Senators call for $1B for flu vaccine development

EAST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — There's a push in Washington to spend $1 billion over the next five years to encourage the development of a universal flu vaccine.

The new legislation, proposed by Connecticut U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey and several other fellow senators, comes as preliminary figures released Friday suggest the current vaccine is only 36 percent effective.

"It's a really pretty simple concept, but much more difficult to do than describe," Blumenthal said of the universal vaccine.

The lawmaker unveiled the proposed legislation Saturday at a flu shot clinic in East Hartford. In his home state, 77 deaths have so far been attributed to the flu.