Failing the Swine Test
(Chris.d.adams photo.)
For two weeks, I've been listening to health experts on NPR— including one affiliated with the CDC— advise that everyone should get vaccinated for the H1N1 "swine" flu. That's because most of us have no antibodies to this unusual strain of flu, so we're all at risk of getting it.
Last week, I called my pharmacist and asked about both regular flu and swine flu vaccinations. They told me that they'd already run out of regular flu vaccine. It seems they only received half of what they ordered, and they (and every other pahrmacy in town) has run out. My wife and I were able to get two of the last seven doses at our doctor's office. We're not alone: reports across the country indcate that there's a shortage of "seasonal" flu vaccine, and some experts warn of a looming "crisis" in our hospitals as a result,
As for the swine flu vaccine, our pharmacy expected to receive it this week. So I called them yesterday. It seems the shipment was delayed— by at least two more weeks. Only the health department has it. A call to their office led me to a recording indicating that, due to a severe shortage, only children are receiving the vaccine at this time. It seems that of the 120 million doses promised by the feds, only 13 million have been produced for shipment so far. That means while CDC wants all 300 million Americans to get vaccinated, only 4% of us will actually get the vaccine in the immediate future.
While we wait for the vaccine, the swine flu itself marches onward. Already plentiful in ourt closest cities, we started getting cases in our rural area a couple of weeks ago. Since no one under age 60 has any resistance, we can expect it to spread rapidly. CDC says 7% of adults and a staggering 1/5 of all American children had it this month alone.
The good news is, the swine flu has been pretty mild in most cases. The bad news is, what if this pitiful emergency response by our government and medical infrastructure had been in the face of a more serious threat?
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