Senators bemoan H1N1 vaccine shortages

Key senators Wednesday said they are worried the spread of H1N1 flu is outpacing the ability of the U.S. public health system to deal with it, adding that the federal government is coming up short on delivering a vaccine.

The U.S. government will only have about 30 million doses of H1N1 vaccine by the end of October, which is about 10 million - or 25 percent - fewer than had been projected, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., and ranking member Susan Collins, R-Maine, said during a hearing.

The committee called Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to testify on federal efforts to handle an outbreak.

"I'm concerned as we meet this morning that the flu is spreading so rapidly and in some cases with such intensity it may well be getting ahead of our ability ... to prevent and respond to it," Lieberman said. "We're facing an enemy whose movement is unpredictable."

The committee released a chart based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing the percentage of patients going to a physician due to the H1N1 flu has spiked compared to visits for the seasonal flu over the same time period in previous years.

"Like the chairman, I'm very concerned about recent reports on inadequate supplies of the vaccine," Collins added. "This disturbs us because we are seeing such an early peak in the flu."

Sebelius admitted there are not enough vaccine doses for everybody who wants it. "We are at a point where the demand is ahead of the yield," she said, adding there are about 13 million doses.

But she said problems in developing the vaccine have been corrected and by November everybody who wants it will get it. She said the estimate of having 40 million doses by the end of October came from the vaccine manufacturers, but was undercut due to slower than expected production.

"That has been corrected," she said. "We anticipate a much more robust production line."

Lieberman and Collins added they were concerned hospitals might not have sufficient capacity to cope with an influx of patients. Collins also said "millions of Americans nevertheless are worried about the safety of the vaccine."

She added, "Given that the virus disproportionately affects children, we also need to make sure that we have a sufficient supply of pediatric formulations of antiviral medications, like Tamiflu."