Swine Flu Vaccine Availability – Will Your Family Be Denied Vaccination Against The H1N1 Virus?

What will be the swine flu vaccine availability this fall? Is there a chance your family may be denied a swine flu shot? This is, without a doubt, one of the biggest questions you will face in the upcoming months.

The H1N1 flu vaccine is not the same as the normal seasonal flu vaccine, which will also be offered this year. The H1N1, or swine flu, is a separate and more deadly strain of flu. It first appeared in the spring of 2009. If the patterns of past years are any indication, it is likely that this deadly flu may show up again in even greater strength in the fall and winter. Is it serious?

As of September 1, 2009, the Centers for Disease Control in the United States still did not have a firm date when the swine, or H1N1, flu vaccine will be available. However, according to sources, when it is introduced it will likely become the biggest and most costly inoculation program in the history of public health. The cost to U.S. Taxpayers, alone, will be in the vicinity of 10 billion dollars.

Is that kind of cost justified? When you keep in mind that economic times are tough, you have to figure the U.S. government would not dole out 10 billion dollars on a vaccine program without a very real concern that things could turn bad very quickly with this pathogen.

Researchers tell us that, without a vaccine in place, perhaps one third of the global population will contract the potentially deadly H1N1 virus in the next 12 months. This is why the inoculation program is all but certain, even if it appears that it will now be delayed.

Most people will jump at the opportunity to get the vaccine — but, due to limited swine flu vaccine availability, there may only be enough vaccine to inoculate a select portion of the population. Your family, like many others, may be required to forgo their place in line — hence being denied a vaccination.

Why do we say swine flu vaccine availability will be limited? Instead of the expected delivery in October 2009 of an initial 120 million doses to inoculate the U.S. population, vaccine manufacturers say they will be able to come up with only 45 million doses. This means that tens of millions of Americans will be left vulnerable in the event that the virus finds a way to turn more deadly – something that influenza is known to have done in past pandemics.