Now that the flu vaccine has become a hot property, the available doses are being reserved for those that need it the most. Which isn’t to say that everyone is going to abide by that. Vaccines, for the most part, are doled out by the private sector, and there is no guarantee that the piddly supply will be saved for people who fall into the high risk category.

So be a sport. Be a boy or girl scout, and do a good deed. Give up your flu vaccine if you fall between the ages of 2 and 65 years, have no health problems, are not pregnant, and are not a health care worker.

Martin G. Myers, MD, Executive Director of the National Network for Immunization Information (NNii), issued the following statement in a press release:

In addition to there being insufficient vaccine for all who need it, there is likely to be a problem with equitably distributing the available vaccine to those who need it the most. As influenza vaccine is ordered well in advance of vaccine availability, it is likely that some healthcare providers will have their full supply of vaccine while others will have none. Because influenza vaccine is almost exclusively in the private sector, the Department of Health and Human Services’ plea for “the help of the public, the public health community and the medical community to make sure that the vaccine goes to those who truly need it most” will be especially important.

No we have to wonder, why do vaccine shortages exist? This isn’t the first time this has happened. Over the past 5 years, according to the NNii, the United States has experienced shortages of influenza, diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis (DTaP), tetanus and diphtheria (Td), measles-mumps-rubella (MMR), varicella, and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines.

Very few pharm companies are involved in manufacturing vaccines. They’ve either left the business entirely, have cut down on their involvement, or are phasing it out. Vaccines are a pain in the butt, to put it mildly. They are not that profitable, there are liability issues, and so on. The influenza vaccine is a particular tricky one. A company can only estimate how many doses to make in any given year. Sometimes they don’t make enough, sometimes they make too much. If they manufacture too much, well, tough luck. They have to eat the loss because no one reimburses them. Flu vaccines can’t be stockpiled and saved for the next season because the vaccine changes every year, depending on what is predicted to be the dominant strain of the virus. As a result, there are very few companies making flu vaccines and as we are witnessing, when a single company’s supply was declared off limits, half of the supply is suddenly lost.

We could have a better system. Perhaps if the government were willing to buy up the excess doses, that would encourage more manufacturers to produce it, and thus reduce the dependency on just one or two.

At any rate, the best defense against the flu is to stay healthy. You know, all that stuff you keep reading about. Eat your fruits and veggies. Cut out the junk food. Get plenty of sleep, fresh air, exercise. Take your vitamins. Tell your sniffling co-workers to stay home until their nose stops dripping.

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