The Flu Vaccine Shortage of 2004 came to light in the final weeks of the US Presidential Campaign

United States presidential election, 2004

The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...

. An American company, Chiron

Chiron Corporation

Chiron Corporation was a multinational biotechnology firm based in Emeryville, California that was acquired by Novartis International AG on April 20, 2006. It had offices and facilities in eighteen countries on five continents. Chiron's business and research was in three main areas:...

, had their operating licence suspended by British officials following problems at their manufacturing plant in Liverpool, England

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

. Due to contamination in a batch of vaccines intended for American market they were unable to supply their flu vaccine, Fluvirin. Fluvirin made up approximately 50% of America's expected demand for the winter flu season.

Partisans in both the Democratic and Republican parties blamed the policies of the other party's recent administrations for the shortage. Senator John Kerry

John Kerry

John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...

 (the Democratic Presidential hopeful in the 2004 general election) blamed President George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

, and made it a focus in the waning days of his campaign. Republicans blamed former President Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

. Journalist Mark Steyn

Mark Steyn

Mark Steyn is a Canadian-born writer, conservative-leaning political commentator, and cultural critic. He has written five books, including America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It, a New York Times bestseller...

wrote:

"[T]he Clinton administration's intervention into the flu-shot market resulted in American companies getting out of the vaccine business entirely." http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20041024-110608-1806r.htm