More on (Moron?) CDC's Botched Flu Efforts: Rep. Cancels H1N1 Event After Family Catches Flu

As reported in Politico today, Rep. Melissa Bean (D-IL) cancelled a scheduled H1N1 prevention event in her district after her 16-year-old daughter and her husband were diagnosed with likely cases of swine flu, her office reports. Bean spokesperson Jonathan Lipman is quoted as saying: "We've been planning this for weeks. The irony is just ridiculous." Check the story out here.

Meanwhile, shortages of the vaccine continue to grow. Just a couple of weeks ago, when it already knew there was a growing shortage, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimated there'd be 40 million available doses by the end of October. Then, on October 16--two weeks later--it cut its estimates by over 25%. Here's what CDC spokesperson Anne Schuchat had to say on October 16. (Emphasis added. However, the text is cut and pasted directly from the CDC Web site at http://www.cdc.gov/media/transcripts/2009/t091016.htm )

Anne Schuchat: Yeah. You know, vaccine production for influenza is pretty complex. And the complex process this year is taking a bit longer than we would hope. The companies are making unprecedented amounts of vaccine and the yield of the antigen has been lower than had been hoped for. They need to do potency testing and purity testing and that takes time and of course there's lot release testing that the manufacturers do and that the FDA does. We are not cutting any corners in the safety of the production of this vaccine or the testing and oversight of the vaccine and it's very important to us that this process be done carefully and safely. And so those are the major factors. We had hoped and i think our last estimate about expected vaccine that we made several weeks ago was that by the end of the month we might be around 40 million doses. What i can say is that it's really hard to predict exactly how many we'll have by that point. So i need to caveat the estimate of the decrease in availability. We think at most it might be about a 10--about a 10 to 12 million doses less than that by the end of the month. You know, that's still quite a bit of vaccine to have out there. I need to say that those numbers could change every day. So that's what we know as of today. And we're committed to share with you what we know. These numbers are such that it will have impact for the states and when they can offer the large-scale vaccination plans. I want to let the folks on the line know that Dr. Jesse Goodman from the FDA is also listening into the call. As questions come up, I will occasionally let him amplify on the answer. So let's go to a question from the phones.

And the flu clinics are being cancelled right and left. Just a few recent samplings:

Fairfax cancels two swine flu vaccine distributions
By Derek Kravitz
The Washington Post
Tuesday, October 20, 2009 1:01 PM 

Fairfax County has canceled two mass swine flu vaccine distributions after the Washington region's most populous locality was told it would receive only a fraction of the vaccine doses it had expected. Officials had originally planned on administering 50,000 H1N1 flu vaccine shots to schoolchildren next weekend at 10 public middle schools. Instead, a smaller, targeted distribution for infants and pregnant women has been scheduled for 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Fairfax County Government Center. Children ages 6 months to 36 months and pregnant women are eligible. Health officials had been expecting about 120,000 vaccine shots by the end of the month but now anticipate only about 10,000 vaccine doses will be delivered. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced last week that the flu vaccine shots were taking longer to produce and that only 28 million to 30 million doses, instead of the planned 40 million doses, would be delivered to local and regional health departments by the end of October.

And if you think that the elderly (the focus of this blog) are getting the vaccine, think again. Here's a story from WJAC TV in Johnstown, Pennsylvania:

Many Seniors Still In Need Of Season Flu Vaccine

Posted: 12:45 pm EDT October 20, 2009
Updated: 1:46 pm EDT October 20, 2009
A shortage of seasonal flu vaccinations in some areas is affecting senior citizens who have not yet been able to obtain the vaccines. Flu shot clinics scheduled for this month and next month at the Johnstown Senior Center were canceled because of a vaccine shortage and officials there said the clinics will not be rescheduled. Area on Aging officials said it's still important that seniors find a way to get shots as soon as possible. "Elders don't have the strength in their immunity system that they had when they were younger. It's so important for them. In many cases, they may be living alone, they may not be eating properly," said Dr. Veil Griffith, Area on Aging administrator.

This fiasco makes it difficult to develop a warm and fuzzy feeling about the government's ability to help citizens protect their health.