Swine Flu Vaccines, Patience in Short Supply
Doctors left to make tough choices
Saturday, Nov 7, 2009 | Updated 10:00 AM CST
AP
Doses of the H1N1 vaccine are in short supply.
Doctors make tough decisions every day.
But a new debate over who gets swine flu vaccines and who doesn't has left doctors, parents and the public frustrated.
At a suburban pediatricians office last week, doctors tracked down five vaccine doses. They had 500 children on their list.
"We tried to pick our sickest patients," Rachel Goodman, a physician at Elm Street Pediatrics in Winnetka, told the Chicago Tribune. "We're telling people not to wait for us but to get it wherever they can."
In cities and states around the country, questions have been raised about the lack of structure around the distribution of H1N1 vaccines.
Officials in New York had to defend the release of vaccines to Wall Street firms while the public went without. Last month, two out of three parents and high-priority adults couldn't get the vaccine for themselves or their children, according to a poll from the Harvard School of Public Health.
"It is absolutely disgusting how this process is being handled," a pregnant, 32-year-old Christine Kuess told the Tribune. "The (federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and county health departments have put the public in a panic about getting vaccinated yet make it virtually impossible for anyone to access it."
So far, 35 million doses have been produced -- about a third of what federal officials said would be available at this time.
"People need to understand that this is a very fluid situation," Kelly Jakubek, spokeswoman for the Illinois health department, told the paper. "We are doing the best we can with the vaccine we've got."
Posted Saturday, Nov 7, 2009 - 9:41 AM CST
