration date. Doctors could keep it on hand until the new doses come in. Wasted vaccine means lost money for drug companies and one stopped making flu shots because of it. That is what set the stage for the shortage of 2004. If there is none available in the summer, people going to countries who are in the flu season, aren't able to get a shot before they go there. There are alot of other good ideas about keeping the vaccine around since it doesn't expire on June 30 and it is thought these ideas should be discussed seriously and perhaps some changes made. What do you think?

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