On October 5, 2004, CDC was notified by Chiron Corporation that none of its influenza vaccine (Fluvirin®) would be available for distribution in the United States for the 2004–05 influenza season. Chiron was to make 46-48 million doses of the vaccine for the United States. This action reduced the expected supply of trivalent inactivated vaccine (flu shot) available in the United States for the 2004–05 influenza season by approximately one half.

Aventis Pasteur had already shipped 33 million of its expected total 58 million vaccine doses prior to Chiron’s announcement. The remaining 25 million doses have been allocated at a rate of about 3 million doses per week – or about 14 million doses – since October 11, under a joint distribution plan developed by CDC and Aventis.

On November 9, working closely with public health officials nationwide, the CDC announced plans to distribute the remaining 10.6million doses of Aventis Pasteur influenza vaccine based upon decisions made by state health departments, which will then help ensure the doses reach those people at highest risk for complications from influenza. The vaccine will be distributed over several weeks through December and into January.

Under the outlined plan, states and territories will be receiving 100 percent of any orders they had originally placed under federal, state and multi-state contracts. Overall, this accounts for 3.4 million doses of vaccine. The distribution plan for the 7.2 million doses takes into account three things: 1) the number of high-priority individuals in the state, 2) the number of doses the state has already received and 3) the state’s unmet needs. In the coming weeks, another 1.3 million doses of pediatric vaccine will be allocated to states using the same approach.

This year’s expected vaccine supply also includes 3 million doses of FluMist, which is approved for use by healthy people between the ages of 5 and 49. In addition, CDC is continuing to work with HHS and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the possibility of obtaining several million doses of foreign-produced influenza vaccine for use in the United States this influenza season. These vaccines are not currently licensed for use in the U.S., but if deemed safe by the FDA, could be used under an “investigational new drug” protocol that meets FDA requirements. To ensure the safety of this flu vaccine, FDA inspectors are visiting the overseas plants of these manufacturers.

In addition, a supply of antiviral drugs to treat influenza will be available this flu season. Supplies of antiviral drugs are available through private health providers and the federal government has purchased a stockpile of antiviral drugs to treat more than 7 million people. FDA has estimated that approximately 40 million people could be treated this flu season with the antiviral drugs available.

To provide more information to health care professionals and the public about influenza and influenza vaccine, CDC has launched 1-800-CDC-INFO, a new 24/7 central telephone hotline available in English and Spanish. This number will enable people to obtain information from CDC. The number for hearing impaired is 1-800-243-7889 (TTY/TDD).

CDC also has available a wealth of resources to help educate health care professionals and consumers. Some of these materials include:

• Flu Activity Update (weekly): http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/
• Guidance for Prevention and Control of Influenza in the Peri- and Postpartum Settings:
  http://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/infectioncontrol/peri-post-settings.htm
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in Healthcare Settings: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/hip/ppe/default.htm
• Antivirals for Influenza Infection: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/treatment/index.htm

Additional information and resources are available at http://www.cdc.gov/flu

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Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices Meeting
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) met October 27-28, 2004 in Atlanta, Georgia. Along with discussion of the influenza vaccine shortage, outlined above, the ACIP approved the Harmonized Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedule for 2005. No policy changes have occurred since the schedule was last published in April 2004 that requires revisions of the schedule. Therefore, ACIP voted to approve a 2005 schedule that is identical to that published in the MMWR in April 2004 and in the Red Book 2003.

October 2004 – September 2005 Adult Immunization Schedule
The October 2004 – September 2005 Adult Immunization Schedule was approved by the ACIP in June 2004. The 2004-2005 schedule differs from the previous schedule as follows: Each published schedule now provides a separate row for each vaccine; health-care workers have been added to the schedule recommendations by medical indications and other conditions and a special note regarding influenza vaccination of pregnant women reflects the revised ACIP recommendations that all pregnant women should receive influenza vaccination regardless of preexisting chronic conditions. Information about the schedule changes can be found in the November 19, 2004 MMWR at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5345-Immunizationa1.htm. Late in November it will be available at http://www.cdc.gov/nip/recs/adult-schedule.htm.

New Immunization Cooperative Agreements Announced
CDC’s National Immunization Program recently awarded new cooperative agreements to five organizations. The first set of awards will support coalition building and information dissemination activities for two organizations. The Academy for Educational Development (AED) will conduct a needs assessment of coalitions and will develop skills based trainings for coalition members. The Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) will maintain immunization listserves and websites and publish and disseminate immunization newsletters. The second set of awards will support activities in minority communities. The three awardees – the National Asian Women’s Health Organization (NAWHO), the Black Women’s Health Imperative (BWHI) and the Migrant Clinicians Network (MCN) – will educate healthcare providers about cultural barriers to immunizations and will create and distribute linguistically appropriate and culturally sensitive immunization materials to public audiences. Information about future CDC funding opportunities can be found on http://www.cdc.gov/funding.htm or in the Federal Register.

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Free Immunization-Related Brochures
For a limited time, the National Immunization Program has a number of immunization brochures available for health care professionals and consumers that can be ordered in large quantities. These brochures include topics such as VFC, Vaccine Safety, Schools, Registries and Traveler’s Health. Some Spanish resources are also available. Supplies are limited. Visit http://www.cdc.gov/nip/publications/default.htm and click on CDC Online Order Form. Additional resources are also listed. These resources are free of chare and there is no cost for shipping.

39th National Immunization Conference
The 39th National Immunization Conference is scheduled in Washington, DC, March 21-24, 2005 at the Washington Hilton and Towers. The goals of the Conference are to help participants provide comprehensive immunization coverage for all age groups and explore innovative strategies for developing programs, policy and research to promote immunization coverage for all age groups. For more information about the conference or to submit abstracts (due November 19) visit http://www.cdc.gov/nip/nic.

Job Openings within the National Immunization Program
NIP is committed to recruiting and hiring qualified candidates for a wide range of positions. Researchers, Medical Officers and Epidemiologists as well as other specialties are often needed to fill positions within NIP. We encourage all interested parties to apply for these jobs. For a current listing of positions available at NIP, please visit http://www.cdc.gov/hrmo/hrmo.htm. Once at the site, conduct a search for “National Immunization Program.”