New Report Details Realities of Seasonal Flu Vaccine Distribution

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- A new report from the Health Industry Distributors Association (HIDA) details how the flu vaccine supply chain operates, and provides data explaining why some physicians experienced delays in receiving flu vaccine despite record-breaking vaccine production.

HIDA's 2006-2007 Influenza Vaccine Production & Distribution Market Brief, published this month, is the second in a series of reports that follows the different ways flu vaccine gets to market in the United States. Also presented is information on who influenza vaccine is sold to and key supply and demand issues.

"As medical products distributors increase their commitments to provide healthcare practitioners with life-saving flu vaccine, understanding the dynamics of this unique supply chain has never been more important," said Andrew E. Van Ostrand, HIDA's vice president of policy and research.

Data presented in the 2006-2007 flu market brief includes:

-- Preferred sites for flu vaccination

-- The amount of time in which distributors service physician offices

-- Supply of influenza vaccine versus demand

-- The number of flu vaccine doses made available for sale each week

-- Flu vaccine sales by provider type

"More vaccine is being produced than ever before," said Van Ostrand. "This is great news for public health and distributors are committed to doing their part to ensure that vaccine gets to those who need it as efficiently as possible."

For additional information on flu vaccine issues, visit the National Influenza Vaccine Summit at http://www.preventinfluenza.org.

The HIDA report may be downloaded by CLICKING HERE.

Source: Health Industry Distributors Association