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Nationwide Shortage In Supply of Swine Flu Vaccine
Hugh Pickens writes "The NY Times reports that as the number of swine flu cases grows to levels unprecedented for this time of year, health officials predict a shortfall in the supply of swine flu vaccine. Forty-three children have died from swine flu since August 30 — about the same number that usually die in an entire flu season.' These are very sobering statistics,' says Dr. Anne Schuchat, the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, 'and unfortunately they are likely to increase.' Projections of the supply of swine flu vaccine have widely varied. During the summer, health officials said 120 million doses would be ready in October but later dropped the estimate to 40 million doses. Now officials expect only 28 million to 30 million doses, adding that the exact number is impossible to predict and could change daily as vaccine manufacturers report that production was behind schedule. 'Vaccine production for influenza is pretty complex,' says Schuchat explaining the delay, 'and the complex process this year is taking a bit longer than we had hoped.' Schuchat warned parents with sick children to be alert for signs that medical attention is required including not eating well, difficulties breathing, and turning blue or gray. A particularly important sign is when children start to get better, then have a relapse, usually a sign that pneumonia is developing, and immediate treatment should be sought."
The shortage of resources is reason we have a duty to keep deriding the vaccination program. We need to ensure that those people who think they know better than all the medically trained scientists do not get vaccinated. That way there will be enough of the Swine Flu vaccine for the worthwhile members of society.
It would be unethical to prevent stupid people from being vaccinated, but there is nothing wrong with sowing the seeds of discontent so that they voluntarily abstain. And when the more deadly strain of H1N1 wipes out a third of the population....
Well, nobody will care that much. It is the "B" Ark theory of trimming the fat of society. "Ah yes, the goat"
PS. Thanks to all the other posters for the fine work they are doing towards our goal. It must be hard to keep a straight face while writing some of those messages!
Schuchat warned parents with sick children to be alert for signs that medical attention is required including ... turning blue or gray.
No shit. You mean that's not normal?
Guess I'd better get the little ones to the hospital.
And maybe stop nicknaming them "Grant" and "Lee."
i'd hit it so hard, if you pulled me out you'd be the king of britain [bash.org]
No, no, no, you see it's the Illuminati testing the Masons plans for tagging the Aliens that came from somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse before 2012. Of course it's REALLY robo-Hitler's plan to find all the iJews before the arrival of the Baby Jesus riding down from heaven on his Velociraptor, but the Illuminati just hasn't caught on yet. And THAT'S why you shouldn't get the vaccine secretly made by the Flinstones, it's yabba-dabba-dangerous.
Nothing creates a shortage faster than the word "shortage".
Johnny Carson was joking about a toilet paper shortage on NBC's Tonight Show, and Johnny's simple joke about shortage indeed created a very real toilet paper shortage that lasted three weeks. fact
If a comedian can have that much impact, one can only imagine what would happen if a more reliable source like New York Times went around announcing there was a shortage.
"mexican flu (that's the name btw.) No it's not.
I know! Everybody knows that the REAL name is hamthrax. Or is it bacon plague? Pork lung? Damnit, I can't remember now...
Except vaccines don't wear shoes.
I know. I was driving down the highway at 110km/h, with the cold 5 degree centigrade wind rushing through my hair, so I could get a litre of pop, and then I flipped my fiat because the speed limit was 50km/h! I survived, thank God. Speed limits are a great idea. God save the Queen.
It's been a long time.
I have to say that after college, medical school, graduate school, and over 12 years of virology and immunology research, I've read a lot of stuff (including popular science that was meant to be educational) that was ridiculous. But the above post ranks in my top 5 examples of manic garbage. It's a collection of bits and pieces of something you've overheard, put together somewhat like a neanderthal would try to piece together the space shuttle. It may contain a couple of the correct parts, but the result does not only fail to take off, but is not identifiable as the correct object, no matter from what angle you look at it.
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