<p>About 3.4 million doses of the nasal spray vaccine - which can be used only by those between the ages of 2 and 49 - will be ready for distribution to 90,000 providers by the first week of October, epidemiologist Jay Butler, chief of the CDC's 2009 H1N1 vaccine task force, said Friday.<br /><br />"The government has purchased 195 million doses. It's a very large logistical undertaking," Butler said. "You have to get this vaccine from five manufacturers out to some 90,000 provider sites around the country."<br /><br />He said it was also likely that injectable vaccine shots would be available by early October. The CDC said it estimated that 20 million vaccine doses a week would be delivered by the end of October.<br /><br />President Barack Obama said Thursday that the United States will share 10 percent of its H1N1 vaccine supply with other countries to combat the global spread of the pandemic.<br /><br />The US vaccines would be made available to countries through the World Health Organisation (WHO), and on a rolling basis in cooperation with Australia, Brazil, France, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and Britain.<br /><br />According to the latest WHO estimates, more than 277,607 people worldwide have been sickened by swine flu this year, with at least 3,205 reported deaths.<br /><br />CDC officials confirmed Friday that swine flu was reported in all 50 US states, with 21 states reporting widespread flu activity.<br /><br />"We don't see that kind of activity this time of year usually," said Daniel Jernigan, deputy director of the CDC's influenza division. "It's a very strange thing for us to see that amount of influenza at this time of year."<br /><br />Each year during the regular flu season, an estimated 36,000 people die in the US alone, and at least 200,000 are hospitalised.</p>
<p>About 3.4 million doses of the nasal spray vaccine - which can be used only by those between the ages of 2 and 49 - will be ready for distribution to 90,000 providers by the first week of October, epidemiologist Jay Butler, chief of the CDC's 2009 H1N1 vaccine task force, said Friday.<br /><br />"The government has purchased 195 million doses. It's a very large logistical undertaking," Butler said. "You have to get this vaccine from five manufacturers out to some 90,000 provider sites around the country."<br /><br />He said it was also likely that injectable vaccine shots would be available by early October. The CDC said it estimated that 20 million vaccine doses a week would be delivered by the end of October.<br /><br />President Barack Obama said Thursday that the United States will share 10 percent of its H1N1 vaccine supply with other countries to combat the global spread of the pandemic.<br /><br />The US vaccines would be made available to countries through the World Health Organisation (WHO), and on a rolling basis in cooperation with Australia, Brazil, France, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and Britain.<br /><br />According to the latest WHO estimates, more than 277,607 people worldwide have been sickened by swine flu this year, with at least 3,205 reported deaths.<br /><br />CDC officials confirmed Friday that swine flu was reported in all 50 US states, with 21 states reporting widespread flu activity.<br /><br />"We don't see that kind of activity this time of year usually," said Daniel Jernigan, deputy director of the CDC's influenza division. "It's a very strange thing for us to see that amount of influenza at this time of year."<br /><br />Each year during the regular flu season, an estimated 36,000 people die in the US alone, and at least 200,000 are hospitalised.</p>