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H1N1 Vaccine Recalled Because Of Lost Potency

Is your swine flu vaccine potent enough to actually ward off the dangerous virus? After two different and large recalls by pharmaceutical companies, some are worried that their vaccine may not protect against disease as it should.

On December 15, Sanofi-Aventis SA recalled 800,000 doses of the H1N1 vaccine after discovering that the vaccine lost potency over time. Then, this week, AstraZeneca's MedInnume unit recalled 4.7 million doses of the same H1N1 vaccine also saying that their medicine had lost potency over time.

The latter recall, which was done with help from the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) only affects about 3,000 doses still left in warehouses – all other doses have already been given to the population. However, the FDA was certain that anyone who has already received the vaccine should have no issues and should be protected against swine flu. Most of the recalled doses were sprayed into people’s noses in October and November of 2009.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) echoed the idea that those who have received the vaccine have no reason for health concerns and that they do not need to be vaccinated again.

The loss in potency was discovered in thirteen different lots of the vaccine which were tested by the biotech company. Scientists say the decrease in potency is very slight.

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