[AP] U.S. to Get 2.6 Million Flu Shots in Jan.

2.6 million people will need to stay home for Xmas and not take a trip through the airports. Of course if you do, I would not follow Tommy Thompson's advice below.

U.S. to Get 2.6 Million Flu Shots in Jan.
Oct 19, 2:49 PM (ET)

By DIEDTRA HENDERSON

(AP) U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy
WASHINGTON (AP) - Government health officials said Tuesday that another 2.6 million doses of flu vaccine will be available in January to augment existing supplies as they sought to calm fears about a shortage.

"We've successfully worked through vaccine supply problems in the past and we're doing so this time as well," said Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson. "We need all of us to take a deep breath."

Thompson said that vaccine manufacturer Aventis Pasteur told him Tuesday that it was able to produce another 2.6 million doses, for a total of 58 million doses. The Bush administration has been scurrying to shore up supplies of the vaccine in the wake of the shutdown of a company that in the past has provided much of the U.S. supply.