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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 Schuchat said Tuesday that 9.8 million doses of the H1N1 vaccine are available. "I am happy to say that about half of the vaccine that's available for order is now the injectable form," she said.
The first batches of the vaccine were in a nasal spray called FluMist. Because FluMist is a live vaccine, it's only recommended for healthy people between the ages of 2 to 49 years old, and not for pregnant women, Schuchat said.
Schuchat said the availability of the H1N1 vaccine will continue to grow and ample supplies should be on hand by the end of October and early November. The CDC has been saying for some time that it anticipates having 40 million doses by the end of October and 190 million doses by year's end.
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"Pregnancy and underlying conditions are ones that we highlight as recommended to receive the H1N1 vaccine when it becomes available in communities," she said.
Asked why pregnancy seemed to be a risk factor for complications from the H1N1 swine flu, Schuchat said: "There are probably two factors that influence the risk that pregnant women have for influenza complication. And this applies to both seasonal flu and the H1N1 flu. In pregnancy, there's a change in the immune system which makes it easier for the woman to hold the fetus and not have an immune reaction to the baby. And so risk of infections can be greater.
"The second issue," she added, "is probably more mechanical, that as the woman gets larger with the baby growing, there can be pressing on the airways and really a restrictive lung disease. So it's harder to take a deep breath and it's harder to fight off a lung infection especially in the later stages of pregnancy."
As for the regular seasonal flu, Schuchat said 77 million doses of that vaccine have been shipped. Although some parts of the country are seeing shortages of the vaccine, those shortfalls are expected to be temporary, with large quantities of the vaccine available in late October and November.
Since the seasonal flu season hasn't started yet, there's plenty of time to get a seasonal flu shot, even into December, Schuchat said.
More information
For more on the H1N1 flu, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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