The flu vaccines target specific strains that they expect to be common during flu season. In order to do this, the FDA collaborates with a bunch of different agencies and groups around the world to do collect data, track flu viruses etc. The sort of thing that a government agency is generally really good at doing and companies are generally really bad at.
Normally it's around this time period that decisions around which strains to target are discussed, because it takes around six months to incubate the vaccine. Then once a decision is made, that information is passed to manufacturers.
Without this meeting, there's no guidance around which strains to target. Without guidance, manufacturers have no clue what to do. So the odds are it either highly delays the vaccine if not promptly rescheduled or we simply just don't get one this season.
Sounds like bad news. But can the manufacturers meet among themselves to hash it out? Would they? And if they did, would they make a worse or different decision than if the FDA were involved?
The decisions will still be made, but by other Northern Hemisphere countries. Manufacturing might remain local, since the infrastructure is there. Or maybe that will get shutdown if it is cheaper to ship from India or China.
This is absolutely idiotic behavior on the part of the government. However, I wouldn’t be surprised to see an announcement within the week that the manufacturers are having their own meeting. They aren’t going to destroy years of goodwill and a thriving vaccine business just because a total flake got put in charge of the FDA for what is hopefully a limited time.
Normally it's around this time period that decisions around which strains to target are discussed, because it takes around six months to incubate the vaccine. Then once a decision is made, that information is passed to manufacturers.
Without this meeting, there's no guidance around which strains to target. Without guidance, manufacturers have no clue what to do. So the odds are it either highly delays the vaccine if not promptly rescheduled or we simply just don't get one this season.