vaccine – 1800PrepareBlog

Due to the H1N1 vaccine shortages, the federal government is taking a look at its emergency preparedness plans as it relates to public health emergencies. The Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has called for the review:

The government review — expected to be completed in early 2010 — will examine all aspects of public health emergencies, including terrorist attacks and natural disasters. But the catalyst for the call to action was H1N1, said Nicole Lurie, MD, MSPH, assistant secretary for preparedness and response at HHS, who is leading the review.

Dr. Lurie urged physicians and the public not to expect sweeping reform immediately.

“In four months we can’t fix everything. … But we can take a systems perspective, look at where the most vulnerable points in the system are, and look at the kinds of policies and investments we need to make to address those things,” she said in an interview.

Yet another announcement has been made by the government that it cannot help everyone in emergencies, this time in public health emergencies. Therefore, it’s necessary for you to prepare for those emergencies yourself. Do you have basic medical supplies on hand to aid you and your family if there are disease outbreaks?

Source:
http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2009/12/14/prl11214.htm

As reported in a recent ABC News Story, Congress is investigating the current shortage in swine flu vaccine availability and they’re not pleased to say the least!

Specifically, members of Congress are upset at Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius who promised back in September:

“We are confident that vaccine is going to be far more widely available. There is enough vaccine and will be to vaccinate every American who wants to be vaccinated and we are pushing it out as quickly as we can.”

That statement is particularly upsetting to pregnant women and young children across the country that waited several hours for a swine flu vaccine, and then being told there was none available for them. To add to the confusion was the complexity added by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention when they created two lists of people who would receive the vaccine first, which included a “high-priority” and “most-at-risk” group).

While starting off slow, the swine flu is now running rampant throughout the United States, as ABC Reports… ‘According to figures released by the CDC last week, since April an estimated 22 million people in the U.S. have become ill from the H1N1 virus, 98,000 people have been hospitalized, and 3,900 people have died, including 540 children.’