County: Hundreds received recalled vaccine

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Health officials are recalling hundreds of thousands of doses of swine flu vaccine after tests showed they may not be potent enough. It turns out hundreds of kids in Central Indiana have gotten the recalled vaccine but no one is sounding any alarms.

The recall involves about 800,000 doses made by Sanofi Pasteur. They are in pre-filled syringes intended for young children ages six months to almost three years.

Marion County got 1,300 doses of the recalled vaccine. The head of Marion County's health department, Dr. Virginia Caine, said she knows exactly where some of them were distributed.

"The Marion County Health Department administered 140 of the doses to young children at a Lawrence North mass public clinic that occurred on December the fifth," said Dr. Caine.

Hamilton County received 400 doses of the recalled vaccine.

Madison County received 300 doses. And of that 300, they say 100 were distributed, but health officials said they are not sure how many of the 100 were actually administered.

But the message in all of the counties, according to Dr. Caine, is the same.

"The reason for the recall of the vaccine does not have anything to do with a safety issue, but it has more to do with the fact that it had lost some of its potency," she said.

Health officials said no one needs to be revaccinated. Just get the second shot as scheduled.

Despite the problems, Dr. Caine said the system works.

"I think the good news is that we have an excellent system a quality control system that does constant testing and we know if a vaccine loses its potency we're able to identify that problem early."