H1N1 Vaccine Production delayed: Poor most at risk

The WHO says countries such as China and India expect to produce their own vaccine supplies, but smaller low- and middle-income countries representing 2.7 billion people have "no current access to H1N1 vaccine".

The report was presented to a closed, extraordinary meeting last week of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation (SAGE), a panel of independent scientists who advise the WHO on vaccine issues.

Wenqing Zhang of the WHO's flu programme told SAGE that five different "seed" viruses have been produced and evaluated (pdf format). But the two highest yielding strains are growing only half as fast as the seasonal H1N1 viruses used to make vaccine for ordinary flu.