"Shortage of Tetanus Vaccine Ends"

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June 26, 2002

 

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

 

"Shortage of Tetanus Vaccine Ends"

Kansas City Star (www.kcstar.com) (06/25/02) P. B3; Shepherd, Sara

 

CDC has announced that a nationwide tetanus vaccine shortage is over, and health-care providers should resume routine booster shots.  Although the shortage was not expected to end until the end of this summer at the earliest, CDC's updated recommendation came after last week's announcement by Aventis Pasteur - the sole remaining U.S. producer of the combined tetanus and diphtheria booster vaccine for adolescents - that its supplies had been built up enough to meet the nation's needs.  The CDC is now recommending that all teen-agers and adults whose booster shots were deferred over the past year and a half to work with their health-care providers and receive the delayed dose.  Sue Denny, spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Public Health, says that news of the shortage's end was "a little bit of a surprise." She states that it will take time to fill the supply pipeline so that Missouri can meet the new recommendations.

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