You can’t start a vaccination program without the FDA, which today gave its okay on vaccines produced by multiple companies.

Vaccinations will start shipping to state officials for distribution by mid-October. Earlier stories said that the amount of time for immunity to develop after a shot is shorter than expected.

Those vaccinated in mid-October will be immune to H1N1 by Halloween, experts said yesterday.

Wall Street Journal

“The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved vaccines designed to protect against the H1N1 influenza virus, a key step before starting a vaccination campaign.” (Emphasis added)

…”The U.S. has spent more than $1 billion to purchase and administer a total of 195 million H1N1 vaccine doses being made by five companies, including GlaxoSmithKline PLC. Ms. Sebelius said that the agency’s officials are still working on that application.

“About 40 million to 50 million vaccine doses will be available by the middle of next month and will be distributed to each state’s health department officials. (Emphasis added)

“Shipments of vaccines are expected to last for several weeks as additional vaccines are produced. (Emphasis added)

“Initially, the H1N1 vaccine will be reserved for health-care workers, pregnant women, children and young adults, who have been disproportionately affected by the new virus.” (Emphasis added)

Source: Wall Street Journal Online, September 15, 2009