Only one vaccine is still scarce nationwide: PCV-7, or Prevnar, which prevents pneumococcal pneumonia and meningitis. Several recent shortages occurred because the only companies making certain vaccines, including those for varicella and MMR, pulled them off the market or stopped production to reformulate them. Not Prevnar: its makers are working weekends trying to fill back orders. The drug company Wyeth has been overwhelmed by requests for the vaccine since its introduction in 2000. Because Prevnar takes months to produce, the shortage will likely last until next year. But again, parents needn’t try bribing doctors to keep their kids safe. Though it’s highly effective, “we’ve lived without Prevnar for many, many years,” says Wexler, whose son suffered a severe pneumococcal disease at 3. (He’s now 9 and healthy.) Wexler urges parents waiting for vaccines to check for hot-line numbers and updates–and to call their doctors as soon as Prevnar is available again. The real risk, she says, is that parents turned away the first time won’t come back.
