Sebelius: Expect swine flu shot soon

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By Sean Lengell

A swine flu vaccine could be ready in early October - sooner than expected - and require half the dose once anticipated, says Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Health care workers and other "high-priority groups" could be given the vaccine for the H1N1 virus, commonly called the swine flu, as early as the first week of October, Mrs. Sebelius said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

The secretary said she is confident that an ample supply of H1N1 vaccine shots will be available to the public by mid-October.

"We'll get the vaccine out the door as fast as it rolls off the production lines," she said.

Mrs. Sebelius said that development of the influenza vaccine has progressed so well that those taking the shot will have a "robust immune response" within 10 days, not three weeks as earlier predicted.

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The secretary added that healthy adults will need only one dose. There had been concerns that it would take two doses to build up immunity, delaying the protection while stretching the vaccine supply more thinly.

"That's great, which means we'll have a lot more vaccine," she said.

Mrs. Sebelius' optimism is a shift from last month, when the government was bracing for production delays of the vaccine.

The winter flu vaccine is widely available now, and health authorities urged people last week not to wait to take the shot.