H1N1 Vaccines

Non-Safety-Related Voluntary Recall of some Sanofi Pasteur H1N1 Pediatric Vaccine and some MedImmune Nasal Spray Vaccine. Read more about the Sanofi recall or the MedImmune recall.

Novel H1N1 vaccine is being procured by the U.S. government from five vaccine manufacturers which are currently licensed in the country to produce seasonal influenza vaccine. Different forms of the vaccine are being made available. These include a nasal spray known as Live Attenuated Influenza Virus (LAIV) to be used in otherwise healthy persons between the ages of 2-49 years, multi-dose, preservative containing vials of inactivated vaccine for injection, and a more limited number of single-dose, preservative free syringes for injection. The indicated populations for the injectable forms of the vaccine vary by manufacturer.

Based on what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) knows about the novel H1N1 virus and the groups most vulnerable to being infected or developing complications from infection, vaccine prioritization recommendations have been made by the Advisory Committee on Immunizations. These include all persons between the ages of 6 months and 24 years, persons under age 65 with certain chronic underlying health conditions, care-givers of infants under 6 months of age, pregnant women, and healthcare workers and emergency medical personnel engaged in direct patient care.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health is providing the H1N1 vaccine to any Pennsylvania resident who wishes to receive a dose. The department continues to urge members of priority groups to be vaccinated against H1N1.

The CDC also recommends that people at high risk of complications from seasonal influenza receive the seasonal flu vaccine from their health care provider. The seasonal influenza vaccine will not protect someone from pandemic H1N1, and the pandemic H1N1 vaccine will not protect against seasonal influenza. Some persons will be in the targeted priority groups for both seasonal and pandemic H1N1 vaccine. These persons will need to receive both vaccines to be fully protected.

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