The Hindu : Front Page : FDA approves swine flu vaccine

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Thursday, Sep 17, 2009
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FDA approves swine flu vaccine

WASHINGTON: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a swine flu vaccine, keeping officials on track to begin a mass vaccination campaign by next month.

It has approved applications for vaccine for the 2009 H1N1 virus for four of the (five) manufacturers of the U.S. licensed seasonal influenza vaccine, Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told lawmakers on Tuesday.

The U.S. government purchased 195 million doses of the vaccine and would make shots available free of charge “for the American people” starting next month. Providers might charge a fee to administer them, she said.

Vaccination would be voluntary, with priority given to five groups deemed at particular risk from the novel swine flu virus. Clinical trials were under way to determine if there was “any harm” in having a seasonal flu vaccine, already available, at the same time as this one.

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