Speedier Vaccine Access Raises Odds Swine Flu May Be Controlled

By Tom Randall and Jason Gale

Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Speedier-than-expected delivery of a swine flu vaccine is providing health authorities a better chance of controlling the first pandemic in 41 years and raising hopes of protecting almost half the world's population.

The U.S. plans to begin vaccinations in the next three weeks, earlier than previous estimates of mid-October, as it faces an "unprecedented" fall outbreak, said Nancy Cox, director for the flu division of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Her comments came just days after the the first tests found a single shot to be effective in 8 to 10 days in healthy adults. The next challenge is getting the immunization to people and convincing them to take it, she said.

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