CDC to reinstate booster shots for HiB vaccine

updated 1:41 p.m. ET June 25, 2009

CHICAGO - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday it plans to reinstate booster shoots of a vaccine that protects babies and toddlers against bacterial meningitis.

The CDC said in a statement it believes manufacturers will have enough supply of the vaccine to resume giving a booster shot of HiB (Haemophilus influenza type b) to children aged 12 to 15 months.

Merck & Co Inc in 2007 recalled its HiB vaccines because production equipment may not have been properly sterilized. The CDC said HiB vaccine made by Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi-Aventis, will increase enough starting in July to allow reinstatement of the HiB booster for children aged 12 to 15 months.

Short supplies of the vaccine will not allow a mass recall of older children who missed their booster, CDC said.

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