CDC says flu shots will be stockpiled for first time.

2004 MAY 5 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- For the first time, the government will stockpile flu shots and will target them toward children to avoid the vaccine shortages that caught health officials off-guard this past winter.

"We really failed to foresee the influenza vaccine shortage this year. We were caught with our pants down," said Lance Rodewald, MD, director of the immunization services division for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "The pressure on CDC to find vaccine was enormous."

About 4 million doses will be set aside for children up to 18 years old. The government plans to spend $80 million over the next 2 years to pay for the stockpile, said Stephen Cochi, MD, the CDC's acting director of the national immunization program.

Adults may be allowed to tap into the children-only supply during a crisis, if approved by Congress, Rodewald said.

In an alarmingly severe start to the recent flu season, parents rushed to doctors' offices seeking the shots for their children as emergency rooms were flooded with sick kids. Influenza was blamed for dozens of child deaths by Christmas.

Most state health departments and doctors told the CDC they had run out of flu shots, or had few left. The sudden demand in late November also surprised the nation's vaccine manufacturers, which already had ceased production of last season's vaccine.

At the same time, the CDC and health officials were urging people to get their shots when there were none available. "Had we known that, we would have changed our message a little bit in terms of how we promoted vaccinations," Rodewald said.