I heard that the reason the flu vaccine is not produced in sufficient quantities is that influenza vaccination is not widely used, leading to diminished demand. Here is a quote lifted from the annual report of MedImmune, Inc., the folks who make FluMist, the intranasal vaccine.
“FluMist inventories have required a significant amount of
judgment since the Acquisition in January 2002. One reason is
that the finished FluMist product has a shelf life of nine months.
Most of the inventory components for FluMist have expiration
dates that range from nine to 24 months. The annual FluMist
production cycle begins in October of the year prior to the
influenza season in which the product will be consumed. For
example, the production cycle for the 2002/2003 season began
in October 2001. All production costs for the 2002/2003 season
were fully reserved as we assessed the probability of approval
by the FDA in time to commercialize the product for the
2002/2003 season was remote. During 2003, we disposed of
$18.7 million of fully reserved inventory related to the
2002/2003 flu season.” (bolding mine)
Here is a link to the full report. This year of course, rather than get stuck with another 8 million doses, they made substantially less than half of the vaccine they were capable of. Supply and demand, and who can blame them? If the federal government were to stop being so vague with their recommendations, and just say that everyone should get a shot, and if most people were to get vaccinated, there would be enough vaccine for everyone, as soon as manufacturers realized they had a guaranteed market.
Mind you, I’m not saying the government should do this, or even that it’s a good idea to do this, but that would be the result.