Flu Vaccine Is Found Tainted in Factory
NewsMax.com Wires
Thursday, Aug. 26, 2004
SAN FRANCISCO The nation's supply of vaccine for the
impending flu season took a big hit Thursday when Chiron Corp.
announced it had found tainted doses in its factory.
The company said it would hold up shipment of about 50 million
shots, about half the supply U.S. health officials had hoped to
have on hand this year, while it investigates what went wrong and
determines whether the vaccine is safe to use.
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"There's no product that is going to go into the arms of the
American public that will not have been deemed to have met the
highest standards of safety," chief executive Howard Pien said.
Pien said the company hoped to ship between 46 million and 48
million doses by early October, about month later than usual.
About 1 million doses have already been shipped, but no vaccines
have yet reached the public, Pien said. Vaccinations usually begin
in September and continue through the flu season.
Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
which oversees the nation's flu vaccine program, did not
immediately return calls for comment.
Chiron would not give details on the nature of the
contamination, which Pien said was found in a small number of
batches at the company's factory in Liverpool, England.
The company supplies about half the nation's flu vaccine.
Aventis Pasteur supplies most of the rest.
© 2004 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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