Merck Rhymes With…
By now you may have heard that there will be a shortage of an important vaccine for many months.
Nothing bad has happened. Merck, one of the few remaining manufacturers of vaccines, has for the second time in a year found potential contamination in one of its facilities. There has been no tainted vaccine produced. However, it takes months to assure proper sterile conditions.
The vaccine at issue is HIb, Hemophilus influenzae Type b, which is given in three doses in the first year, generally combined with Hepatitis B (”Comvax”). For the present we have sufficient supplies. A year ago the new combination MMR and chickenpox vaccine was withdrawn for the same reason.
I’m sorry to pick on Merck, a fine company (and thank goodness the problem was discovered before any harm was done). But it is frustrating for all of us and as I’ve pointed out elsewhere, there is too much paranoia and misinformation out there already regarding vaccines.
There is no real marketplace for vaccines. Billions are spent on research and development with success far from guaranteed. Most vaccines are produced by one company and prices are controlled artificially, with millions of doses donated to the developing countries. A considerable part of the cost of each vaccine goes into a slush fund for trial lawyers, and reactions are reported through a central clearinghouse. Before that the drug companies had no indemnity against frivolous claims, and conversely most serious reactions went uncompensated. The good news is that vaccines have never been safer, despite their growing number, and several diseases have fallen off the radar.