THURSDAY, Feb. 21 (HealthDay News) -- A U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel on Thursday approved the inclusion of three new flu strains in next year’s batch of flu vaccine, in an unusual move that health officials hope will avoid the shortcomings of this year’s vaccine. Typically, only one or two strains are changed each year, and flu vaccine manufacturers need a long lead time, about eight months, to complete the entire production process for the 100 million doses due by the fall.
