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December 23, 2002

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Need a Flu Shot?  There's Plenty of Vaccine"

Associated Press (www.ap.org) (12/23/02)

According to Maxim Health Systems, a Columbia, Md., vaccine provider, there will be fewer vaccinations used by patients for influenza this season, despite the fact that there are many more doses available than during the past two years.  The group gets almost 90 percent of its revenue from providing flu shots; however, the company said it will not reach the 1.7 million vaccinations it made last year, predicting that it will administer about 1.5 million shots--a number it believes is similar to the figures at other vaccine administration companies.  The surplus is so great, in fact, that producers like Aventis Pasteur are considering giving the excess vaccine away, and are trying to figure out why the difference between demand and supply is so great.  Wyeth Pharmaceuticals encountered the same problem, saying that it made 20 million doses of the vaccines but has only sold about 14 million doses.

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