WASHINGTON, May 3, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- The U.S. government expects to have
vaccines ready for the new strain of the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, and the
seasonal flu by fall, an official said.
In an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" program, U.S. Health and Human
Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said officials are accelerating production
of flu vaccines.
"At the same time, we're growing the virus and testing the virus to attack H1N1
and we'll be production-ready when it's time to go," Sebelius said.
Appearing on the same program, Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the United States had 160
confirmed cases, in 21 states, adding that the World Health Organization on
Sunday confirmed cases in 15 countries.
"Thankfully, in, in this country we are not seeing the number of deaths in
Mexico. We reported last week the tragic death of the child ... in Texas," he
said. "But as we're looking we're not seeing those deaths, but I'm not totally
assured. We need some more information to see what this is going to do. And it's
very encouraging to see that people are taking this seriously."
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