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Sun 14 Dec, 2003 09:53 am
GWB's adminstration would step in and start a campaign, open factories 24/7 and be on tv looking for shift worker volunteers and launching a huge we need bullets to keep America strong campaign.
Yet, we are out of flu vaccine at a time when the word pandemic is being bandied about and children are dying, and unless I'm out of touch I've not seen the government step in to run labs to get vaccine made 24/7, and I live next to Research Triangle Park.
What the hell is wrong with this picture?
Well, I agree with the sentiment, but it looks like a) efforts are being stepped up, and b) it is difficult to make a vaccine for each specific kind of flu. They are expecting a flu strain to jump from animals to humans in rural Asia sometime, but they don't know WHAT. They can't (evidently, though I guess this is debatable) make vaccinations for each kind of animal flu in case it might make the jump sometime.
Basically, as I understand it, it can only become a pandemic if it has significantly new/ different genetic components. So that means the current vaccines wouldn't help. But because it could be one of many, many (hundreds? thousands? millions?) of different new genetic strains, they can't predict, can only try to stay on top of things.
My pediatricians office has NO vaccine for the current known strain, and it serves the affluent North Raleigh community.
I can't imagine what the peds serving the poorer communities are going through.
Ah.
Yeah, being out of the current stuff is bad.
I think it takes a long time to make, though. I remember reading something about Colorado, that last year they had 30,000 doses and had leftovers, this year they ordered over 100,000 doses (have to order in February) and they're out.
I think nationally there is more, need to coordinate/ move it around. I'm purposely not getting the vaccination since I'm not high-risk. Plus I think sozlet and I had the flu already.
Sozlet's ped is out, too, but the ped said that the vaccine she has is a little different from what's going around, anyway.
We seldom get flu shots, I've never had one prefering to let my immune system get some exercise, and my entire family is pretty strong in that respect, but that's not the point.
There is NO excuse to not have something on hand.
We would NEVER be allowed to run out of weapons or bullets to wage war.
First, even if the companies that make the vaccine opened up the lines to create more vaccine, it would be months before we had more shots. (Because that is how long it takes to create it.)
Second, if you were to force the companies that create the vaccine to produce enough for every man woman and child in the country, the cost of them would be at least triple what is charged today because the companies have to eat the cost of any leftover shots that people don't buy. The companies produce as much of the vaccine that they believe they can sell.
Third, the U.S. Government has nothing to do with how much vaccine gets produced. The only thing the Government does is make sure that the companies follow all the rules and protocols for medical item production.
Try putting the blame where it belongs.
Ahh, forget the vaccine. There's no better cure for all flu strains than gin. Every Dickens-era Englishperson knew this.
fedral if the government had nothing to do with how many bullets get produced but we ran low they'd step in and use the power of their office to make sure there were enough to go around and damn profits or costs, they'd make sure the cost was kept low.
They also would step in long before we ran out of bullets and, with the power of their office, force manufacturers to insure that we didn't run out.
Of course I don't know if bullet makers are big campaign contributers that have to be allowed to do whatever they want....so there may be different rules for them than drug producers who are huge campaign contributers....
Fedral wrote:First, even if the companies that make the vaccine opened up the lines to create more vaccine, it would be months before we had more shots. (Because that is how long it takes to create it.)
Then they should not have run out.
Second, if you were to force the companies that create the vaccine to produce enough for every man woman and child in the country, the cost of them would be at least triple what is charged today because the companies have to eat the cost of any leftover shots that people don't buy. The companies produce as much of the vaccine that they believe they can sell.
You mean as much as they think they can profit hugely on.
Third, the U.S. Government has nothing to do with how much vaccine gets produced. The only thing the Government does is make sure that the companies follow all the rules and protocols for medical item production.
See my other response about campaign contributors and the rules for them.
Try putting the blame where it belongs.
I think I have, nicely, but I'll repeat that it belongs with the drug manufacturers and the for sale politicians that take their money in exchange for letting them do as they please.
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