Destruction of unused flu shots criticized

More than 10 million unsold doses of flu vaccines will be considered trash on June 30th. The vaccines are expired so that only an all-new recipe will be in market come the next flu season. But this annual practice has been getting some heat because these vaccines are perfectly good and may still be useful.

The federal Food and Drug Administration set an annual expiration date for destroying unused vaccines so the recipe for each new flu season only includes the three strains causing the most cases. No one has tested if the vaccines are potent beyond the June 30 date, but scientists say that most vaccines degrade slowly and are stable for another year or two, therefore still useful. Lawmakers have arguing that these vaccines should be kept until new doses are at hand, or donate the surplus to poor countries. Besides, destroying the vaccines before the summer deprives travelers of flu shots before they visit places where flu is in season. It also prevents summer vaccination for children needing a second dose.

However, I can imagine how much of a pain it will be to manage mixed batches of vaccines. And an old vaccine may also not get one the necessary immunity against the currently circulating flu strains.

Well, what do you think? Should we dump this year’s supplies of vaccines, or recycle them?

[Sources: journalnow.com; image]

Tags: flu, vaccines, FDA, medicine, health, virus, illness