CDC says U.S. making progress on swine flu vaccine

By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. health officials said on Friday they are making progress in improving the supply of H1N1 vaccine to state health departments and urged people frustrated by long lines and scarce supply not to give up.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Dr. Anne Schuchat said there are now twice as many doses of vaccine available as there were two weeks ago, with 38 million doses ordered or available for ordering by states.

The figure is still below the government's earlier estimate of 40 million doses available by the end of October, but Schuchat said the pace of progress is improving.

"Today's number is up more than 11 million doses from last Friday's amount. That is progress. If all goes well, we're expecting about 8 million doses to be available in the week ahead," Schuchat told a news briefing.

The U.S. government initially projected that 20 million doses would roll out every week, but companies manufacturing them are producing only about 10 million doses a week or fewer, depending on when batches are ready.

The shortage of H1N1 vaccines has heaped pressure on public health departments across the country that must dole out the scare vaccine to groups at the highest risk from swine flu. Children and young people under age 24, pregnant women, healthcare workers and people with underlying health conditions are supposed to get the shots first.

The United States buys both seasonal and H1N1 vaccine from five makers -- GlaxoSmithKline Plc, AstraZeneca Plc's MedImmune unit, Novartis, Sanofi-Aventis, and CSL Limited.

Robert Blendon of the Harvard School of Public Health and colleagues found that only 5 percent of Americans they polled have been vaccinated against H1N1 so far.