Countries report flu vaccine inventory

The chief medical officer from Down Under says supplies of the three-in-one seasonal flu shot are running low due to delays in manufacturing and delivery. But there's no shortage for the high-risk and indigenous Australians who qualify for a free program. Swine flu vaccine, by contrast, is plentiful; less than half of the 21-million-dose inventory is being used.

In India, Cadila Healthcare now boasts the first indigenously made H1N1 vaccine. The egg-based, inactivated prophylactic is made via a platform that can be used to produce any pandemic influenza vaccine in addition to seasonal flu vaccine, says a local press report. In addition, two other drugmakers have H1N1 vaccines in the works, with launch in India expected in the next few months.

And in Kathmandu, officials say they anticipate the first H1N1 vaccine shipment--2.7 million doses, for ten percent of Nepal's population--in September. Under a WHO program, Nepal was slated to receive the vaccine by March. But manufacturing delays and minimal flu spread led the government to postpone imports for six months.

- here's the Australia story
- see the report from India
- read this report from Nepal

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