Macro Economic Case Study Vaccinations

Macro Economic Case Study

Vaccinations

It has been brought to our attention that there have been a number of shortages taking place (over the last ten years) for the flu vaccine. At the heart of this issue, is the overall quality of supply on the market. What has been happening is there were two different situations in 2001 and 2005 that were occurring. These illustrated how vulnerable stock piles were to these issues. This is because, the total number of regulations made it difficult to open a drug manufacturing plant in the United States. At the same time, the amounts of high risk people have increased dramatically. As there are currently 90 million Americans who require these vaccinations, due to the fact they could have a weak immune system or suffer from a chronic condition (such as: cancer, diabetes and hypertension). This is important, because it is showing how demand for these vaccines has increased, while the total amount of supply (that is manufactured in the United States) has decreased. ("Flu Vaccine Case Study")

As a result, over the last several decades the total number of suppliers providing vaccines has declined dramatically. Evidence of this can be seen by looking at: the total number of drug manufacturers with facilities, located in the U.S. over the last 35 years. as, this number declined from: a total of 25 to 5, which is making the underlying situation even worse. This is having a dramatic impact upon the quality of available supplies, with many manufacturing companies using foreign-based laboratories to create these vaccines. At which point, a shift took place in the market place, as demand increased and manufacturing was essentially outsourced. This lead to calls from economists and industry experts; that this exposing the available supply to: disruptions from a limited number of producers. Commenting about what was taking place former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said, "The flu vaccine marketplace has been withering away for years." This significant, because it shows how the underlying problem has been continuing to build over the course of several decades. As a result, this meant that it was only a matter of time until obvious supply chain issues would become a problem. ("Flu Vaccine Case Study")

In 2005, this situation was made even worse, when Chiron announced that the U.S. stockpile was in jeopardy. This is because of contamination issues at the Liverpool, England plant. This lead to major shortages, as the federal government was forced to shut down the plant and look for available supplies elsewhere. In some cases, this meant that rationing was being used, as the drug was limited to the most high risks segments of the population. This occurred in places such as: New York City and Washington D.C. While at the same time, many public officials were looking at other stock piles from foreign-based manufacturers. This created some concern, as many Americans went to Canada to be immunized. as, there were fears based on: the quality of the U.S. supply and the availability of the drug. These two factors forced many people to become concerned enough; that they were taking their preventive measures to ensure their own safety. ("Flu Vaccine Case Study")