Why can’t we just make more influenza vaccine to cover a possible shortage?
To account for slight changes in the types of influenza, a new influenza vaccine is made every year. The vaccine is made over the course of an eight month period and it requires a large numbers of eggs. Unfortunately, the millions of eggs required to make this vaccine are available only during March and April. Who should get the influenza vaccine during a shortage? The CDC recommends that every year those at greatest risk of being hospitalized and dying from influenza get vaccinated. This includes adults older than 50 years of age, children 6 to 23 months of age, family contacts of children less than 6 months of age, healthcare workers, pregnant women, people with long-term heart, kidney, lung, or metabolic diseases, or compromised immune systems, residents of nursing homes, and those in contact with high-risk groups. To immunize everyone who needs a flu shot, we would need 185 million doses. This year we only have 53 million doses. This means that we have to let those people who are a
