OF4-11/05/09 9:25 AM
GAP IN SUPPLY VS. DEMAND FOR FLU VACCINES.
The Osgood File. I'm Charles Osgood.
The three strains of regular seasonal flu should not be taken lightly --- they kill 36,000 people a year in the United States. It's still a little early for that sort of flu --- there've been virtually no cases of it so far --- but it is coming. The H1N1 swine flu is a different story, though.
Already, says Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC...
SOT - Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control
"We have had well over 20,000 hospitalizations and more than a thousand deaths --- including 114, at least, among children."
And at this point, there are shortages of both the regular and the H1N1 vaccine. The regular seasonal vaccine and H1N1 swine flu are linked, says Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases --- because, for one thing...
SOT - Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases
"The same companies that were making the seasonal flu (vaccine) are the ones that are making the H1N1 influenza (vaccine)."
There's an unfortunate gap between demand for both kinds of flu shots. It will be closed --- although in the case of swine flu, it will be too late for some people, says Dr. Fauci.
SOT - Dr. Anthony Fauci
"It will not be too late for a large number of people. But unfortunately, there are some --- as we see every day, as we see people get infected --- that if they had had the vaccine, that might've been prevented."
It's very frustrating, of course, he says.
SOT - Dr. Anthony Fauci
"We already have on hand about 30 million doses --- we obviously had hoped to have much more. So, the gap between supply and demand is a large gap that is gradually starting to close."
The projections were that we would have enough --- and the CDC simply passed those projections along, says Dr. Frieden.
SOT - Dr. Thomas Frieden
"With 20-20 hindsight, it's clear that we should have been more skeptical about the projections that were being made. And we anticipated that having five different manufacturers would provide more insurance that it has."
The Osgood File. Transcripts, podcasts, and Mp3s of these programs can be found at theosgoodfile.com. I'm Charles Osgood on the CBS Radio Network.
The Osgood File. November 5th, 2009. |
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