WASHINGTON — First there was too little swine-flu vaccine. Now could there be way too much?
This week will tell. Get ready for a huge flu- shot push as health officials try to rekindle interest in protection against this new influenza strain that, despite plummeting cases, still is threatening lives — even as they reassess just how much more vaccine needs to be shipped.
There’s finally plenty of vaccine — 136 million doses and counting — against what scientists call the 2009 H1N1 flu strain.
No more standing in long lines at the health department. CVS drugstores have so much, the chain is touting vaccine in national radio and TV ads. Competitor Walgreens got more than 50,000 takers in a single day last week.
Flu-shot drives for all ages are scheduled around the country for what’s officially dubbed National Influenza Vaccination Week — in hopes of preventing a possible third wave of the epidemic later this winter.
How much demand this week brings will put the U.S. at a critical juncture: When is it time to halt the bottling of vaccine, so that too many unused doses don’t go to waste? U.S. officials say they’re deliberately delaying that decision.
“The danger is in turning off the spigot before we really know what the winter flu season looks like, what the demand is,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told The Associated Press.
“As long as there is demand, the good news is we will have a supply.”
