Swine flu widespread, vaccine lags

NEW YORK, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- The swine flu virus is widespread in 46 U.S. states with not nearly enough vaccine available to treat the millions of people who need it, officials said.

An estimated 16 million doses of H1N1 swine flu vaccine were made available in the last few days and another 30 million doses are to be available by month's end, with some states requesting 10 times the amount they've been allotted, federal health officials said.

In Chicago, for example, hundreds of people were turned away Saturday after officials ran out of H1N1 swine flu vaccine. More than 7,000 people at six locations were immunized, Chicago public health spokesman Tim Hadac told The New York Times in a story published Sunday.

Production problems at some of the five companies contracted to make H!N1 vaccine have slowed availability, said Dr. Thomas Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control.

President Barack Obama has declared the H1N1 outbreak a national emergency, allowing hospitals and local governments to establish alternate treatment sites to handle any surge in patients.