WASHINGTON, Oct 19 (AFP) - A French pharmaceutical company will furnish 2.6 million extra anti-flu shots to help the United States reduce a vaccine shortage that has sparked public concern, the top US health official said Tuesday.
Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said Aventis-Pasteur, a subsidiary of French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis, will increase the number of vaccines it offers in the United States to 58 million in January.
The doses represent more than half of what the United States needs.
The country experienced a shortage after British authorities closed down a factory run by US pharmaceutical firm Chiron Corp. after finding bacteria in vaccines. The factory provides almost half the 100 million doses needed each year by the United States.
US authorities have urged healthy Americans to forgo getting vaccinated this year so more vulnerable people such as the elderly and infants can get their shots. Senior Americans have been waiting in long lines to receive their shots at health centers across the country.
The shortage has also become a US presidential campaign issue. Democratic candidate John Kerry has seize on the problem to blast Republican President George W. Bush's health care record.
"We continue to explore all options to obtain more vaccines also from other sources," Thompson said. "We have ongoing negociations with Canada ... they indicated they have some doses available."
Canadian officials indicated late Monday Canada could sell its surplus vaccines to the United States.
10/19/2004 21:11 GMT - AFP