Pharma's Market

SPECIAL REPORT

Healthy Horizons
A brand new series of weekly segments which will explore the macro and micro issues facing the global economy.

LATEST FROM OUR BLOGS

» More

- Why You Should Play the Reflation Trade: Stock Picker

MORE HEADLINES

» Markets | Economy | Companies

- Half of Banks' Losses May Still Be Hidden: IMF Head

PHARMA'S MARKET VIDEO

» More

Sebelius on Vaccines

24 Nov 2009

Discussing whether a new $487M investment from the government will help speed up the production of the most important vaccines, with Kathy Sebelius, Health & Human Services secretary and CNBC's Mike Huckman.

The New Formula for Faster Vaccines

24 Nov 2009

Novartis is opening on Tuesday the country's first plant to produce flu vaccines using cell cultures. These vaccines are faster, better and cheaper to make than egg-based methods, reports CNBC's Mike Huckman.

Novartis Opens 1st US Plant for Flu Vaccine

24 Nov 2009

Cholesterol Drug Battle: Niaspan vs. Zetia 16 Nov 2009
Abbott Laboratories' Niaspan beat Merck's Zetia in a new study. CNBC's Mike Huckman has the details.

Cardiologist Grades Cholesterol Drug Study

16 Nov 2009

Abbott Laboratories' Niaspan beat Merck's Zetia in a new study. Dr. Steven Nissen, chairman of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at The Cleveland Clinic, shares his reaction with CNBC's Mike Huckman.

Merck's Cholesterol Drugs Under Pressure

16 Nov 2009

A new study is putting Merck's cholesterol drugs under pressure today, reports CNBC's Mike Huckman, with Ken Frazier, Merck Global Human Health president.

RSS FEED

» Help

Subscribe to this RSS feed
Stay up to date with Pharma's Market.

CNBC ON DIGG

H1N1 Shots Are Here: Sign Me Up

Published: Wednesday, 14 Oct 2009 | 12:31 PM ET

Text Size

By: Mike Huckman
CNBC Correspondent

I'm traveling today to a hospital in the nation's heartland where tomorrow the first H1N1 shots will be given.

I'll be doing live reports from there on Thursday when I also plan to get the seasonal flu shot myself. Even though you can get a seasonal and H1N1 shot at the same time (in each arm), I need to wait my turn until after those with high priority get the pandemic vaccine first.

AP
The CDC says the H1N1 shots will be available in limited supply for now, but should be out "in large, large numbers" by the end of this month. So, I'll wait. But rest assured, I plan to get both vaccines—assuming, of course, that I can get my hands on some H1N1 vaccine.

Because the injectable vaccine is being distributed at the moment in dribs and drabs, it was fairly difficult for us to find a place that had some already and was willing to show it off and talk on TV about it.

For now, I'm gonna keep the exact location under wraps because I don't want to tip off any competitors and have a potential media circus on our hands. My producer worked too long and hard to secure this facility.

Sanofi-Aventis [SNY Loading... () ] and Novartis [NVS Loading... () ] and a third company based in Australia make the H1N1 shots that the FDA has approved, so far. GlaxoSmithKline [GSK Loading... () ] is still waiting for regulatory clearance. And Baxter [BAX Loading... () ] is only selling its vaccines outside the U.S. AstraZeneca [AZN Loading... () ] makes H1N1 and seasonal FluMist—the vaccine that's sprayed up your nose.

This Friday the CDC is expected to start giving weekly updates on where and how much H1N1 vaccine has been shipped.

I'm curious what the demand will truly turn out to be. Some people are growing concerned about the increasing number of pediatric deaths from H1N1 and may rush to get their kids and themselves vaccinated. Others are afraid of or paranoid about the vaccine.

I hate needles. But I also hate being sick or not feeling well. I'm a big baby when it comes to getting a shot or having blood drawn. But, for what it's worth, I'll be turning my head, closing my eyes and maybe even wincing, too, as I eventually get both flu vaccines.

And that's not an endorsement of anything. It's just my personal choice.

Questions? Comments? and follow me on Twitter at mhuckman