With 100 million doses of pandemic H1N1 influenza now available, Americans have a “unique opportunity” to minimize—or even prevent—a third wave of the disease this winter.
Thus far, most vaccine has been reserved for high-priority groups that are most vulnerable to H1N1, but vaccine production is now in full swing and federal officials are urging everyone to get immunized.
“For a while, low-risk groups were told to get to the back of the line and let the high-priority folks get vaccinated,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said during a press conference in December. “Our message now is to take advantage of the increased supply and get vaccinated as soon as you can.”
Cases of H1N1 have been tapering off in the past weeks, said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta. However, the country is just 2 months into the normal flu season, which runs from October to May, and peaks in January and February.
“The situation we have now is an ebbing second wave, but the future is uncertain,” he said. “We just don't know how many cases we will have from now until the end of the flu season. What we need now is perseverance.”
The past may provide some insight into the future, he said. “In 1967–1968, there were large numbers of [H1N1] infections in the spring and they fell during the fall. This resulted in no vaccinations in the fall and no one realized there was still lots of flu around until there were increased deaths from pneumonia in the winter.”
Complacency is a mistake, they agreed. “H1N1 has had a substantial effect,” Dr. Frieden said. “As of mid-November, there have been 47 million cases, 213,000 hospitalizations, and 10,000 deaths. This strain has been much harder on children and young adults; the number killed through mid-November was five times more than an average flu season.”
Officials also tried to dispel some public concern that the government rushed the vaccine through development with insufficient safety testing. While it's true that the vaccine was developed, tested, and licensed in “record time,” the steps remained methodical, science-based, and complete, said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, Md.
“The process of identification and growing of the virus, and vaccine development and production, was exactly the same [as that for seasonal flu]. It was an orderly scientific process” that resulted in a highly immunogenic vaccine safe for adults, children, pregnant women, and the elderly, as well as those with asthma and HIV infection.