Swine Flu Shots Will Start Next Month: Sebelius

US 'on track' to have plenty of vaccine by flu season

By the Associated Press

Posted Sep 13, 2009 3:10 PM CDT

(AP) – The nation's first round of swine flu shots could begin sooner than expected, with some vaccine available as early as the first week of October, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said today. Sebelius said she is confident the vaccine will be available early enough to beat the peak of the expected flu season this fall, and that early doses are intended for health care workers and other high-priority groups.

"We're on track to have an ample supply rolling by the middle of October. But we may have some early vaccine as early as the first full week in October. We'll get the vaccine out the door as fast as it rolls off the production line," she told ABC's This Week. Sebelius said the vaccine doses will be distributed immediately to designated locations across the country once they are available.

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Drugstore operators are beginning their seasonal flu shot campaigns several weeks early, saying they expect greater demand for the vaccine in a year when the swine flu strain has dominated the news. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius gestures during a briefing about the upcoming seasonal flu season, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2009, at the National Press Club in Washington. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius listens as President Barack Obama speaks to reporters while meeting with his Cabinet at the White House in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2009. (Charles Dharapak)

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Every state has a plan saying these are the sites to get the vaccine as quickly as possible into people's arms. That's where the distribution will go. - Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius

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Swine Flu Shots Will Start Next Month: Sebelius