Plenty of Flu and Cuckoos, but No Nest
Published: November 06, 2009
Something is seriously cuckoo in New York.
Somehow health officials there figured that sending doses of H1N1 vaccine to private businesses was a better way to protect high risk groups than sending the medicine to actual doctors. Doses were sent to a number of Wall Street firms such as Goldman Sachs and CitiGroup, and also to Columbia University, Time Inc., the Federal Reserve Bank.
The firms who received the vaccine say they only ordered it because they were allowed to, and because they have pregnant women and other employees that fall into the high risk category. It’s not their fault that someone sent it to them before sending it to hospitals and doctors’ offices.
But that argument is beyond silly. When did employers take over the responsibility for providing medication to their employees? Don’t people with jobs go to their doctor when they get sick or need to update their vaccinations? Why would they go to HR instead?
Whomever wrote the rules for distribution and procurement of the H1N1 vaccine in NY should be fired, as should whomever in these companies who felt it was right to order vaccine for “internal use.” People are lined up outside the offices of obstetricians and pediatricians waiting in vain for drugs that have been diverted to non-medical facilities.
What were these people thinking?
Then there’s the guy in Canada who made sure the Calgary Flames hockey team and their families got their shots. He actually was fired. But it’s not just the bureaucrats that are screwing up. The doctor for the Flames’ farm team got twitchy after several players fell ill, and promptly labeled them all “high risk.” All but five got vaccinated – ahead of others in the general public who had a greater need. Tsk. Tsk. But I’m sure these are but the tip of an iceberg worth of protocol violations in favor of folks with enough money and/or pull to get the rules bent. Stay tuned for the next exciting chapter here.
The administration is taking a lot of heat for allegedly breaking their promise to provide an adequate supply of the H1N1 vaccine by mid fall. Detractors need to remember that private, not government, firms make the vaccines. The current method takes six months, and it has just barely been six months since April, when the H1N1 strain started causing global concern. The government distribution system, while certainly not perfect, is at least more fair that the normal method, which is “biggest orders get delivered first.”
In this time of financial uncertainty, record job losses, and rising internal and international tensions, people are naturally on edge. Faced with yet another “enemy” in the form of a potentially deadly flu strain, their first instinct is to blame the people at the top. But pointing fingers at the current administration is not only unfair, it does no good. The US has never seen a set of circumstances exactly like those our country faces today, and there’s no instruction manual. Maybe we should all just take a deep breath and give things a chance to get better.
(0) Comments • Permalink •
