WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson denied a flu vaccine shortage is a crisis, and called for patience, CNN reported Tuesday.
In a statement, Thompson worked to dispel anxiety created when people complained of being turned away at clinics, saying 24 million more doses are expected, which have not yet been shipped.
Lines ballooned for the flu vaccine after British authorities announced Oct. 5 they were suspending production of the vaccine at the Liverpool plant of Chiron Corp., a U.S. company, due to contamination problems.
Chiron had contracted to deliver to the United States 46 million to 48 million doses, nearly half of the country's projected need of 100 million doses.
Meanwhile in Canada, Dr. David Butler-Jones, the country's chief public health officer, Monday said cross-border talks were already under way that might allow the United States to import about 1.2 million vaccine doses from a Canadian manufacturer's stockpile and possibly another million doses from Canada's public supply, the Globe and Mail reported.
