VaxAmerica H1N1 FluVaccine Not Included In Recent Voluntary Non-Safety-Related Recall

Health officials have just announced an efficacy-related recall of hundreds of thousands of doses of H1N1 vaccine, but the lot numbers affected by the recall for both the pediatric injectable and the intranasal (FluMist) vaccines were not part of the inventory stocked by VaxAmerica.

“Patients who received H1N1 vaccinations at one of our recent community clinics are not at risk of having received one of the recalled vaccines,” states Nancy Creadon, vice president, VaxAmerica, Inc. “The vaccine lot numbers we received from Sanofi Pasteur were not among those impacted by the recall.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notified doctors about the pediatric injectable recall on Tuesday, December 15, 2009, and informed them of the FluMist recall exactly one week later on December 22nd. The pediatric injectable recall involved about 800,000 pre-filled syringes made by Sanofi Pasteur, intended for young children ages 6 months to almost three years. MedImmune voluntarily recalled 4.7 million doses of the nasal spray vaccine, also due to loss of potency. The lots from both manufacturers passed potency tests when they were first shipped, but the potency waned upon later testing.

CDC Says Revaccination Unnecessary

Individuals who received the recalled vaccine do not need to be revaccinated; the CDC is not recommending revaccination since potency of the recalled vaccine was only slightly below established guidelines, and much of the vaccine was administered while still fully potent. The CDC also states that as previously recommended for all 2009 H1N1 vaccines, children younger than age 10 should get two doses of vaccine approximately one month apart for optimal immune response.

VaxAmerica Offering H1N1 Flu Clinics – Now Through December, 30, 2009

VaxAmerica has already hosted several community-based H1N1 flu clinics; to date over 3,000 people have been successfully vaccinated. The company is currently hosting a series of H1N1 flu clinics from its Temecula, CA, headquarters. Clinics will run through the end of the year. For dates, times, and to pre-register, go to www.vaxamerica.com.

For more information about the Sanofi Pasteur recall, visit
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/syringes_qa.htm

For more information about the MedImmune FluMist recall, visit
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/sprayrecall_qa.htm