Tuesday, December 15, 2009

CDC Recalls About 800,000 Doses Of H1N1 Vaccine

CDC Recalls About 800,000 Doses Of H1N1 Vaccine

Hundreds of thousands of doses of the H1N1/swine flu vaccine are being recalled, because they may not be effective enough to protect against the virus.

The Centers for Disease Control has issued a recall for about 800,000 doses made by Sanofi Pasteur.

http://theyeshivaworld.com/news/General+News/43400/CDC+Recalls+About+800,000+Doses+Of+H1N1+Vaccine.html

The affected vaccines are pre-filled syringes for children aged six months to almost three years old. According to the CDC, the doses were sent all over the country, and it is reaching out to providers who received to notify them not to use any of the remaining supplies.

Health officials say children who already received the dose likely will not need to be re-vaccinated. They say the lots passed potency tests when they were first shipped, but decreased later.

City health officials say they are still waiting to hear if any of the recalled doses were sent to the five boroughs.

These Vaccines are made by Sanofi Pasteur

http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091215/NEWS/912150320/-1/rss01

Business is booming.. yet Sanofi Pasteur to lay off undisclosed number of workers



''We are not providing this information because we are still exploring opportunities for impacted employees to find other positions in the company,'' spokesperson Ellyn Schindler said.

The cuts will likely be made among support staff, commercial operations and the research and development areas. The company's fourth operating division — industrial operations, which includes its manufacturing functions — may see an increase in its workforce, Schindler said.

And just as people were getting used to the acronym RIF — reduction in force — a new one has been added: HCR, or head count reduction.

"One outcome is that some functions many see a decrease in headcount, although this is not the intent of these changes. In contrast, areas such as manufacturing are expected to continue to expand and will likely offset headcount reduction in other departments," a company statement said.

Sanofi became one of a handful of H1N1 swine flu vaccine makers in 2009, with orders from the U.S. Department of Health worth around $200 million. The company is in the later stages of filling those orders.

Schindler said the force reductions would be made so the company could compete better in the vaccine marketplace.

"To protect and broaden our company's impact in the marketplace we are proactively making changes intended to improve our efficiency and competitiveness in the years ahead," the company said in a written statement.

The company said it remains financially sound despite the challenging economic times. It also increased its workforce by 40 employees between 2008 and 2009. Sanofi employs more than 2,000 workers and support staff in Swiftwater.

Last week, Tobyhanna Army Depot announced it was letting 161 contract workers go in what it referred to as a force reduction that reflects reduced workloads. The reductions were primarily for electronics and industrial trade workers assigned to communications-electronics maintenance and manufacturing work at Tobyhanna.

The depot employs 1,100 contract workers among a total staff of 5,900.

The facility maintains communications-electronics systems for the U.S. military.

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