“Alarm at U.K.’s Vaccine Shortage”

Return to Vaccination News Home Page __» Right-click to "open in new window"

Subscribe to the Vaccination NewsLetter

View past & current Scandals (columns by Sandy Mintz)

Immunization Newsbriefs (c) Copyright Information Inc., Bethesda, MD. Brought to you by the National Network for Immunization Information (NNii). Visit NNii's new website at http://www.immunizationinfo.org.

——————————————————————————————

A House of Lords committee said in a report distributed on Thursday that the United Kingdom is woefully unprepared for the prevention of infectious epidemics of illnesses from influenza to West Nile virus and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), in large part because the nation’s vaccine infrastructure is suspect. Earlier scrapped plans for an emergency vaccine production center in Wiltshire are being reconsidered in light of the new findings, which indicate that the nation’s luck at not being struck with an epidemic in the past few years “owes as much to good fortune as good management.” The report highlighted shortages of the smallpox vaccine after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, as well as low numbers of tuberculosis vaccine, noting that the United Kingdom makes very few of its vaccines, importing most from France and Belgium.

Return to Vaccination News Home Page __» Right-click to "open in new window"

DISCLAIMER: All information, data, and material contained, presented, or provided here is for general information purposes only and is not to be construed as reflecting the knowledge or opinions of the publisher, and is not to be construed or intended as providing medical or legal advice. The decision whether or not to vaccinate is an important and complex issue and should be made by you, and you alone, in consultation with your health care provider.