The intense demand for flu vaccine, fueled partly by its scarcity, has many wondering how the richest nation in the world could be caught so unprepared. Health officials say we have 300 million doses of smallpox vaccine, yet Americans in their 70s and 80s are waiting in line, sometimes for hours, to get a flu shot. Nearly two weeks ago, vaccine maker Chiron said it could not supply up to 48 million doses of vaccine as promised from its plant in Liverpool, England, because British regulators had suspended its license. The Food and Drug Administration completed its own inquiry Friday and concluded none of the vaccine made there could be used.
