Vaccine shortage is acute

Dallas Morning: Did you get your flu shot yet? Probably not, and if you're like most folks, you probably aren't going to be able to get one, either. This is unacceptable.
Production problems at a lab that makes half the U.S. flu vaccine supply means tens of millions of doses the American market was counting on won't be arriving. It is no doubt shocking to many Americans to learn that the nation's defense against a flu pandemic is so fragile. Worse, Dr. Julie Gerberding, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warned Congress last week that "it is getting more fragile every day."
The problem is complex, but the simple reality is this: Drug manufacturers no longer produce vaccines because it is risky and expensive to do so, and the potential rewards for such work are relatively small. A generation ago, at least a dozen manufacturers provided the annual U.S. supply of flu vaccine; today, that number is down to a mere two.
What's wrong with nationalizing flu vaccine production, putting the federal government in charge of this vital public health service? Many experts fear that concentrating this responsibility in government hands would lead to a loss of innovation and flexibility typical of monopolies. A better approach would be for lawmakers to provide the private sector with incentives to re-enter domestic vaccine production.
The solution would likely involve:
X Strengthening the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program and closing legal loopholes that allow plaintiffs to sue vaccine makers for enormous sums.
X Streamlining the Food and Drug Administration approval process for vaccines.
X Creating tax and patent incentives to research and develop flu vaccines.
X Promoting widespread flu vaccination, thus increasing demand.
X Increasing communication among government health officials, the drug industry and university researchers to anticipate public health needs.
The fractured vaccine system will not be easy to fix nor can that be accomplished overnight. One vaccine maker told Congress that it takes from five to seven years to build a vaccine production facility and bring it online. But we have to start somewhere.
Meanwhile, the American public can only hope and pray that the deadly avian flu strain that appears to be incubating among human hosts in Southeast Asia does not go global. Hope and prayer are not, alas, a reliable long-term public health strategy.