If you have MM, I hope you were able to get your flu shot this year. I got mine about 3 weeks ago. I wasn’t aware of the shortage when I asked for the shot at the office of my primary care physician. Some of the medical facilities in town never got any supply at all this year.
Why is there a shortage? Problems with the sterility of the manufacturing process meant the vaccines produced could not be released for shipment, according to CNN. Should there be a shortage? Some would argue that frivilous lawsuits have frightened more manufacturers away from the business of producing flu and other vaccines.
As a part of my treatment for MM, I was told to get annual flu vaccines and a pneumonia vaccine every five years.
The cause of the vaccine shortage is a simple lack of foresight and planning by our public health authorities. Pharmaceutical companies don’t manufacture vaccines because the price is low and the potential liability issues are high. It’s much better for them to put their money into things like Zometa (see Beth’s blog entry above; Zometa costs about $1800.00 for a four milligram dose while flu vaccine costs about $12.00 on a good day.)
Broadcasters are licensed to serve the public interest and can, in theory, lose their licenses if they don’t. Pharmaceutical manufacturers need to be licensed and regulated in a similar way. The price of being the most profitable industry in the world needs to be a commitment to the public interest.