Chicken Eggs and Swine Flu

Jason Kottke explains how the H1N1 vaccine is made — including the step where part of the virus is injected into eggs, where it incubates for two to three days before being removed. The method calls for 1.2 billion chicken eggs to make 3 billion doses of the vaccine and is one of the reasons the vaccine-making process takes so long, the Associated Press reports. But the egg-based production method has been around for 50 years, and, as the AP reports, “most of the biggest vaccine makers have little incentive to switch from a method with which they are familiar.” [%comments]