H1N1 Vaccine
The production and distribution of the H1N1 vaccine began in 2009 as the most ambitious mass immunization campaign in the history of the United States. By spring 2010, however, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state health departments realized that the supply of H1N1 vaccine on hand far exceeded the rapidly dwindling demand for the shots.
What will happen to these surplus H1N1 vaccinations? Unless the government issues a standardized process, it is up to the state health departments to conduct a vaccine return program to remove the expiring and surplus swine flu vaccinations from the market and dispose of them.
State health departments are typically responsible for managing the number of swine flu vaccine doses available in hospitals, health clinics and health providers in their states. So when there are surplus or expired H1N1 vaccine doses on hand, state health departments may be called upon to supervise the return and disposal of the product.
In the case of the H1N1 vaccine, the product isn’t dangerous. There is simply too much out there, and it will eventually expire and have to be returned and disposed of.
During the H1N1 vaccine return process, the state departments should EZ Return Program that serves as a single source solution for compliant vaccine return, processing and destruction of expired or surplus vaccine doses. The program provides state health departments a seamless H1N1 vaccine return service, call center services, product tracking capabilities and compliant product destruction.
