FDA Approves Swine Flu Vaccine in USA, India to Procure 15 Lakh Doses

In a significant move, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a vaccine for the H1N1 Swine Flu and it is now expected that vaccination drives will be initiated from the middle of October. 195 million vaccines are to be purchased by the US authorities as reported here and will be administered to the public free, with priority being given to the higher risk groups of children, seniors,  pregnant women etc. It is expected that with a week or so of the vaccine being administered,  resistance to the flu virus will be developed by the body.

The FDA approval has bearing on India’s access to the Swine Flu vaccine as well, since the FDA is considered to be something of global pharmaceutical watchdog. This means that the road to India’s acquisition of the vaccines in advance of an indigenous vaccine being developed, is somewhat cleared.

According to this report, the Indian health authorities are planning to procure 15 lakh doses of swine flu vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Novartis. It is not yet clear when these will be made available in India however. Meanwhile Pune based Serum Institute claims to be able to have a vaccine ready for use at a much lower price by the end of the year.

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