Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease says Sunday that production on a U.S. vaccine stockpile could begin as early as mid-September, according to The Associated Press.
He adds that the government is set to order significantly more than the 2 million doses it acquired from a French vaccine maker before testing began earlier this year to jumpstart vaccine stockpiles in the U.S.
Health officials have been warning of the possibility that the avian influenza strain could mutate into one that spreads rapidly among humans. So far, the strain has killed about 50 humans, and there has been no widespread transmission of the virus from one human to another, the AP reports.
