Vaccines

Weekly update

22 January 2010 -- As of 17 January 2010, worldwide more than 209 countries and overseas territories or communities have reported laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009, including at least 14142 deaths.

WHO is actively monitoring the progress of the pandemic through frequent consultations with the WHO Regional Offices and member states and through monitoring of multiple sources of information.
Situation update:    » read more »

Weekly update

15 January 2010 -- As of 10 January 2010, worldwide more than 208 countries and overseas territories or communities have reported laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1 2009, including at least 13554 deaths.

WHO is actively monitoring the progress of the pandemic through frequent consultations with the WHO Regional Offices and member states and through monitoring of multiple sources of information.
Situation update:

The most intense areas of pandemic influenza virus transmission currently are in parts of North Africa, South Asia, and east and southeastern Europe.    » read more »

National, state, and local events will encourage more Americans to get vaccinated against the 2009 H1N1 flu

January 8, 2010 -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced a nationwide effort to encourage more Americans to get the H1N1 flu vaccine during National Influenza Vaccination Week, January 10–16, 2010.

“This is a challenging flu season for millions of Americans and their families, and it’s not over yet,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “The H1N1 vaccine is safe, effective and the best way to prevent the flu. We urge all Americans to protect themselves and their families by getting the H1N1 flu vaccine.”    » read more »

More Than 900,000 doses of vaccine have been shipped to state

December 16, 2009 -- Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell announced today that the state has now received enough H1N1 vaccine to make it available to anyone in Connecticut who would like to be vaccinated against the H1N1 flu.

More than 900,000 doses of the H1N1 vaccine have been distributed in Connecticut to doctors, local health departments and other providers who pre-registered with the Department of Public Health. High priority groups, such as pregnant women, young children, medical personnel and first responders, received the vaccine first.    » read more »

December 15, 2009 -- After learning that 800,000 H1N1 vaccines for children have been recalled, Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) wrote to the manufacturer of the vaccines, Sanofi-Aventis, demanding answers on how this happened and what the manufacturer is doing to replace the recalled doses and meet demand for children’s vaccines. Dodd also intends to write to the Secretary of Health and Human Services to get answers on how this recall will impact Connecticut families.    » read more »

First prequalification for an H1N1 pandemic vaccine

December 1, 2009, London UK -- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) today announced that the World Health Organization (WHO) has awarded prequalification for global use of Arepanrix™, GSK’s adjuvanted H1N1 pandemic vaccine manufactured in Canada. This is the first prequalification for an H1N1 pandemic vaccine, and is a key step in ensuring the vaccine can be distributed to developing countries.

The WHO prequalification project is a service provided by the WHO to facilitate access to medicines that meet unified standards of quality and safety.    » read more »

Free Medications Targeted to Uninsured, Underinsured

November 30, 2009 -- New York Governor David A. Paterson today announced that New York State, in partnership with pharmacies, is making antiviral medications available to New Yorkers who need the medications to combat the H1N1 flu but lack prescription health insurance or the ability to pay.    » read more »

Pandemrix™ data on co-administration with annual seasonal influenza vaccine (Fluarix®)

09 November 2009, London UK -- GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) today announced the results from the clinical trial assessing Pandemrix™, GSK’s adjuvanted H1N1 pandemic influenza vaccine, administered at the same time as the annual seasonal influenza vaccine, Fluarix ® . The trial showed that co-administration of one dose of both vaccines in separate arms, induced a strong response in adults for both the H1N1 pandemic vaccine as well as the seasonal vaccine. The trial involves 168 adults aged over 60 years of age, and was designed to evaluate the tolerability and immunogenicity of the co-administration of Pandemrix and Fluarix.    » read more »

Approval marks an important milestone in the process of replacing 50 year-old egg-based flu vaccine production with modern biotechnology

November 05, 2009 -- Basel, November 5, 2009 - Novartis announced today that it received approval from the German regulatory authorities for its adjuvanted cell culture-based Influenza A(H1N1) 2009 monovalent vaccine, Celtura®. Novartis continues to pursue registration in other major countries, including Japan and Switzerland.    » read more »

November 2, 2009 -- Q. When will the 2009 H1N1 vaccine be widely available in my community?

All states and the District of Columbia have placed orders for vaccine, and more orders are expected daily. Orders are coming in throughout the day; they're being processed and shipped, and vaccine is arriving in thousands of places across the country.

The vaccine situation changes rapidly and we are slowly seeing the gap between supply and demand begin to close. Because the vaccine distribution system varies by state, the vaccine situation on the ground may differ from community to community.    » read more »

November 2, 2009 -- Healthy pregnant women mount a robust immune response following just one dose of 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine, according to initial results from an ongoing clinical trial sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health.

“For pregnant women, who are among the most vulnerable to serious health problems from 2009 H1N1 infection, these initial results are very reassuring,” says NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. “The immune responses seen in these healthy pregnant women are comparable to those seen in healthy adults at the same time point after a single vaccination, and the vaccine has been well tolerated.”    » read more »

WASHINGTON, Nov. 3, 2009 – Like protective equipment issued to troops downrange, the H1N1 flu vaccine is a measure the Defense Department is taking to safeguard U.S. military forces, a defense official said today.

“We use other treatment modalities to protect people in the same way we use body armor to protect against other threats,” said Ellen P. Embrey, acting assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.

“The H1N1 vaccine was purchased specifically for our uniformed servicemembers so they could continue to perform their mission anywhere on the globe,” she continued. “And during a pandemic, that’s a real threat.”    » read more »

WASHINGTON, (11/2/09) - The Defense Department has started receiving H1N1 vaccines and will begin distributing doses in the coming weeks.

The Health and Human Services Department is distributing the vaccines, manufactured by four producers, to the department. Because rates of production vary among the manufacturers, supplies are expected to be limited initially, but to increase over time, said Ellen P. Embrey, acting assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.    » read more »

Nov 02, 2009 -- WASHINGTON — As shipments of some 3.7 million doses of H1N1 vaccine ordered by the Defense Department continue to arrive from the manufacturer, more than enough will be available for all military personnel and their beneficiaries, military medical experts say.

Navy Cmdr. Danny Shiau, division chief for the Bureau of Navy Medicine and Surgery's force health protection, and Dr. Robert Morrow, the bureau's preventive medicine programs and policy officer, took questions about the military's seasonal flu and H1N1 preparedness efforts during an Oct. 29 "DoDLive" bloggers roundtable.

Morrow explained why it has taken the primary manufacturer, Novartis, longer than expected to produce the vaccine.    » read more »

Pivotal testing of RTS,S is on track for target enrollment of 16,000 children

NAIROBI, KENYA November 3, 2009 -- A pivotal efficacy trial of RTS,S, the world’s most clinically advanced malaria vaccine candidate, is now underway in seven African countries: Burkina Faso, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. The trial, which is expected to involve up to 16,000 children, is on schedule, with more than 5,000 children already enrolled, researchers announced Tuesday at the 5th Multilateral Initiative on Malaria Pan-African Malaria Conference.    » read more »