CDC Says Seasonal Flu Vaccine Shortage Possible

There is already a shortage of swine flu vaccine, and Tamiflu, and some degree of panic has even led to companies like Clorox seeing increased profits. Seasonal flu vaccine does not provide any protection against swine flu, but that's not stopping people.

In fact, normally people are pretty complacent about seasonal flu shots. This year, with H1N1 swine flu on everyone's mind, nearly 90 million doses of vaccine for seasonal influenza already have been distributed, out of a total of 114 million available doses.

In a typical year, about 100 million people in the United States get flu shots. There is usually a decent amount of leftover vaccine that must be destroyed at the end of the flu season. That means 90% of the normal inoculations for seasonal flu have already been done.

So far, and perhaps because of the number of seasonal flu inoculations, H1N1 swine flu is circulating to a far greater extent than seasonal flu. The demand is such that some are warning there may be a shortage of seasonal flu vaccine.

Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, said: "It's going into noses and arms as we speak. Last year we threw away 27 million doses. This year, it's going to be all used up."