Influenza vaccine supply: building long-term sustainability

Influenza represents a public health paradox. The virus is responsible for significant death, disease and economic loss. However, despite the availability of safe and efficacious vaccines, uptake is poor. While policy makers increasingly recognize the value of annual immunization, and vaccine supply is increasing, further efforts are required to implement existing vaccination recommendations and drive the long-term demand that supports supply sustainability. This is equally important for pandemic vaccine supply, which will rely on the same production plants and manufacturing approaches. Technological advances and capacity expansions now offer the prospect of billions of doses of vaccine in the event of a pandemic, and the availability of pre-pandemic vaccines for stockpiling and pre-emptive use. As a result, vaccination strategies utilizing pre-pandemic vaccines, combined with vaccines matched to a pandemic strain once available, offer for the first time a viable approach for mitigating an influenza pandemic.