Vaccine destroyed

Last year health officials in the U.S. and around the world were expressing concern over the possibility of a worldwide pandemic of a new flu virus that came to be known as the swine flu, or the H1N1 virus. There was an all-out effort to produce enough vaccine for this new strain of flu, but much of the supply wasn't available until weeks after millions of individuals had already received their seasonal flu shots. By that time, the thrust of the what came close to being a panic had lost much of its momentum.

Now nearly 40 million doses of the H1N1 vaccine have reached their expiration date and are being destroyed. The unused vaccine is worth $260 million.

A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services maintains it "was more appropriate to have been prepared for the worst-case scenario than to have had too few doses."

Production of a new seasonal vaccine is already gearing up, and it will include protection against the H1N1 virus. Unless another virulent strain of flu virus is identified in the next few months, most of us can expect to get adequate protection by taking just one shot this year instead of two.