Slightly less than two weeks ago, we found out that nearly halfof America's supply of flu vaccine would be unavailable because ofsafety and contamination concerns at the British factory where theywere produced.
As the reality of this huge supply shortage becomes clear in theUnited States, vulnerable Americans are struggling to find a dosefor themselves. Amongst the chaos, millions of us wonder: how couldthis have happened?
The shortage, while extremely unfortunate, should have beenforeseen by authorities.
In August, it was revealed by the American company that makesthe vaccine in Britain, Chiron, that bacterial contamination hadbeen found in a small number of vaccine lots. As a result, shipmentof the vaccine was pushed back to October, and the companyinitiated weekly conference calls with American and British healthauthorities to report on their progress.
The factory, which had experienced problems with the authoritiesof both countries in years past due to similar contaminationissues, had its license suspended by British authorities on Oct. 5due to potentially serious bacterial contamination.
It is perplexing that the American government decided to rely ona company with a past history of safety violations to produce alarge proportion of its much-needed flu vaccine. Even worse is thatAmerica continued to do so even after early warning signs thatthere might be problems with this year's batch.
The overconfidence of the American government in an Americancompany has now put thousands of vulnerable lives unnecessarily onthe line.
The Bush administration is not without blame for our currentproblems. Not unsurprisingly, Bush lied to the American publicduring the third debate and claimed that it was American healthauthorities that prevented the vaccine from being brought into thestates.
In fact, it was the British who suspended the company, whichthen told the American authorities about the action. Although itmight be tempting to commend the administration for increasinganti-flu federal funding to $283 million this year, we mustremember that this amount pales in comparison with the $5.6 billionthat the administration has promised to spend to develop vaccinesfor agents of biological warfare.
Anthrax and its unpleasant kin might threaten us in the future,but the very real threat today is the flu, one for which we arewoefully unprepared.
Students on the Hill should take comfort that they are not, ingeneral, an at-risk population for severe cases of the flu. Thatbeing said, everyone should take extra care this winter to maintainhygiene for their own safety and that of their more vulnerablefamily and friends.
In the future, we need to make sure that this shortage does nothappen again. The government should provide financial incentivesfor manufacturers to produce vaccines that are safe and plentifulfor the American people. The neglect of this administration andCongress has been, in a word, sickening.
